Inscribed on a Work of Hannah More's
The speaker receives a work from a lady as a flattering token of kind friendship. Its pages will remind him of the dear and beautiful giver, whose feminine qualities, intelligence, and especially heart honour both sexes. He praises her refined and just taste in choosing the gift, though he modestly calls her approval of himself a deviation from that judgment. He promises to remember the giver through the gift, bless her, and wish her a Friend above the sky.
By Robert Burns · First published 1787 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Dedication · 145 words
First lines
Presented to the Author by a Lady.
Thou flatt'ring mark of friendship kind, / Still may thy pages call to mind / The dear, the beauteous donor; / Tho' sweetly female ev'ry part, / Yet such a head, and more the heart / Does both the sexes honour: / She show'd her taste refin'd and just, / When she selected thee; / Yet deviating, own I must, / For sae approving me: / But kind still I'll mind still / The giver in the gift; / I'll bless her, an' wiss her / A Friend aboon the lift.
What this Textopian page supports
Inscribed on a Work of Hannah More's is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1787 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: 1787 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Dedication
- Length: 145 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Inscribed on a Work of Hannah More's 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
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The rhyming stanza expresses the speaker's affection, gratitude, and self-deprecating response to a gift.
- Dedication — The inscription addresses the presented book and commemorates the lady who gave it.
Tags
Scottish poetry · 18th-century poetry · occasional verse · presentation poem · dedication poem · friendship · gift-giving · literary gift · admiration · praise of women · female virtue · female intelligence