Robert Burns wrote this playful epitaph for his friend Francis Grose, a famously rotund antiquary. It imagines the Devil rushing to claim Grose’s soul as he lies dying, only to stop short at the sight of him. Each bed-post groans under the man’s sheer bulk, and even Satan himself is taken aback. Cursing with surprise, he decides he’d rather go without a soul than haul such a “damnable load” back to hell. Burns isn’t being cruel here — the tone is warm, mischievous, and full of the rough humor that close friends trade. The speaker’s voice is one of amused affection, painting a comic scene where death can’t be solemn because the man is simply too big for the devil to handle. The mood stays light and irreverent, turning a moment of mortality into a sly, memorable laugh at Grose’s expense.
279. Epigram on Francis Grose the Antiquary — Summary
THE DEVIL got notice that Grose was a-dying So whip! at the summons, old Satan came flying; But when he approached where poor Francis lay moaning, And saw each bed-post with its burthen a-groaning, Astonish’d, confounded, cries Satan—“By G—, I’ll want him, ere I take such a damnable load!”