O, Jenny's a' weet, poor body,
Jenny's seldom dry:
She draigl't a' her petticoatie,
Comin thro' the rye!
Comin thro' the rye, poor body,
Comin thro' the rye,
She draigl't a' her petticoatie,
Comin thro' the rye!
Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro' the rye,
Gin a body kiss a body,
Need a body cry?
Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro' the glen,
Gin a body kiss a body,
Need the warl' ken?
Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro' the grain;
Gin a body kiss a body,
The thing's a body's ain.
Notes
verse used in J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye
Several variant on the verses of this piece are in existance, including the following which were added later by Burns for theatrical purposes.
Gin a body kiss a body
Comin' thro' the grain
Need a body grudge a body
What's a body's ain
Every lassie has her laddie
Nane, they say, ha'e I
yet a' the lads they smile at me
When comin' thro' the Rye
Amang the train, there is a swain
I dearly lo'e mysel'
But whaur his hame, or what his name
I dinna care to tell
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Comments
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this poet is one of my many influences of allowing me to keep writing poetry
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"RYE"
The Rhy is still river in Ayrshire (recognise Ayrshire from any of Burns' other poems anyone?) there is still a ford across the river if you'd care to find it. Dalry is a town which is settled around the Rye Water.
http://www.langsidefarm.co.uk/burns.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalry,_North_Ayrshire
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Many thanks finuriae for the additional information which adds yet more fuel to the debate about "coming through the rye". Having wandered around Ayrshire at random on various visits I have not come across "Rye water" but next time I will look for it and think of this poem.
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I guess that's how most people reach this poem!
From guest Shreela Sen (contact)
& whatever it was meant to mean, I think reading this poem is crucial to "getting" the true feel of "Cacther in the Rye", Holland's misinterpretation was corrected by his sister, in the book itself. The confusion, controversy, hint of pain, MISINTERPRETATION, differences of opinion about the poem only heightens the drama of the novel, kind of helping to make it complete - very in tune with Holland's own mixed up feelings - loneliness, expectancy, longing for love, the need to assert oneself, & abuse, the POSSIBLE themes of the poem, are all felt by the protagonist! -
Here's more help
From guest Jazmine (contact)
Well i have to do this thing for honors english nd as well as this website i found another 1 that has helped ALOT "Her teacher, told them about the "Rye River" in Scotland. At the time the poem was written, there was no bridge, just a ford. So girls had to lift their petticoats if they were to cross over and not get wet." for more go to: http://reactor-core.org/~djw/myblog/archives/2007/01/28/T17_01_34/ -
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Thanks
Thank you Jazmine for your note and the reference link. the poem is , no doubt, a very sweet one but with your words of explanation it has become more sweeter.
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Nice
the language used in the poem is so beautiful that one can forget about theme or any other parameter.it sound like an old Ballad -
let me clarify
From guest Allie (contact)
if i may i would like to ask one question: would i poem of this high stature and great regard be based on two people having casual sex in a rye field? NO. First of all, "rie" is not "rye" as in the grain but is actually translated in modern english to "river". So when it says that Jenny is always wet, it means that she is always running straight back into the river, the river being life. The poem is about love, not sex. Its about being free in the world, and the idea that risking everything is worth finding love. In relation to "Catcher in the Rye" while Holden does originally misinterpret the meaning of the poem, it does contain the main gist of the book. Holden originally interprets the poem in his dream, and believes that he will save all the little children about to fall off the cliff. However, in his epiphany as he watches Phoebe ride the carousel and try to grqab the golden ring he realizes that the little children need to fall and that its a good thing. Everyone needs to learn. And this is also the meaning of the poem, experience and be free, need the warl' ken? Your life is your own, live and love as you will. -
meaning
From guest Gav (contact)
This poem is about illicit romantic dalliances in the fields and how they are no one's business but thos involved. It's about secret meetings between lovers. -
My Interpretation
The first two stanzas, a mule or farm animal, named Jenny, pulling a plow controlled by a young man; who
at the third stanza starts to day dream about the future of his plantings and potential love life.
