[First Setting]

Comin thro' the rye, poor body,

     Comin thro' the rye,

She draigl't a' her petticoatie

     Comin thro' the rye

 

[Chorus]

               Oh Jenny 's a' weet poor body

        Jenny 's seldom dry,

          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.

          Oh Jenny 's a' weet, &c.

Gin a body meet a body

     Comin thro' the glen;

Gin a body kiss a body —

     Need the warld ken!

          Oh Jenny 's a' weet, &c. 

 

 

 

[Second Setting]

 

Gin a body meet a body, comin thro' the rye,

Gin a body kiss a body, need a body cry;

Ilka body has a body, ne'er a ane hae I;

But a' the lads they loe me, and what the waur am I.

Gin a body meet a body, comin frae the well,

Gin a body kiss a body, need a body tell;

Ilka body has a body, ne'er a ane hae I,

But a the lads they loe me, and what the waur am I.

Gin a body meet a body, comin frae the town,

Gin a body kiss a body, need a body gloom;

Ilka Jenny has her Jockey, ne'er a ane hae I,

But a' the lads they loe me, and what the waur am I.  

While Holden was in Broadway saw a children singing "If a body catch a body coming through the rye"; also, it's the that he gives to Phoebe when she asked him what does he want to do with his life. Holden says that he imagines a field of rye on a cliff, and it's full with children playing. Immediately, Phoebe corrected him by telling him that the actual lyrics is "If a body meet a body coming through the rye", from the Robert Burns poem. This shows the metaphor in the book's title; the rye field stands as a symbol of childhood and it's the limit that divides childhood of adulthood, which is also part of the topics from the poem. When Holden says he wants to be a catcher in the rye, he actually mean to be a kind of savior or hero of the children's innocence in the world around him.