Epigram on Francis Grose the Antiquary
The Devil got notice that Grose was a-dyingSo whip! at the summons, old Satan came flying;But when he approached where poor Francis lay moaning,And saw each bed-post with its burthen a-groaning,Astonish’d, confounded, cries Satan—“By God,I’ll want him, ere I take such a damnable load!”
Words in this poem
- damnable a.
- Liable to damnation; deserving, or for which one deserves, to be damned; of a damning nature. [L. damnabilis, fr. damnare: cf. F. damnable. See Damn.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Epigram on Francis Grose the Antiquary 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, Epigram on Francis Grose the Antiquary, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/epigram-on-francis-grose-the-antiquary.html, id L03186.
Form and metre
Epigram on Francis Grose the Antiquary is 6 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 67% of the lines. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 69% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.7 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in anapaestic tetrameter.
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 AABB-- dyingA · flyingA · moaningB · groaningB · god · load
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The Devil got notice that Grose was a-dying | 11 | ·/·/˘····/˘ |
| So whip! at the summons, old Satan came flying; | 12 | ····/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| But when he approached where poor Francis lay moaning, | 12 | ···˘/··/˘·/˘ |
| And saw each bed-post with its burthen a-groaning, | 12 | ·······/˘·/˘ |
| Astonish’d, confounded, cries Satan—“By God, | 11 | ˘/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| I’ll want him, ere I take such a damnable load!” | 12 | ········/˘˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.