In the Character of a Ruined Farmer
A ruined farmer sits awake at night while the sun has set and all other creatures rest. Beset by sorrow, grief, and woe, he curses fickle Fortune as prosperous people sleep unaware of the storms that misery forces him to endure. He looks on his beloved wife, once his youthful pride, resting briefly despite the low condition into which she has been brought, and sees his small children sleeping safely in her arms. Their innocence deepens his anguish, for he fears what will become of them. He remembers when Fortune favoured him and he could help those in distress, but now he can scarcely earn life’s basic support. Though the grave seems welcome as an escape from his suffering, he cannot abandon his wife and children, whose fate without him torments him. Friendless, forsaken, and hopeless, he cannot find any direction or expect rest or peace again.
By Robert Burns · First published 1786 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Scottish Folk Song, Pastoral Poetry · 376 words
First lines
Tune-"Go from my window, Love, do."
The sun he is sunk in the west, / All creatures retired to rest, / While here I sit, all sore beset, / With sorrow, grief, and woe: / And it's O, fickle Fortune, O!
Similar titles
- Raging Fortune Fragment Of Song by Robert Burns
- A Death Song by William Morris
- My Father Was A Farmer by Robert Burns
- Ill Go And Be A Sodger by Robert Burns
- Green Grow The Rashes by Robert Burns
- Reminiscence by Thomas Gordon Hake
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a short, first-person poem centered on the speaker's immediate emotional suffering, using refrain, rhythm, and song-like expression.
- Scottish Folk Song — Written to the tune of "Go from my window, Love, do," it adopts the structure, repeated chorus, plain diction, and communal emotional register of a traditional song.
- Pastoral Poetry — Its speaker is a farmer, and its concerns arise from rural labor, economic hardship, family life, weather, and the instability of agricultural existence.
- Social Protest Poetry — The poem gives voice to rural poverty and the vulnerability of working people, implicitly contrasting the sleeping prosperous man with the suffering poor.
Tags
Scottish poetry · 18th-century Scotland · vernacular ballad · lyric poem · lament · ruined farmer · rural poverty · economic hardship · family distress · marital devotion · fatherhood · sleeping children
What this Textopian page supports
In the Character of a Ruined Farmer 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: Lyric Poetry, Scottish Folk Song, Pastoral Poetry, Social Protest Poetry, Elegiac Poetry
- Length: 376 words
- Structure: 1 section, 8 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for In the Character of a Ruined Farmer by Robert Burns
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph