A Sonnet upon Sonnets

Written in 1788, this sonnet is said to be Burns's first attempt at the form. The meaning of this sonnet is focused on the form of sonnets, namely fourteen lines written in iambic pentameter coupled with a strong rhyme-scheme.

Straightaway, Robert Burns focuses on the theme "fourteen". Indeed, Burns makes twelve associations with the number; some are pastoral: "fourteen eggs" a hen has "beneath her wings" and "fourteen chickens [that] to the roost may fly." (N.B. Burns was not only a keen observer of human-kind but also the natural world!) Burns makes further associations, but note: each association has its own line and each line is written with consistent metre - in short "Fourteen good measured verses make a sonnet."