Extempore - on Some Commemorations of Thomson
written in 1791
Extempore - on Some Commemorations of Thomson - context Summary
Composed 1791: Patronage Critique
Burns responds to public commemorations of another poet with sharp irony, exposing the hypocrisy of those who ignored or let poets starve in life and then honor them in death. The speaker imagines the offended shade of the dead poet noticing how former neglectors now "adorn" his grave. The poem links personal struggle and artistic pride, arguing that seeking noble patronage demands a bitter independence: one must first learn to live without it. It reflects Burns’s recurring concern with patronage, dignity, and the precarious condition of working poets.
Read Complete AnalysesDost thou not rise, indignant Shade, And smile wi' spurning scorn, When they wha wad hae starv'd thy life, Thy senseless turf adorn. They wha about thee make sic fuss Now thou art buy a name, Wad seen thee damn'd ere they had spar'd Ae plack to fill thy wame. Helpless, alane, thou clamb the brae, Wi' meikle, meikle toil, And claught th' unfading garland there, Thy sair-won, rightful spoil. And wear it there! and call aloud, This axiom undoubted- 'Wouldst thou hae Nobles' patronage, First learn to live without it! To whom hae much, shall yet be given, Is every Great man's faith; But he, the helpless, needful wretch, Shall lose the mite he hath.
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