Pegasus at Wanlockhead by Robert Burns
Apollo, travelling on foot with Pegasus through frosty hills because the horse is a poor walker, seeks Vulcan’s help to provide Pegasus with a frost-proof shoe. Vulcan promptly does the work after Apollo pays him with a sonnet. The speaker then appeals to Vulcan’s sons of Wanlockhead to pity his own badly shod Pegasus and promises to reward them as Apollo rewarded Vulcan.
By Robert Burns · First published 1808 · Genre: Occasional poetry, Comic poetry, Satirical poetry · 138 words
First lines
With Pegasus upon a day, / Apollo, weary flying, / Through frosty hills the journey lay, / On foot the way was plying.
Poor slipshod giddy Pegasus / Was but a sorry walker; / To Vulcan then Apollo goes, / To get a frosty caulker.
Obliging Vulcan fell to work, / Threw by his coat and bonnet, / And did Sol's business in a crack; / Sol paid him with a sonnet.
Ye Vulcan's sons of Wanlockhead, / Pity my sad disaster; / My Pegasus is poorly shod, / I'll pay you like my master.
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Genres
- Occasional poetry — The poem was composed for a specific local occasion at Wanlockhead, addressing its workers and playfully requesting assistance for the poet's figurative Pegasus.
- Comic poetry — Its central joke is the imagined inconvenience of Pegasus having to travel on foot through frosty hills and needing protective shoeing.
- Satirical poetry — Burns lightly satirizes elevated classical-poetic conventions by reducing Apollo and Pegasus to practical concerns about winter travel and payment.
- Mythological burlesque — Classical figures including Apollo, Pegasus, Vulcan, and Sol are treated in a deliberately low, domestic, and humorous manner.
Tags
Scottish poetry · eighteenth-century literature · humorous verse · occasional poem · mythological allusion · Apollo · Pegasus · Vulcan · classical mythology · Wanlockhead · frosty hills · winter travel
What this Textopian page supports
Pegasus at Wanlockhead is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1808 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: 1808 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Occasional poetry, Comic poetry, Satirical poetry, Mythological burlesque, Lyric poetry
- Length: 138 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
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