Hermann, 1

Hannah Hermann
OConnor
Honors English 9 1
5 April 2016
A Mans A Man For A That-Robert Burns(1759-1796)
Is there for honest Poverty
That hings his head, an' a' that;
The coward slave-we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a' that!
For a' that, an' a' that.
Our toils obscure an' a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The Man's the gowd for a' that.
What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, an' a that;
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine;
A Man's a Man for a' that:
For a' that, and a' that,
Their tinsel show, an' a' that;
The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men for a' that.
Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord,
Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that;
Tho' hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof for a' that:

For a' that, an' a' that,

His ribband, star, an' a' that:
The man o' independent mind
He looks an' laughs at a' that.
A prince can mak a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, an' a' that;
But an honest man's aboon his might,
Gude faith, he maunna fa' that!
For a' that, an' a' that,
Their dignities an' a' that;
The pith o' sense, an' pride o' worth,
Are higher rank than a' that.
Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a' that,)
That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's comin yet for a' that,
That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.

Discovering Robert Burns Meaning

The ability to create art in words, that inspires and relates is a skill valued by most, and
achieved by few, but Robert Burns ability to write poetry with these fundamentals is
outstanding. Burns, in his poem A Mans A Man For A That, tells the story of human worth in
a manner that uses diction, allusions, and imagery. He puts a forceful effort into ensuring that the
reader can comprehend his true deeper meaning; that a mans worth is not the amount of money
he has, but it is rather the way a man, or any person for that matter, acts and behaves that sets

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them apart from others. Burns generally conveys a pretty vivid idea of the meaning on the
surface of his poems, but on deeper exploration, the meaning jumps out.
Burns begins his poem off setting the stage, contrasting the rich and the poor, and
basically calling the rank of human beings rubbish. He says, Is there honest poverty?(1), and
the rank is but a guinea's stamp(7). These are both influential lines that set up Burns main idea
and use a metaphors to compare the class system of humans to something that is tangible, but
also quite foolish. The way he questions the reader about a controversial topic, is a really great
tool that gets the reader to engage in the subject at hand. As the poem progresses, Burns directly
calls out the foolishness of kings rule, mainly peoples admiration of these personal totems and
writes about the honest, good heart of man. Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine(11).
Burns is saying that an honest man will give his belongings to those who do not necessarily
deserve them. The poem continues with comparing and contrasting two different sides, the
wealthy beings with the bad souls, and the kindhearted men. Tho' hundreds worship at his word/
He's but a coof for a' that(19-20). These are some of the authors most important words in the
text. Not only is he stating in this poem that the categorization of men based on their money is
ludicrous, he, here, is saying that many people worship the rich, but they are fools to do, and in
turn saying that an independent mind is a valuable thing. In the last stanza, the author writes a
plea to the public, begging them to find the Sense and Worth (35) in the right men, realizing
they may not be as worthless as the people first thought. Burns written words are important, and
they give a certain meaning off, and help the reader come to their final conclusion, but some
literary elements he uses wonderfully as well.
Most of the time, it seems as though the author did not mean to use a device or skill in his
works, rather that it just came, but it is also often that the author intentionally uses their
knowledge of a skill to add to the work. Burnss diction, images, and allusions are conscious
things he did to allow the reader to reach their conclusion, acting as a little push towards the

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intended target. The most noticeable of these devices is the diction. He uses many words that are
not very common in modern English speak like coof and gowd.(8-20) Gowd in this sense is
an Irish saying of the world gold, which gives insight into the time and setting of the poem.
Coof is a really foul word for a fool, but the veracity of the word adds to the effect of the
poem. There are also powerful words like birkie, strut, honest, dignity, and Sense.(8-35). All
of these words mean something that seems more influential because the word has a connotation
of being that way as well. They propel the piece along, much like the use of allusions does.
Allusions are outside aspects the author wants the reader to consider that will give them
added knowledge about the poem. The allusions are towards a specific group, the rich. A Prince
can make a belted knight(25). This line is an allusion that most people are aware about, kings
and queens, but the purpose of this allusion is to narrow down the subject of Burns's anger
against the rich. It makes the reader think that it is the powerful and rich that are the issue, maybe
even deeper that it is royalty that is the issue here. Is king o men for a that.(16). Notice, here,
that king is not capitalized like king was in the earlier line, and this is no accident. Still an
allusion, the author wants the reader to know that the good deeds mentioned in the stanza
preceding this line, make man like a king, powerful and authoritative, but it excludes him from
the greedy side. These words all create a picture in the readers mind as they travel through the
poem, and those images are not set up to be random.
Authors, more often than not, are very descriptive with images throughout a work, so
maybe thats what seems so odd about Burns. He leaves a lot of imagining up to the reader, but
his images are still very present. Ye see yon birkie ca'd a lord/Wha struts, an' stares, an' a'
that(19-20). Here, described is a lord, rich and powerful but powered by greed and the reader
can visualize his pompous strut. Then they can see all the people lined up to worship at the lords
feet all foolish for following. This image was simple, yet holds deep meaning if the reader
chooses to partake on the endeavor of exploration. That hings his head, an' a' that; The coward

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slave - we pass him by(2-3). Now the tables turn to an image of a lonely, battered slave, and
how this slave in a crowd get passed by without even a thought. Burns wants the reader to see
what he sees, unjust cruelty and sadness in the world here. The use of these literary devices allow
the reader to find a meaning in the poem after reading and analyzing it closely.
The reader of this poem comes out on the other end, thinking about their part in the
world, and affected by the meaning of the poem. They reach the final conclusion that the poem is
trying to tell the world to not look at how much money a person has, for that means nothing, the
real things to look at are their actions as a person. Their money has nothing to do with a mans
worth, however it generally seems to play a big part, and thats what Burns was trying to show in
the last stanza when he begs the world to make a change. It is an important lesson that is trying
to be taught, and it is something that is still an issue today, but if more people come out of
reading this poem with even a little bit of a changed outlook, were already halfway there.

Works Cited
Burns, Robert. A Man's a Man for A' That. Philadelphia: A.W. Auner, Song & Printer,
Tenth and Race Sts., Philadelphia, Pa., 1871. Print.

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