Generally considered the greatest poet ever born on Scottish shores, Robert Burns (1759-1796) was a self-educated, poor farm laborer (The Bard 1). Burns became a literary sensation upon the release of his first group of poems in 1786 (The Bard 1). However, these works also revealed him as a social sensation, dealing primarily with themes of love, patriotism, and the life of peasants. A democrat at heart, Burns works reveal a sensitive, common soul who happens to also be a master of using conventional poetic rhythms. A majority of Burns’ poetic works was penned to a popular Scottish tune he would listen to as he composed his lyrics.
While many Americans may not be as familiar with Burns as their Scottish counterparts, few fail to pay homage to the poet and songwriter each New Year’s Eve as they join in the ritual singing of Auld Lang Syne. This analysis of Robert Burns will provide a brief biography of the great Scotsman. An in-depth section will be devoted to an analysis of several of his poems, followed by a brief section exploring some of his songs. A conclusion will address the relevance of Burns’ works to Scots and Scotland as well as to contemporary audiences.
Born the son of a humble cotter and a farm laborer himself, Robert Burns would end the story of his life widely regarded as Scotland’s greatest poet. At the end of a majority of her celebrity interviews, Barbara Walters was known for asking her guests to define themselves in three words. In the case of Robert Burns we need four: whisky, ladies, books, and poetry. Though he was known as the Ploughman Poet in Scotland, Burns much preferred toiling to the muses of poetry than attend to the back-breaking work of tilling the land. At the encouragement of his father, Burns and his brother learned to become voracious readers with the help of a tutor. One of seven children, by the time he was 15 Burns was the chief worker on the farm but his search for a...