Ah, Woe is me, my Mother Dear by Robert Burns
The speaker laments to his mother that she has borne him into a life of conflict. Though he has neither lent money for profit nor borrowed from others, he is hated, insulted, and scorned. Rejected by Fortune and denied coin, he is continually abused and mocked by both lads and lasses.
By Robert Burns · First published 1808 · Genre: Poetry, Biblical Paraphrase, Religious Poetry · 134 words
First lines
Paraphrase of Jeremiah, 15th Chap., 10th verse.
Ah, woe is me, my mother dear! / A man of strife ye've born me: / For sair contention I maun bear; / They hate, revile, and scorn me.
I ne'er could lend on bill or band, / That five per cent. might blest me; / And borrowing, on the tither hand, / The deil a ane wad trust me.
Yet I, a coin-denied wight, / By Fortune quite discarded; / Ye see how I am, day and night, / By lad and lass blackguarded!
What this Textopian page supports
Ah, Woe is me, my Mother Dear is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1808 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Burns
- Date: 1808 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Poetry, Biblical Paraphrase, Religious Poetry, Satirical Poetry, Scottish Vernacular Poetry
- Length: 134 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
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- Work identity for Ah, Woe is me, my Mother Dear by Robert Burns
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- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Genres
- Poetry — The work is a short lyric poem composed in rhymed stanzas and verse lines.
- Biblical Paraphrase — It explicitly identifies itself as a paraphrase of Jeremiah 15:10, adapting the biblical speaker's lament into Burns's language and setting.
- Religious Poetry — Its central source is scripture, and its themes of suffering, hostility, and misfortune derive from a biblical prophetic lament.
- Satirical Poetry — Burns humorously recasts Jeremiah's anguish in financial and social terms, including loans, interest, credit, and public abuse.
Tags
Scottish vernacular poetry · paraphrase of Jeremiah · biblical adaptation · lament · complaint poem · maternal address · social conflict · ostracism · public scorn · insults and ridicule · misfortune · Fortune