I haven`t read the book...Robert F. Burns42 -
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I am sure Jenny would be as upset to be considered a mule (or any farm animal) as she was to be attacked (even if it was only in her own mind) by the womenfolk of the village for her 'dalliance' with her young man in the public fields.
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Catcher in the Rye
From guest Stephanie (contact)
I have to explicate this poem for english honors this year because we're reading "catcher in the rye" and i was having a very hard time figuring out what it means. the reviews have helped A TON!!! thanks. -
From guest sabrina (contact)
this poem is just too weird, if anyone really get it, please explain, thnx -
Maxwell's Favorite Poem
this is one of the very few poems which has a beautiful melody and music that even Maxwell, a great lover of British poetry, memorized this poem and , which he apparently used to sing while accompanying himself on a guitar. It has the immortal lines:
Gin a body meet a body
Flyin' through the air.
Gin a body hit a body,
Will it fly? And where?
James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and theoretical physicist. His most significant achievement was formulating a set of equations — eponymically named Maxwell's equations — that for the first time expressed the basic laws of electricity and magnetism in a unified fashion. He also developed the Maxwell distribution, a statistical means to describe aspects of the kinetic theory of gases. These two discoveries helped usher in the era of modern physics -
From guest EH (contact)
This poem is often subjected to different interpritations, but I believe that this version at least is talking about a girl and a (somewhat unmentioned) boy having, blatnently, sex in a rye field. The misuse o this poem in "Catcher in the Rye" is ironic because Holden many times staes how he doesn't understand ("catch") the idea of sex in general. Holden's idea of the poem is much so the opposit of the actual meaning. -
From guest S.J. (contact)
i've been hunting this poem after reading the catcher in the rye.......if the interpretation of the poem that jenny's been sexually abused or jenny's hoping someone would make advances towards her is true the i can see the conection between the book and the poem....holden wants to protect innocence.......... -
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It is a sad comment on our society when the world views this as a poem about rape!
The poem, to my mind, is obviously a proclamation by Jenny herself of how the world reacts to an innocent flirtation between two people who meet in the countryside.
Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro' the glen,
Gin a body kiss a body,
Need the warl' ken?
Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro' the grain;
Gin a body kiss a body,
The thing's a body's ain.
would surely translate as
Can't a person meet a person
In the countryside
Can't a person kiss a person
Does the world need to know
Can't a person meet a person
In the countryside
Can't a person kiss a person
The matters nobody else's business
The protestaions of a girl who is being vilified for expressing her feelings by interfering outsiders surely?
Honi soit qui mal y pense
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Holden Caulfield
From guest B.P.L. (contact)
Just finished reading "The Cather in the Rye" and wanted to say that Holden's misinterpritation of the poemwas one of the key elements of the story and yet he was so way off in the fact that he said he wanted to "catch" children from falling off a cliff while running through a rye field, whereas Burns is actually just talking about a lonley girl who believes she will become more happy if she losses her virginity. Then again, its the same kind of situation with Holden when he hires that prostitute from his hotel room. He struggles with the thought that maybe if he losses his virginity he could become more happy. But hey, isn't that just one of the many struggles we all face as we grow up... and why am i talking so much about J.D. Salinger when this is a site for Robert Burns, either way good poem and good book. -
What!?
Jenny petticoats are muddy (draggled)> her undergarments are soiled
The poem is also missing half of itself, most importantly:
But a' the lads they loe (love) me, and what the waur (worse) am I.
Jenny is a girl who is sexually abused. All the boys "love" her but she really has no one.
And "Catcher" came from the main characters misinterpretation of "Gin a body meet a body" to "Gin a body catch a body." -
The poem is an old Scotish song that Robert Burns cleaned up and published. It is a bout a girl who wishes someone would make a sexual advance toward her while she is in the field.
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Ya, this is one confusing poem!?! I feel as though it is either expressing the passing of life or...change... or a dead body?
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Could someone please tell me what this poem means???
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I am so glad I found this poem 'cause it come from 'The Catcher in the Rye' bye J.D. Salinger.
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