---
title: "Epitaph for Mr. Walter Riddell"
author: "Robert Burns"
form: "Poem"
year: "1794"
location: "Dumfries"
source: "Project Gutenberg #1279 — Poems and Songs of Robert Burns"
source_url: "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1279/pg1279.txt"
canonical_url: "https://robert-burns.com/poems/epitaph-for-mr-walter-riddell/"
---

# Epitaph for Mr. Walter Riddell

## Poem
Sic a reptile was Wat, sic a miscreant slave,  
That the worms ev’n damn’d him when laid in his grave;  
“In his flesh there’s a famine,” a starved reptile cries,  
“And his heart is rank poison!” another replies.

---

Source: [Project Gutenberg #1279 — Poems and Songs of Robert Burns](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1279/pg1279.txt)  
Canonical HTML: https://robert-burns.com/poems/epitaph-for-mr-walter-riddell/