Address
Still anxious to secure your partial favour,And not less anxious, sure, this night, than ever,A Prologue, Epilogue, or some such matter,’Twould vamp my bill, said I, if nothing better;So sought a poet, roosted near the skies,Told him I came to feast my curious eyes;Said, nothing like his works was ever printed;And last, my prologue-business slily hinted.“Ma’am, let me tell you,” quoth my man of rhymes,“I know your bent—these are no laughing times:Can you—but, Miss, I own I have my fears—Dissolve in pause, and sentimental tears;With laden sighs, and solemn-rounded sentence,Rouse from his sluggish slumbers, fell Repentance;Paint Vengeance as he takes his horrid stand,Waving on high the desolating brand,Calling the storms to bear him o’er a guilty land?”
I could no more—askance the creature eyeing,“D’ye think,” said I, “this face was made for crying?I’ll laugh, that’s poz-nay more, the world shall know it;And so, your servant! gloomy Master Poet!”
Firm as my creed, Sirs, ’tis my fix’d belief,That Misery’s another word for Grief:I also think—so may I be a bride!That so much laughter, so much life enjoy’d.
Thou man of crazy care and ceaseless sigh,Still under bleak Misfortune’s blasting eye;Doom’d to that sorest task of man alive—To make three guineas do the work of five:Laugh in Misfortune’s face—the beldam witch!Say, you’ll be merry, tho’ you can’t be rich.
Thou other man of care, the wretch in love,Who long with jiltish airs and arts hast strove;Who, as the boughs all temptingly project,Measur’st in desperate thought—a rope—thy neck—Or, where the beetling cliff o’erhangs the deep,Peerest to meditate the healing leap:Would’st thou be cur’d, thou silly, moping elf?Laugh at her follies—laugh e’en at thyself:Learn to despise those frowns now so terrific,And love a kinder—that’s your grand specific.
To sum up all, be merry, I advise;And as we’re merry, may we still be wise.
Words in this poem
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- vamp v. i.
- To advance; to travel.
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- sentimental a.
- Having, expressing, or containing a sentiment or sentiments; abounding with moral reflections; containing a moral reflection; didactic. [Cf. F. sentimental.]
- horrid a.
- Rough; rugged; bristling. [L. horridus. See Horror, and cf. Ordure.]
- askance adv.
- Sideways; obliquely; with a side glance; with disdain, envy, or suspicion. [Cf. D. schuin, schuins, sideways, schuiven to shove, schuinte slope. Cf. Asquint.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- ceaseless a.
- Without pause or end; incessant.
- beldam n.
- Grandmother; -- corresponding to belsire. [Pref. bel-, denoting relationship + dame mother: cf. F. belledame fair lady, It. belladonna. See Belle, and Dame.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- desperate a.
- Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [L. desperatus, p. p. of desperare. See Despair, and cf. Desperado.]
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Address is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, Project Gutenberg ebook #1279; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Burns, Address, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/address.html, id L03343.
Form and metre
Address is 43 lines in 6 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 74% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ----AABBCCDDEEFFF favour · ever · matter · better · skiesA · eyesA · printedB · hintedB · rhymesC · timesC · fearsD · tearsD · sentenceE · repentanceE · standF · brandF · landF
- 2 AABB eyeingA · cryingA · itB · poetB
- 3 AA-- beliefA · griefA · bride · enjoy'd
- 4 AABBCC sighA · eyeA · aliveB · fiveB · witchC · richC
- 5 ----AABBCC love · strove · project · neck · deepA · leapA · elfB · thyselfB · terrificC · specificC
- 6 AA adviseA · wiseA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Still anxious to secure your partial favour, | 11 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| And not less anxious, sure, this night, than ever, | 10 | ···/˘····/ |
| A Prologue, Epilogue, or some such matter, | 11 | ·/˘/˘····/˘ |
| ’Twould vamp my bill, said I, if nothing better; | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| So sought a poet, roosted near the skies, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Told him I came to feast my curious eyes; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Said, nothing like his works was ever printed; | 10 | ·/˘····//˘ |
| And last, my prologue-business slily hinted. | 11 | ···/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| “Ma’am, let me tell you,” quoth my man of rhymes, | 10 | ·········· |
| “I know your bent—these are no laughing times: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Can you—but, Miss, I own I have my fears— | 10 | ·········· |
| Dissolve in pause, and sentimental tears; | 10 | ˘/····˘/˘· |
| With laden sighs, and solemn-rounded sentence, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Rouse from his sluggish slumbers, fell Repentance; | 11 | ···/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Paint Vengeance as he takes his horrid stand, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Waving on high the desolating brand, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Calling the storms to bear him o’er a guilty land?” | 12 | /˘·······/˘· |
| I could no more—askance the creature eyeing, | 11 | ····˘/·/˘/˘ |
| “D’ye think,” said I, “this face was made for crying? | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| I’ll laugh, that’s poz-nay more, the world shall know it; | 11 | ··········· |
| And so, your servant! gloomy Master Poet!” | 11 | ···/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Firm as my creed, Sirs, ’tis my fix’d belief, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| That Misery’s another word for Grief: | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘··· |
| I also think—so may I be a bride! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| That so much laughter, so much life enjoy’d. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Thou man of crazy care and ceaseless sigh, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Still under bleak Misfortune’s blasting eye; | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| Doom’d to that sorest task of man alive— | 10 | ········˘/ |
| To make three guineas do the work of five: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Laugh in Misfortune’s face—the beldam witch! | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Say, you’ll be merry, tho’ you can’t be rich. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Thou other man of care, the wretch in love, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Who long with jiltish airs and arts hast strove; | 10 | ·········· |
| Who, as the boughs all temptingly project, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Measur’st in desperate thought—a rope—thy neck— | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Or, where the beetling cliff o’erhangs the deep, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Peerest to meditate the healing leap: | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Would’st thou be cur’d, thou silly, moping elf? | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Laugh at her follies—laugh e’en at thyself: | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Learn to despise those frowns now so terrific, | 11 | ··˘/····˘/˘ |
| And love a kinder—that’s your grand specific. | 10 | ···/···˘/˘ |
| To sum up all, be merry, I advise; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| And as we’re merry, may we still be wise. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
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