The Henpecked Husband by Robert Burns
The speaker curses the miserable husband enslaved by a tyrannical wife. Such a man has no independence, no money under his own control, must betray his friends’ confidences to her, and fears her private scoldings more than hell. The speaker declares that, if burdened with such a wife, he would violently subdue her spirit or heart, threaten her with a switch, flirt with her maids, and kick her.
By Robert Burns · First published 1792 · Genre: Satirical Poetry, Comic Verse, Social Satire · 132 words
First lines
Curs'd be the man, the poorest wretch in life, / The crouching vassal to a tyrant wife! / Who has no will but by her high permission, / Who has not sixpence but in her possession; / Who must to he, his dear friend's secrets tell, / Who dreads a curtain lecture worse than hell. / Were such the wife had fallen to my part, / I'd break her spirit or I'd break her heart; / I'd charm her with the magic of a switch, / I'd kiss her maids, and kick the perverse bitch.
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The Henpecked Husband is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1792 CE.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Burns
- Date: 1792 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Satirical Poetry, Comic Verse, Social Satire, Marriage Satire, Invective
- Length: 132 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
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Genres
- Satirical Poetry — The poem uses exaggerated, hostile comic complaint to ridicule the figure of the domineering wife and the submissive husband.
- Comic Verse — Its force comes from hyperbole, insults, and a deliberately outrageous depiction of marital conflict.
- Social Satire — The work comments on marriage, household authority, male insecurity, and perceived reversals of patriarchal power.
- Marriage Satire — The central subject is a husband's fear of being controlled by his wife, especially through money, secrets, and domestic reprimands.
Tags
Scottish vernacular poetry · eighteenth-century Scotland · satirical verse · marital conflict · henpecked husband · domineering wife · gender roles · marital power struggle · male resentment · domestic tyranny · financial control in marriage · loss of male independence