A Toast
Lines on the Commemoration of Rodney's Victory. Written in 1793
A Toast - context Summary
Composed After Rodney's Victory
Robert Burns's "A Toast" was written in 1793 as lines commemorating Admiral Rodney's victory at the Battle of the Saintes. Posed as a convivial drinking toast, the poem honors those lost in the action and insists their fame endures. It ties patriotic loyalty to the king with support for the constitution born of the Revolution, and it repudiates political extremes by condemning both anarchy and tyranny. Burns uses the social frame of a toast to connect remembrance of the dead with contemporary political allegiance and national unity.
Read Complete AnalysesInstead of a song, boys, I'll give you a toast, Here's the memory of those on the twelfth that we lost; That we lost, did I say, nay, by heav'n that we found, For their fame it shall last while the world goes round. The next in succession, I'll give you the King, Whoe'er wou'd betray him, on high may he swing; And here's the grand fabric, our free Constitution, As built on the base of our great Revolution; And longer with Politics, not to be cramm'd, Be Anarchy curs'd, and be Tyranny damn'd; And who wou'd to Liberty e'er prove disloyal, May his son be a hangman, and he his first trial.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.