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
Most people only know of this through the work of J d salinger but
several variants 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
From this it is obvious that Rye refers to a crop and not a body of water!
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Comments
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comin' thro the rye
From guest Dave (contact)
This poem had me grinningh from ear to ear. The Scots are wild, no doubt! -
I think this is about sexual frustration more than sex
From guest matt (contact)
Jenny is a loose woman who likes to drink, and also enjoys trysting with various men. The observer is "comin thro the rye" in a double metaphor - for one, he is imbibing under social pressures to be on the "same level" as the other "ladies and gentlemen" in the particular environs; and two, drinking strong spirits in busy social settings can be compared to stumbling blindly through tall grains that obscure the vision, and older kids or young adults chased each other around in such fields as a means of play and formation of relationships, particularly the romantic sort. "Comin thro the rye" in the modern age is basically drinking too much at a dance club, setting your eye on the easiest woman, and still getting shot down because she shows favor toward many men, but none towards you. It's not always good to get what you happen to fancy at the time, no matter how much the failure might upset you at that particular fleeting moment of mass confusion. -
My Grandfather Sang It
From guest Koda in Vegas (contact)
It's bringing in the rye, whisky. Mean while she's going home inebriated and wet. -
does poem is about the novel
From guest faye (contact)
hey is that mean that they have connection from the poem and the novel please answer me becuz i have to know what is the realations between them -
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For guest Faye
Simply look at the time when Burns lived and wrote this and the time when Salinger lived and wrote his novel. Burns got there first by a long stretch and it was Salinger who used the verses in his novel both as an inspiration and tribute.
Jim
PS as well as setting homework didn't your teacher teach you to be polite when asking questions?
GG
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does poem is about the novel
From guest faye (contact)
i wounder if this poem it could use at novel at cather in the rye?????? please someone answer me !!!!!! -
its wonder ful
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From guest jamesy (contact)
not about drink then and the perils and loosing (sic) of morals while 'wet' 'soaked' or any other slang you care to use ? -
This Poem is About Sex
From guest Jeremy (contact)
"She has draggled all her petticoats / Coming through the rye!" Petticoats were/are an undergarment warn my women (and men). Why would Jenny be dragging her undergarment from the rye after she is "all wet"? Think of the imagery, she is dragging her petticoat. Not only is she dragging one petticoat but ALL her petticoats. She is not carefully picking it up after she's gone for a swim in the live giving river. She is dragging petticoat through the rye in the after glow of sex. Wake up people. Humanity has been having casual sex for a long time, even within the elite of sexually repressed societies (and it would seem some commenter’s here are still sexually repressed). Lets consider something else. "Oh, Jenny's all wet, poor body, / Jenny's seldom dry". Guess what all you people who have trouble talking about the one act that humanity needs to survive. Jenny is "wet" because she is sexually stimulated. Yes that is correct, surprise, women get "wet" when they are sexually stimulated. So unless you are some puritin idealist who desires to be in some neurotically fabricated 18th century world of supposed "sexual purity" this poem is most certainly about casual sex. The man was 23 when he wrote it. Get a grip. I suggest to all those who do not think this poem was about sex should read Michel Foucault's "History of Sexuality". -
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The Rye
From guest Rena Navon (contact)
A beautiful poem with the universal theme of love, expressed through an idiom not too familiar to Americans yet full of folk feeling and romantic content. My husband and I are enjoying it after a pleasant lunch and find Burns a most delightful dessert. -
Favorite Poem
From guest Poetry Lover (contact)
I love the use of imagery in this poem. It is used exquisitely by Robert Burns throughout the poem. <3 -
Translation!
