Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist born on 25 January 1759 and died on 21 July 1796 at 37. He is known for his works written in the Scottish language but he also wrote in the Scottish dialect of the English language.
Robert Burns is one of most celebrated and respected Scottish poets and author and he is also known as the ‘National Poet of Scotland.’ Burns is considered a proto-Romantic poet who greatly influenced William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Robert Burns was the eldest son of William Burns, a poor tenant farmer in Dunnottar, Scotland. His mother was Agnes Broun. His childhood was spent in a house built by his father that was later turned into the Burns Cottage Museum.
Robert Burns faced poverty, scarcity, and other problems of tenant farmers and was hugely influenced by it. At one time, he faced such dire poverty that he decided to move to Jamaica to work as a laborer. However, his friend Thomas Blacklock encouraged him not to go to Jamaica. It was the period of the French Revolution and Burns had a first-hand experience of the deteriorating situations of tenant farmers in Scotland and England that inspired him to write poetry and correspondences touching the subjects of Republicanism, Radicalism, Egalitarianism, Humanitarianism, gender equality, and so on. This is the reason why he is known as a proto-Romantic poet.
Burns often raised awareness about the dire situations of tenant farmers and other poor people in society in his works which is why he is also known as ‘Peasant’s Poet’ and a Ploughman Poet.
On 31 July 1786, Burns published his first major collection of poems that was titled ‘Poems, Chiefly in Scottish Dialect.’ Most of these poems were written during the period 1784-1785. Some of the very famous poems included in this book are Halloween, The Twa Dogs, The Cotter’s Saturday Night, and To a Mouse.
Halloween is a long poem containing 28 stanzas in which Burns describes the festivities and various tricks played by Scottish kids and farmers on Halloween. The Cotter’s Saturday Night was written in Spenserian Stanza form that invoked the pastoral scene in the poem. In this poem, Burns vividly describes the Scots peasant life. Another famous poem, To a Mouse, also describes the struggles faced by tenant farmers. In this poem, Burns also expressed one of the most attractive sides of his personality which was his tenderness towards the treatment of animals. In this poem, the poet also suggests that a tenant farmer’s life and those of other poor downtrodden people of the society is no better than that of a mouse whose home has been destroyed by the ploughman of the field. Such poems vividly describing the life of tenant farmers gained the title of Peasant’s Poet and Ploughman poet for Robert Burns. American author John Steinbeck chose the title for his novel Of Mice and Men from this poem.
In 1785, Burns wrote his poem ‘Holy Willie’s Prayer’ which was published in an anonymous eight-page pamphlet in 1789. This poem is often termed as one of the finest satires by any poet. The poem criticizes the members of the Kirk (or Scottish Church) while attacking the bigotry and religious hypocrisy. In his prayer, Holy Willie piously asks God's forgiveness for his own transgressions and moments later demands that God condemn his enemies who commit the same sins to eternal hellfire.
Robert Burns had many love affairs. One of his loveflinge was Agnes Maclehose whom he met in 1787. Agnes was already married but was separated from her husband who went to Jamaica. Though Burns tried a lot to seduce her, Agnes maintained that their relationship would remain platonic and unconsummated. In 1791, Agnes sailed to Jamaica to meet and live with her husband. Before she went, Robert sent her a letter which later became a farewell love song titled Ae Fond Kiss.
In 1790, Burns wrote a long narrative poem titled Tam O Shanter which became a huge success and is considered as his masterpiece. The poem is written in a mixture of Scots and English language and it contains 228 lines. Robert Burns wrote this entire poem within a day. Tam O Shanter is a mock-heroic epic that details the ghostly adventures of the loveable drunkard Tam and reflects on some of the folk beliefs current in Burns’ time.
In 1794, he wrote a love song titled A Red, Red Rose also known as "(Oh) My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose." In 1795, Burns wrote "A Man's a Man for A' That" a lyrical poem or a song that was based on the concept of Egalitarian society and republicanism. This poem was based on the writings in The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine. In addition, he also wrote "Parcel of Rogues to the Nation" and "Rights of Women". His other famous song is Auld Lang Syne which he wrote in 1788.
Robert Burns not only gained fame in Scotland and England, rather he became a popular poet worldwide and was commemorated in other nations after his death. He became the ‘People’s poet’ in Russia and his works were translated into the Russian language.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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