Altered from an Old English Song
written in 1795
How cruel are the Parents Who riches only prize, And to the wealthy booby Poor Woman sacrifice: Meanwhile the hapless Daughter Has but a choice of strife; To shun a tyrant Father's hate, Become a wretched Wife. The ravening hawk pursuing, The trembling dove thus flies, To shun impelling ruin Awhile her pinions tries; Till of escape despairing, No shelter or retreat, She trusts the ruthless Falconer And drops beneath his feet.
Altered from an Old English Song - context Summary
Composed in 1795
Robert Burns’s poem, titled as an alteration of an older English song and dated 1795, is best read as a conscious adaptation of folk material rather than a wholly original lyric. That contextual fact frames its plain narrative voice and moral focus: it reproaches parents who marry daughters for money and uses stark predator–prey imagery to represent forced unions. Knowing the poem is an intentional reshaping of a traditional song helps readers expect a didactic, communal perspective and situates the piece within Burns’s broader engagement with folk sources.
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