From guest Abbie (contact)
Oh, Jenny's all wet, poor body / Jenny's seldom dry / She draggled [dragged and dirtied] all her petticoats, / Coming through the rye [a type of grain/or a River, which could be why she was all wet]. / [sex references?; completely socially unacceptable in this time period] // // Coming through the rye, poor body, / Coming through the rye, / She draggled all her petticoats / Coming through the rye. / [coming out of a field of grass (or across a river, whatever you want to read into it, she's getting muddy; which is more of her being socially unacceptable] // // If a body meet a body / Coming through the rye / If a body kiss a body, / Need a body cry? / [Basically saying (as far as I can tell), If I make out with someone, ect. and it's just the two of us, is it really that big of a deal?] // // If a body meet a body / Coming through the glen [valley] / If a body kiss a body / Need the whole world know? / [If the two of us are doing things all by ourselves, it's our own business, and why does everyone care and make it their business?] // // If a body meet a body / Coming through the grain / If a body kiss a body / The thing's a body's own. / [It's absolutely none of your beeswax WHAT we do] // // // // So, this entire thing is set in a time when sex was not OK, but Burns is just saying: why do you care what we do? You shouldn't. -
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River or Field
Does "the rye" refer to a field of grain or to a river? It could work either way, but field of grain is more likely. Plenty of wetness there (and it's Scotland, to boot). Fields of grain = fertility. Etc. -
Meaning
From guest poemfan (contact)
Whether he means a body of water or a field of rye, the meaning of the poem remains the same. It is literally about sneaking off into the surrounding fields to have sex in a time when pre-marital sex was frowned upon, and looking deeper is about one's life being their own and to live free and enjoy life unhindered by the expectations and criteria of society. It is a beautifully written piece of art, and is amazingly intertwined throughout the story of The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. -
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Havey
From guest Harvey Bond (contact)
Interesting comments. First off I feel the Rye is a river, but I don't know. Logically it makes sense to me. If this poem is about life, that is great, but all poems do not have to have hidden meaning. But life and love and sex do go together. And I will shut up from there. If Robert Burns is a poet I learned about 50 years ago in school, but now it is great to see this song/poem and the comments from all you writers, poets, and readers on the site. Hugs Hab. -
Poetry and Songs
From guest Harvey Bond (contact)
We have a deafblind poetry group. One member brought up some of these words in the song, so I looked it up and here I am. Thanks for sharing it. Hugs Hab. -
From guest k (contact)
Holden distorts the word "meet" into "catch." This is certainly not the first time Holden is guilty of distortion; indeed he is a master at it. This distortion, however, shows us how much Allie's death has affected Holden and also how much he fears his own fall from innocence, the theme that threads its way throughout the whole of the book. By this amazing book's end, we must reach the conclusion that there are times when we all need a "catcher in the rye." We are, indeed, blessed if we have one. -
A body of water?
From guest Emile (contact)
The whole point is that you wouldn't get your petticoats wet by going through a field. That's the whole point! Come on, think, what's the obvious implication? -
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For Guest Emile
It would appear that you have never walked through a field on a morning or after a storm. Speaking from long experience it is easy to get wet and bedragled in such circumstances from the dew or raindrops on the long grass (or in this case rye).
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NOT A RIVER
From guest Lee (contact)
The rye is not a river. It would be "o'er the rye" in that case, and Burns was obsessive about capitalization and would most certainly have not used a lower-case r for a proper noun. For more info, read this NYT article in which his Scottish biographer and expert answers this question which was brought up over 100 years ago. http://query.nytimes.com/gs t/abstract.html?res=9B0CE7D7133BEF34BC4F53DFB767838E669FDE -
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Anyone who reads that final stanza should be under no illusion the word corn makes it clear that RYE refers to the cereal crop. Why would Burns be kissing someone "in" a river? much more likely to be in a field of growing corn.
There is no need for off-site references
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this poem and similiarities with cather and the rye
From guest sweet rainbow (contact)
just finsh " the catcher and the rye and i have some issues about how holden and his whole life similiar to this poem...really confused..please help me.... -
This Poem in relation to Catcher in the Rye.
From guest Autumn (contact)
I just finished reading Catcher, but I find myself going back to when he's answering Phoebe's question of what he really really likes(even though throught the book he is constantly bringing up the things he hates and the things that depress him most)His first thought is an old aquianance at his old school that had a tragic accident and fell out a window and died. Then he brings up this poem's corus(in which he first gets wrong by saying "if a body catch a body..." and Phoebe corrects him and he goes on telling her that his interpritaion of the corus is thousands of kids in a field(of rye) and this field is surrounded by a cliff and when the children almost fall he catches them. He likes being the catcher in the rye. I think that to understand the book and the poem, you first have to interperit them seperately, and even then, it is all based on perception. And to me Burns and Salinger are amazing writers and poets due to thier ability to wirte something so beautiful and let it be vauge and broad enough so that people may see it in thier own way and connect with others through the various interpritaions of the book and poem. -
From guest xxjustkillmexx (contact)
one of the most true poems ive evr heard. Reminds me to keep living. -
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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