Comin Thro’ the Rye by Robert Burns is written in a Scottish ‘dialect’, thus making it difficult for the average English speaker to interpret. For instance, the vocabulary was very foreign. Words like ‘weet, draigl’t, gin, warld, ken’ would have been unheard of by the majority of English speakers. Even if the definitions of the strange words were explained, understanding the poem is still challenging. A factor to this is the repetitive use of imagery to symbolize certain objects. For instance, “O, Jenny’s a’ weet, poor body,” can mean many things. However, the line may most likely symbolize Jenny’s emotional puddle. In addition, the line “Jenny’s seldom dry” may mean how Jenny is seldom out of her emotional sadness. The root of her possible sadness maybe derived from the repeating lines, “Gin a body meet a body” and “Gin a body kiss a body.” This may show how Jenny may be sexually active and that she is being judged for that, thus causing her to be sad. Also, because the poem’s true meaning is like an enigma, it also makes the interpretation of the poem’s mood and tone tough. For instance, Burns uses words such as ‘drag, wet, poor, and cry’ showing that the poem may have a depressing town. However, Burns also uses exclamation marks that could either exaggerate the sadness of the poem, or the complete opposite. Robert Burns also uses rhyme and rhythm to hint the importance of certain words, despite the poem being hard to understand by most people. Some words he may be emphasizing are ‘rye/dry’ and ‘glen/ken’.
With the limited information I have, I believe the poem’s meaning is along the lines of Jenny encountering judgemental opinions about her being sexually active. However, I do not believe Robert Burns may be trying to prove. I believe Burns is stressing a more broader and less literal issue because the imaginary Jenny and her social problems are not significant. I presume Burns’ poem revolves around the issues of hardship, which somewhat is related to the title “Comin Thro’ the Rye.” The rye may represent hardship and struggles of a human being’s life.
