The Rights of Women - Spoken by Miss Fontenelle on her benefit night and Some Commemorations of Thomson

The Rights of Woman -
Spoken by Miss Fontenelle on her benefit nt.-

While Europe's eye is fixed on mighty things,
The fate of Empires, & the fall of Kings;
While quacks of State must each produce his plan,
And even children lisp The Rights of Man;
Amid this mighty fuss, just let me mention,
The Rights of Woman merit some attention. -

First, in the Sexes' intermixed connection,
One sacred Right of Woman is, Protection!
The tender flower that lifts its head, elate,
Helpless, must fall before the blasts of Fate,
Sunk on the earth, defaced its lovely form,
Unless your Shelter ward th' impending storm. ----

Our second Right --- but needless here is caution,
To keep that Right inviolate's the fashion. -
Each man of sense has it so full before him
He'd die before he'd wrong it --- 'tis Decorum ----
There was indeed, in far less polished days,
A time when rough, rude man had naughty ways:
Would swagger, swear, get drunk, kick up a riot,
Nay even thus invade a lady's quiet. --

Now

Now, thank our Stars! these Gothic times are fled,
Now well-bred men (and you are all well-bred)
Most justly think (and we are much the gainers)
Such conduct neither spirit, wit, nor manners. -

For Right the third, our last, our best, our dearest,
That Right to fluttering Female hearts the nearest,
Which even the Rights of Kings, in low prostration
Most humbly own -- 'tis dear, dear Admiration!
Smiles, glances, sighs, tears, fits, flirtations, airs,
'Gainst such an host, what flinty savage dares ----
When awful Beauty joins in with all her charms,
Who is so rash as rise in rebel arms?

But truce with kings, & truce with Constitutions,
With bloody armaments, & Revolutions;
Let Majesty your first attention summon,
Ah! ca ira! the Majesty Of Woman!!!

__________

To Mrs Graham of Fintry, this little poem, written
in haste on the spur of the occasion, & therefore inaccurate;
but a sincere Compliment to that Sex, the most ami-
able of the works of God ---- is most respectfully

presented by ----
The Author

Extempore - on some comemorations of Thomson --

Lost thou not rise, indignant Shade,
And smile wi' spuring scorn,
When they wha wad hae starn'd thy life,
Thy senseless turf adorn. -

They wha about thee mak sic fuss,
Now thou art but a name,
Wad seen thee d-mn'd ere they had spar'd
Ae plack to fill thy wame. -

Helpless, alane, thou clamb the brae,
Wi' meikle, meikle toil,
And claught the' unfading garland there,
Thy sairwon, righful spoil. -

And wear it there! & call aloud,
This axiom undoubled -
"Wouldst thou hae Nobles' patgronage,
"First learn to live without it!"

To whom hae much, shall yet be given,
Is every Great man's faith;
But he, the helpless, needless wretch,
Shall lose the mate he hath. -
__________

Key details

Archive number: NTS/02/25/BRN/02/14
Alt. number: 3.6110
Date: November 1792
On display: No
Creator: Burns, Robert (Author)

Description

The Rights of Women - Spoken by Miss Fontenelle on her benefit night and 'Some Commemorations of Thomson.

This manuscript contains copies of two poems, with The Rights of Woman on the first two pages and On Some Commemorations of Thomson on the third page. These manuscripts were copied for Mrs Graham of Fintry on 5 January 1793 to accompany a letter sent to her husband Robert Graham (see object number 3.6098.a-b). Burns was anxious to show Graham this work as he wanted to prove false the accusations of treason which had recently been brought against him.

Burns wrote the first poem as a prologue to be spoken by the actress Miss Fontenelle on her benefit night on 26 November 1792. Louisa Fontenelle was a touring London actress who attracted Burns's attention when he saw her performance at the Dumfries theatre in 1792/3. He wrote to her afterwards on 22 November applauding her charms and offering her the enclosed lines.

In this first page Burns, perhaps dangerously, cites 'the rights of man', but immediately turns our attention to women's rights of protection and decorum not currently in fashion. He also points to men's boorish behaviour as upsetting to women.

In this second page of the poem, Burns continues to enumerate woman's needs such as admiration, immortal love and majesty. He is also in support of women's foils of smiles, glances, sighs and tears. The content is hardly revolutionary, but he then goes on to quote the French partisans call to arms, ca ira, in support of womankind.

The third page contains the poem On Some Commemorations of Thomson. Here, Burns was reacting to the recent failed ceremony to honour James Thomson, a famed Scottish poet of the early eighteenth century. Burns was asked to attend the ceremony, held at Ednam Hill, to erect a bust of Thomson and to recite a poem he had written for the occasion. Although Burns wrote the poem (Address to the Shade of Thomson), he did not attend the ceremony. The event was a disaster, as the bust was broken before the ceremony.

Seall barrachd

Archive information

Themes

Hierarchy