On Findlater

On Findlater - meaning Summary

Exciseman Meets Gentleman

This very short address names Findlater and frames him as both an exciseman and a gentleman. In plain terms the speaker points him out, compressing social identity into a single, ironic label. The poem registers the uneasy overlap between a government revenue officer and the markers of gentility, suggesting either admiration, mockery, or social surprise depending on context. As a brief dramatic apostrophe it invites readers to weigh respectability against occupation and to notice how a single portrait can question class expectations.