Lines Addressed to Mr John Ranken
written in 1785
Lines Addressed to Mr John Ranken - meaning Summary
Chosen to Grace the Damned
Burns stages Death as a coachman ferrying a shameful, mixed crowd of sinners to the afterlife. Ashamed to travel among them, Death decides he must include at least one honest man to lend dignity. Spotting Robert Burns's friend John Ranken, Death promptly stops his breath, producing a darkly comic twist: the moral exemplar is taken from life to adorn a procession of the damned. The poem uses irony to reflect on social judgment, the precarious fate of the virtuous, and the absurdity of token virtue amid corruption.
Read Complete AnalysesAe day, as Death, that grusome carl, Was driving to the tither warl', A mixie-maxie motely squad, And mony a guilt-bespotted lad; Black gowns of each denomination, And thieves of every rank and station, For him that wears the star and garter To him that wintles in a halter: Asham'd himself to see the wretches, He mutters, glow'ring at the bitches, 'By God I'll not be seen behint them, 'Nor 'mang the sp'ritual core present them, 'Without, at least, ae honest man, 'To grace this damn'd infernal clan.' By Adamhill a glance he threw, 'Lord, God!' quoth he, 'I have it now, 'There's just the man I want, in faith,' And quickly stopped Ranken's breath.
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