Go, fetch to me a pint o' wine,
And fill it in a silver tassie,
That I may drink before I go
A service to my bonie lassie!
The boat rocks at the pier o' Leith,
Fu' loud the wind blaws frae the Ferry,
The ship rides by the Berwick-Law,
And I maun leave my bonie Mary.
The trumpets sound, the banners fly,
The glittering spears are rankèd ready,
The shouts o' war are heard afar,
The battle closes deep and bloody.
It's not the roar o' sea or shore
Wad mak me langer wish to tarry,
Nor shouts o' war that's heard afar:
It's leaving thee, my bonie Mary!
Robert Burns's "The Silver Tassie" presents a poignant exploration of love, duty, and separation set against the backdrop of military service in 18th-century Scotland. The poem, composed in 1791, exemplifies Burns's masterful ability to weave together personal emotion with broader themes of nationalism and sacrifice, all while maintaining his characteristic use of Scots dialect that grounds the work firmly in its cultural context.
The poem emerges from a period of significant military activity in British history, when young men were frequently called to service either in continental conflicts or colonial expeditions. The setting at the pier of Leith, Edinburgh's port, would have been a familiar scene to Burns's contemporaries - a place where private grief played out in public spaces as soldiers and sailors bid farewell to their loved ones. The mention of Berwick-Law, a prominent hill in East Lothian, places the scene precisely in the Scottish landscape, adding geographical authenticity to the emotional narrative.
The poem's division into two eight-line stanzas creates a deliberate structural parallel that mirrors the dual nature of the speaker's experience. The first stanza focuses on the immediate present and physical preparation for departure, while the second projects forward to the battlefield, creating a temporal tension that amplifies the emotional impact. Burns employs a consistent ABABCDCD rhyme scheme, which provides a musical quality appropriate to a piece that begins with a request for a ceremonial drink.
Burns's use of Scots dialect - "maun" for "must," "wad" for "would," "thee" for "you" - serves multiple purposes. Beyond maintaining cultural authenticity, it creates an intimate tone that makes the personal tragedy more immediate. The mixture of standard English with Scots phrases demonstrates Burns's ability to code-switch between formal and informal registers, suggesting both the universal nature of the sentiment and its particular Scottish character.
The titular "silver tassie" (cup) serves as the poem's central symbol, representing both ceremony and sacrifice. The choice of silver as the material is significant - it suggests both value and purity, elevating the farewell drink to a ritual status. This ceremonial aspect transforms what might be a simple farewell into something approaching a sacramental act.
The poem's movement from maritime to military imagery is particularly noteworthy. The first stanza's focus on the boat, pier, and wind creates a sense of immediate physical departure, while the second stanza's "trumpets," "banners," and "glittering spears" project us into the future battlefield. This progression serves to emphasize the increasing distance that will separate the lovers.
Burns's manipulation of sound is masterful throughout. The alliterative "boat rocks" and "banners fly" create a rhythmic momentum that mirrors the physical movement of departure. The progression from the "Fu' loud" wind to the "shouts o' war" creates an ascending scale of auditory intensity that parallels the growing separation between the speaker and his "bonie Mary."
The poem presents an interesting study in gender roles during wartime. Mary, though central to the emotional core of the poem, remains silent and relatively passive. She is repeatedly referred to as "bonie," emphasizing her physical beauty but perhaps limiting her character to her role as the object of the speaker's affection. This reflects period attitudes while simultaneously demonstrating the speaker's limited way of expressing his emotional attachment.
At its heart, the poem explores the tension between public duty and private love. The speaker's predicament - torn between military service and romantic attachment - represents a universal human conflict. The final lines, where he dismisses both natural ("sea or shore") and martial ("shouts o' war") causes as the source of his reluctance to leave, emphasize that his true anguish stems from the personal separation.
"The Silver Tassie" stands as one of Burns's most effective explorations of love and duty. Through its careful construction, evocative imagery, and emotional authenticity, it transforms a personal moment of farewell into a universal statement about separation and sacrifice. The poem's enduring power lies in its ability to make particular what might otherwise be abstract - the human cost of military service, the pain of separation, and the complex interplay between public obligation and private feeling. Burns achieves this through his characteristic combination of technical mastery and emotional directness, creating a work that continues to resonate with readers more than two centuries after its composition.