Stanzas 5 and 6: Responsibility
Stanza 5 outlines exactly what Burns' fatherly duties will be. Again it begins with the feeling of imminent poverty but pledges that she will be cared for. Here the strong rhymes of bestead
, clad
, bred
and bed
emphasise the speakerâs earnestness of purpose, to provide for and educate her.
Note that in both Stanzas 5 and 6 there is still a hard-hitting reference to his detractors who would obviously prefer a brat oâ wedlockâs bed
and who are described as voyeuristic intruders, the priests
who would like to have seen me get thee
.
Religious fundamentalism is not easily defeated, and we sense Burns ensuring that this poem remains on the attack. In Stanza 6, the challenge against conventional morality is implied through the speakerâs tenderness towards the child and mother. Burns is being determinedly unrepentant, at least in verse if not before the congregation.
The pronoun thee
now dominates as the poem becomes focussed on the speakerâs duty to his daughter, rhyming with 'Betty'- emphasising the sense of partnership. Feminine rhyme begins to take over the poem, helping create a rhythm which is both gentle and soothing, but also insistent.