Address to the Deil

Address to the Deil

Address to the Deil is a poem by Scottish poet Robert Burns. It was written in Mossgiel in 1785 and published in the "Kilmarnock volume" in 1786. It is generally considered one of Burns' best poems.Fact|date=August 2007

Overview

The poem was written as a humorous portrayal of the Devil and the pulpit oratory of the Presbyterian Church. The poem starts by quoting from Milton's "Paradise Lost" as a contrast with the first two lines of the poem itself:

:"O thou! Whatever title suit thee,:Auld Hornie, Satan, Nick or Clootie"

These lines are also a parody of a couplet in Alexander Pope's satire "The Dunciad".

The poem was written in a Habbie stanza with the stanza six lines long and the rhyme aaabab. Burns used a similar stanza in "Death and Doctor Hornbrook".

The poem is also skeptical of the Devil's existence and of his intentions to punish sinners for all eternity as in the stanza.

:Hear me, auld Hangie, for a wee, :An’ let poor damned bodies be; :I’m sure sma’ pleasure it can gie, ::Ev’n to a deil,:To skelp an’ scaud poor dogs like me, ::An’ hear us squeel!

This contrasts with the views contained in works such as "Paradise Lost" and the preachings of the Church.

References

Online References

* [http://www.bartleby.com/221/1007.html "The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes" Volume XI Chapter X on Burns]
* [http://www.robertburns.org/encyclopedia/AddresstotheDeil.2.shtml The Burns Encyclopedia article on "Address to the Deil"]

Other References

* Robert Burns "Robert Burns" Penguin Classics 1994 ISBN 0-14-042382-6
* David Punter, "A Companion to the Gothic" Blackwell Publishing 2001 ISBN 0-631-23199-4 page 73
* Robert Burns, "The Works of Robert Burns" Wordsworth Editions 1998 ISBN 1-85326-415-6 especially page 571
* Jerome J McGann, "Byron and Romanticism" Cambridge University Press 2002 ISBN 0-521-00722-4 page 269


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