WorkRobert Burns

“A Man's a Man for A' That”

A Man's a Man for A' That' (also known as 'Is There for Honest Poverty'), composed 1795; published in The Scots Musical Museum, vol. 5 (1796) Inferred

Robert Burns (1759–1796) · composed January 1795; first published in Glasgow Magazine, August 1795; collected in various Burns editions

QuotedReadMentioned

Documented 1841–1846

Additional passages preserved in the Memoirs (1852)

Books • Essays • Manuscripts

Selected engagements, in chronological order.

Totals count documented engagements, once at the earliest witness. How we count →

Reprints, Memoirs passages, and repeat notes within a single manuscript are shown but never counted twice. Evidence for this work is selective, not exhaustive. Methodology →

When Fuller engaged with this work

I. Childhood

II. Adolescence

III. Self-Directed

IV. Transcendentalist2records

V. New York1record

VI. Europe3records

✦. Memoirs (1852)1record

1810

1820

1832

1836

1844

1846

1850

1841—

The Dial

“Goethe” · Vol. 2, No. 1, July 1841

quoted · read

“a democrat to the tune of Burns: / 'The rank is but the guinea's stamp; / The man's the gowd for a' that.”

Fuller, Margaret. Life Without and Life Within; or, Reviews, Narratives, Essays, and Poems. Edited by Arthur B. Fuller. Boston: Brown, Taggard and Chase, 1860. · p46

Inferred Fuller quotes Robert Burns explicitly, noting "to the tune of Burns," and provides the first two lines of "For a' That and a' That" (composed January 1795) verbatim: "The rank is but the guinea's stamp, / The man's the gowd for a' that." The poem is identified by this quotation from the lyric.

1843—

On Beethoven

p23

quoted · readManuscript page

“the rank is but the guinea stamp, / The mans the gowd,”

Fuller, Margaret. "On Beethoven." Houghton Library, Harvard University.

Inferred Fuller quotes the opening of the second stanza without naming Burns or the poem; the lines are identifiable fingerprints of 'A Man's a Man 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.' Fuller's quotation is close but not verbatim (dropping the possessive apostrophe on 'guinea').

1845—

Thom’s Poems.

“Thom’s Poems.”

quoted · read

“A man’s a man for a’ that,” the fagged weaver brightens up. His very shuttle skytes boldly along”

Fuller, Margaret. "Thom’s Poems." New-York Daily Tribune, 22 August 1845. · 22 August 1845

1846—

New-York Daily Tribune

“Physical Education” · 1845

quoted · read3 selected passages

“For a' that, and a' that, / And mickle mair for a' that.”

Inferred The quoted phrase, "For a' that, and a' that, / And mickle mair for a' that," is from Robert Burns's poem "A Man's a Man for A' That" (composed 1795, published 1796). The source is inferred from this universally recognized Scots phrase, though Burns is not explicitly named.

“A man's a MAN for a' that;”

“are but the guinea's stamp; / The man's the gold;”

The poem is also quoted in a separate entry (B-1-35).

Fuller, Margaret. Life Without and Life Within; or, Reviews, Narratives, Essays, and Poems. Edited by Arthur B. Fuller. Boston: Brown, Taggard and Chase, 1860.

1846—

Papers on Literature and Art

quoted · read

“let only break forth the healthy and vigorous chorus "A man's a man for a' that," the fagged weaver brightens up.”

Fuller, Margaret. Papers on Literature and Art. New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1846.

Inferred Fuller quotes the chorus of Burns's "A Man's a Man for A' That."

1846—

Physical Education . . .

“Physical Education . . .”

quoted · read

“For a’ that, and a’ that, And mickle mair than a’ that.”

Fuller, Margaret. "Physical Education . . ." New-York Daily Tribune, 19 January 1846. · 19 January 1846

Preserved in the Memoirs (1852)

1852—

Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli

p177

analyzed · read

“he was requested to sing one of his songs for the entertainment of the company.”

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, William Henry Channing, and James Freeman Clarke, eds. Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli. 2 vols. Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1852.

Inferred Margaret Fuller references Robert Burns's well-known democratic anthem, "“A Man's a Man for A' That”" (1795), describing how the poet defiantly "thundered forth" its verses when relegated to the servants' table. Fuller's designation of the song as "his grand song" indicates her admiration and familiarity with Burns's work, recognizing its powerful expression of inherent human worth regardless of social status.