Epitaph on "Wee Johnie" by Robert Burns
This epitaph announces that wee Johnie has been killed by Death and lies buried deep. Addressing any reader who encounters the grave, it adds that Johnie never possessed a soul.
By Robert Burns · First published 1786 · Genre: Epitaph, Elegy, Satirical Poetry · 46 words
First lines
Hic Jacet wee Johnie.
Whoe'er thou art, O reader, know / That Death has murder'd Johnie; / An' here his body lies fu' low; / For saul he ne'er had ony.
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Genres
- Epitaph — The poem explicitly takes the form of a grave inscription, announcing Wee Johnie's burial and addressing a reader at his resting place.
- Elegy — It laments Johnie's death in compressed form, emphasizing his murder, bodily burial, and absence of a soul.
- Satirical Poetry — The mock-solemn Latin opening and blunt assertion that the dead man had no soul create darkly comic, irreverent satire.
- Humorous Poetry — Its joke depends on the comic contrast between conventional memorial language and the insulting final claim about Johnie's soul.
Tags
Scottish poetry · Scots language · epitaph · grave inscription · death · burial · mortality · murder by Death · graveyard · dead child · wee Johnie · reader address
What this Textopian page supports
Epitaph on "Wee Johnie" is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1786 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: 1786 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Epitaph, Elegy, Satirical Poetry, Humorous Poetry, Scottish Dialect Poetry
- Length: 46 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
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