One Queen Artemisia, as Old Stories Tell
The poem contrasts Queen Artemisia’s extravagant act of devotion after her husband’s death with Queen Netherplace’s miserly attitude toward her own dead lord. Artemisia reduces her husband’s remains to dust and drinks them as a sign of love and affection. Queen Netherplace, however, would consume her husband not from respect or grief, but merely to avoid the cost of a funeral.
By Robert Burns · First published 1799 · Genre: Satirical Poetry, Epigram, Comic Verse · 106 words
First lines
One Queen Artemisia, as old stories tell, / When deprived of her husband she loved so well, / In respect for the love and affection he show'd her, / She reduc'd him to dust and she drank up the powder. / But Queen Netherplace, of a diff'rent complexion, / When called on to order the fun'ral direction, / Would have eat her dead lord, on a slender pretence, / Not to show her respect, but-to save the expense!
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Genres
- Satirical Poetry — The poem humorously contrasts two widows' extreme responses to their husbands' deaths, using irony to mock both ostentatious devotion and miserly self-interest.
- Epigram — Its brief, pointed structure culminates in a sharp comic contrast and a concise satirical punchline about saving funeral expenses.
- Comic Verse — The rhymed narrative uses absurd imagery, exaggerated behavior, and a deliberately humorous final reversal.
- Mock-Heroic Poetry — The poem invokes Queen Artemisia and elevated language associated with classical historical anecdote, then undercuts this dignity through the trivial and grotesque motive attributed to Queen Netherplace.
Tags
satirical poetry · mock-heroic verse · comic comparison · widowhood · marital devotion · mourning · funeral customs · death · grief · Queen Artemisia · Queen Netherplace · classical antiquity
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One Queen Artemisia, as Old Stories Tell is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1799 CE.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Burns
- Date: 1799 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Satirical Poetry, Epigram, Comic Verse, Mock-Heroic Poetry, Social Satire
- Length: 106 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
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