To a Painter

To a Painter - meaning Summary

Familiar Vice, Tricky Virtue

In this brief, playful poem Burns addresses a painter with ironic advice: rather than attempting to paint angels, the artist should try painting the Devil. Burns argues that angels are difficult subjects—"kittle wark"—because their unfamiliarity makes them hard to render convincingly, while the Devil, being a familiar trope, is easier to depict. The lines work as a witty observation about representation and the artist's choice of subject, suggesting that depicting the known or sensational (vice, mischief) is simpler and perhaps more rewarding than striving after idealized virtue.