The Toadeater by Robert Burns
The speaker mocks someone who boasts of knowing lords and dining with dukes: an insect remains an insect even when it crawls on a queen's curl.
By Robert Burns · Genre: Epigram, Satirical Poetry · 45 words
First lines
Of Lordly acquaintance you boast, / And the Dukes that you dined wi' yestreen, / Yet an insect's an insect at most, / Tho' it crawl on the curl of a Queen!
Genres
- Epigram — Four rhyming lines answer a boast of noble acquaintances with a pointed comparison to an insect.
- Satirical Poetry — The insect comparison ridicules the boaster's claim to importance through proximity to aristocrats.
Tags
aristocracy · boasting · social pretension · satire · epigram
What this Textopian page supports
The Toadeater is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated Date unknown.
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: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Epigram, Satirical Poetry
- Length: 45 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
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