To the Memory of the Unfortunate Miss Burns
written in 1791
To the Memory of the Unfortunate Miss Burns - context Summary
Composed in 1791
Written in 1791 as a short elegy, the poem memorializes a woman called Miss Burns and uses her death to underline the transience of youthful beauty. The speaker compares her to a fading flower and records how she once attracted many admirers in Edinburgh. The poem shifts from lament to moral caution, addressing other women to "turn from your evil ways" before their own decline. The identity of Miss Burns as a relative of the poet is not confirmed, and the piece functions as both a commemoration and a conventional moralizing obituary common to the period.
Read Complete AnalysesLike to a fading flower in May, Which Gardner cannot save, So Beauty must, sometime, decay And drop into the grave. Fair Burns, for long the talk and toast Of many a gaudy Beau, That Beauty has forever lost That made each bosom glow. Think, fellow sisters, on her fate! Think, think how short her days! Oh! Think, and, e'er it be too late, Turn from your evil ways. Beneath this cold, green sod lies dead That once bewitching dame That fired Edina's lustful sons, And quench'd their glowing flame.
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