Ode on the Departed Regency Bill by Robert Burns
The ode invokes the departed spirit of the Regency Bill, imagined as a child of Chaos and a source of countless hopes and fears. The speaker calls it forth from civil tumult, the underworld, or the Void, urging it to remember what it once was and to tell humanity the story of its troubled fate. Its career is associated with a Monarch’s stricken condition, a divided State, a generous Prince’s injuries, contentious senators, ministerial pride, public commotion, corrupt addresses, the worship of power and wealth, and despised poverty. The spirit is told to warn presumptuous Hope against rushing blindly forward, while also teaching the afflicted never to surrender to despair. It is asked to depict Charles racing toward an eagerly desired success, the triumph of the Portland Band, and the rejoicing of a mixed crowd whose interests are bound up with “Principal and Interest” and their creditors. Yet at the moment their hopes seem ready for fulfilment, the cry of “Convalescence!” causes the vision to disappear. The ode then imagines a sudden reversal: the bright morning is darkened, Ambition is carried toward an untimely grave by despairing fiends, and high D[undas] stands on the brink of ruin as fate drives him toward a clamorous hell. A figure lately towering in pride is brought low, like Lucifer, seemingly unable to rise again. Nevertheless, the powerful word is pronounced once more, and Day returns victorious over night. The poem’s moral is that mankind’s darkest fears may prove groundless and its brightest hopes may fail.
By Robert Burns · First published 1789 · Genre: Political Poetry, Ode, Satirical Poetry · 850 words
First lines
(March, 1789)
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Genres
- Political Poetry — The poem directly addresses the British Regency Crisis of 1788–1789, invoking the king's illness, parliamentary conflict, rival political figures, factional struggle, and the anticipated Regency Bill.
- Ode — Its elevated invocatory manner, apostrophe to an abstract spirit, ceremonial rhetoric, and public subject conform to the tradition of the political ode.
- Satirical Poetry — Burns mockingly depicts political factions, creditors, borough addresses, ambition, power, wealth, and prominent ministers through exaggerated and ironic imagery.
- Occasional Poetry — The work was composed in response to a specific contemporary political event: the apparent failure of the Regency Bill following George III's recovery.
Tags
political satire · British Regency crisis · late Georgian Britain · 1789 · King George III's illness · Prince of Wales · Regency Bill · parliamentary conflict · factional politics · ministerial ambition · Charles James Fox · William Pitt's Portland allies
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Ode on the Departed Regency Bill is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1789 CE.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Burns
- Date: 1789 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Political Poetry, Ode, Satirical Poetry, Occasional Poetry, Allegorical Poetry
- Length: 850 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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