Emily Dickinson Lexicon

Burgoyne, proper n. [Fr. < Gothic baurgs, burgh, borough, barriers.]

John Burgoyne (1722-1792); British general in the American Revolution; English leader who surrendered to American forces at Saratoga in 1777; [fig.] bloodshed; laborious struggle; difficult fight that ends in defeat; [fig.] sundown; red sky at dusk.