To a Louse, on Seeing One on a Lady's Bonnet, at
The speaker notices a louse crawling boldly over the gauze and lace of a finely dressed lady’s bonnet during church. He rebukes the “ugly, creepin” creature for daring to walk on such a lady and urges it to seek food instead among poor people, beggars, old women, or boys, where lice can gather undisturbed. Yet the louse continues upward until it reaches the highest point of Miss’ bonnet, conspicuously exposed. The speaker imagines giving it a harsh treatment to remove it and marvels that it would choose her fine Lunardi rather than humbler clothing. Addressing Jeany, he warns her not to toss her head or display her beauty, because the louse’s movement may attract notice through nearby winks and pointing fingers. He ends by wishing that people had the power to see themselves as others see them, since such insight would free them from vanity, foolish notions, airs in dress and behaviour, and even pretensions in devotion.
By Robert Burns · First published 1786 · Genre: Satirical Poetry, Scottish Vernacular Poetry, Social Satire · 479 words
First lines
Ha! whaur ye gaun, ye crowlin ferlie? / Your impudence protects you sairly; / I canna say but ye strunt rarely, / Owre gauze and lace; / Tho', faith! I fear ye dine but sparely / On sic a place.
Ye ugly, creepin, blastit wonner, / Detested, shunn'd by saunt an' sinner, / How daur ye set your fit upon her- / Sae fine a lady? / Gae somewhere else and seek your dinner / On some poor body.
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Genres
- Satirical Poetry — The poem uses comic ridicule to expose vanity, class prejudice, and superficial displays of piety through the image of a louse climbing a fashionable woman's bonnet in church.
- Scottish Vernacular Poetry — Burns writes predominantly in Scots dialect, using regional vocabulary, pronunciation, rhythms, and social observation associated with eighteenth-century Scottish vernacular verse.
- Social Satire — Its central target is social hierarchy: the speaker considers the louse acceptable on poor people but scandalous on an elegantly dressed lady, revealing the irrationality of class-based judgments.
- Mock-Heroic Poetry — The poem treats a trivial subject—a louse on a bonnet—with elevated dramatic intensity and elaborate moral reflection, creating comic disproportion between subject and style.
Tags
Scottish poetry · Scots language · satirical poem · church setting · eighteenth-century Scotland · social class · female fashion · bonnet · lace and gauze · louse · infestation · vanity
What this Textopian page supports
To a Louse, on Seeing One on a Lady's Bonnet, at Church is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1786 CE.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Burns
- Date: 1786 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Satirical Poetry, Scottish Vernacular Poetry, Social Satire, Mock-Heroic Poetry, Comic Poetry
- Length: 479 words
- Structure: 1 section, 8 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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