Lines on the Author's Death by Robert Burns
The speaker announces that the man who sang of Rankine now lies dead and buried beneath a green grassy hillock. The brief elegy stresses the stark, dreadful change from life and song to stillness and burial.
By Robert Burns · First published 1787 · Genre: Poetry, Elegy, Satirical Poetry · 53 words
First lines
Written With The Supposed View Of / Being Handed To Rankine After The Poet's Interment
He who of Rankine sang, lies stiff and dead, / And a green grassy hillock hides his head; / Alas! alas! a devilish change indeed.
Similar titles
- Epitaph On Wm Hood Senr In Tarbolton by Robert Burns
- Threnody For A Poet by Bliss Carman
- Epitaph by Alice Meynell
- In The Room Of The Funeral Stelae by Edwina Stanton Babcock
- Elegy On The Death Of Robert Ruisseaux by Robert Burns
- A Gentlemans Epitaph On Himself And A Lady Who Were Buried Together by Thomas Hardy
Genres
- Poetry — This is a very short verse composition written in rhyming lines, making poetry its primary genre.
- Elegy — The poem imagines the speaker's death, burial, and grave, employing the conventional subject matter of elegiac verse.
- Satirical Poetry — Its mock-solemn treatment of the poet's supposed death and its reference to Rankine suggest a comic, self-aware satirical intent rather than sincere mourning.
- Epitaph — The lines resemble an imagined grave inscription: they announce the death, describe the burial mound, and summarize the deceased's relationship to Rankine.
Tags
elegy · epitaph · mock elegy · death · burial · grave · funeral · mourning · mortality · self-elegy · poet's death · posthumous verse
What this Textopian page supports
Lines on the Author's Death 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: Poetry, Elegy, Satirical Poetry, Epitaph, Humorous Poetry
- Length: 53 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Lines on the Author's Death 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