Transcript ROBERT BURNS (1759-1796) Robert Burns was the most democratic poet of the 18th century.

ROBERT BURNS
(1759-1796)
Robert Burns was the most democratic poet of
the 18th century. His birthday is celebrated in
Scotland as a national holiday.
Burns’ poetry may be
regarded as a treasury
of all that is best in
Scottish songs.
Robert Burns is very
popular in Russia.
We admire the plain
Scottish peasant who
became one of the
world’s greatest poets.
Robert Burns was born on January,25,1759, in a
small clay cottage at Alloway in Ayrshire,
Scotland.
His father, William
Burns, was a poor
farmer. Poor as he
was, he tried to give
his son the best
education he could
afford. Robert was
sent to school at the
age of six, but as his
father could not pay
for his two sons,
Robert and his brother
Gilbert attended
school in turn.
When not at school, the boys helped their father with
his work in the fields. Robert was a plough boy
working from morning till night.
He strained his heart,
he suffered from severe
attacks of rheumatic
fever.
The school was closed
some months after the
boys had begun
attending it, and
William Burns together
with his neighbours
invited a clever young
man, Murdoch by name,
to teach their children
languages and
grammar.
Robert was a capable boy, and with the help of his new
teacher, learned French and Latin and became fond of
reading. His favourite authors were William
Shakespeare, Laurence Sterne and Robert Fergusson.
Burns started writing poems at the age of seventeen.
He composed verses to the melodies of old folk-songs,
which he had admired from his early childhood.
The ploughing was
profitless. In 1784, worn
out, exhausted and
burdened with debts,
Burns’ father died. After
his death the family
moved to Mossgiel
where Robert and
Gilbert managed to rent
a farm. The young men
worked hard, but the
land gave poor crops and
the affairs of the family
went from bad to worse.
Though Burns despised those who worshipped money,
he became well aware of the fact that poverty could ruin
his whole life: he had fallen in love with Jean Armour,
but her father did not want Robert to marry her as he
was poor.
There was no way for
a poor peasant in
Scotland, so Burns
decided to sail to
Jamaica, in the hope
of obtaining a job on
some sugar plantation.
To raise the passage
money, Robert
published some of his
poems in 1786.
The little volume “Poems Chiefly in the Scottish
Dialect” went off rapidly and brought in about twenty
guineas. When Burns was about to leave for Jamaica,
he received an invitation from Edinburg scholars who
praised his verses.
The letter changed his
life. He accepted the
invitation, went to
Edinburgh and was
welcomed there as one
of the “wonders of the
world”. A new and
enlarged edition of his
poems was the result.
He toured Scotland as
“Caledonia’s Bard”.
But Burns was never offered an
opportunity to devote his energy to
literature.
After the new edition of his poems,
Burns returned to his native village
with money enough to buy a farm and
marry Jean Armour, whose father was
now glad to have the poet as his son-inlaw.
Though Burns’ poems were very
popular, he always remained poor, most
of the money was spent on the
monument to Robert Fergusson, the
rest was hardly enough to support his
wife and children.
In 1791 he went bankrupt and was obliged to sell the
farm and take a position of the customs officer in the
town of Dumfries.
The job was extremely
hard: the poet had to cover
long distances on
horseback in any weather.
However, he continued his
literary work.
Hard work undermined
Burns’ health. He died in
poverty at the age of
thirty-seven, haunted by
the shadow of the debtors’
prison. Burns was
mourned by all the honest
people of the country.
After his death, the widow and the children
were left without a shilling.
The common Scottish
people whom he had
loved and for whom he
had written his poems
and songs, raised enough
money by subscription to
provide his widow with
sustenance for the rest of
her life and give all his
children an education.
Since the death of
Robert Burns, all visitors
to Dumfries pay homage
to the poet by visiting his
burial-place.
Robert Burns was a true son of the
Scottish peasantry.
His poems embody their thoughts
and aspirations, their human dignity,
their love of freedom and hatred of all
oppressors.
In his poem “Is there for Honest
poverty” Burns says that it is nor
wealth and titles, but the excellent
qualities of man’s heart and mind
that make him “king of men for all
that”.
“My Heart’s in the Highlands”
The poet was deeply
interested in the
glorious past of his
country, which he
called “the birthplace
of valour, the
country of worth”. In
many of his poems
Robert Burns sings
the beauty of his
native land.
My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.
Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,
The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth ;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.
Farewell to the mountains, high-cover'd with snow,
Farewell to the straths and green vallies below;
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods,
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.
My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.
Burns was a remarkable lyric poet.
His masterful touch upon the human heartstrings is the most characteristic feature of his
talent.
O, my Love's like a red, red
rose,
That's newly sprung in June.
O, my Love's like a melody
That's sweetly played in tune.
As fair as thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in love am I;
And I will love thee still, my
dear,
Till all the seas go dry.
Till all the seas go dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt with the sun:
I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands of life shall run:
And fare thee well, my only love!
And fare thee well, a while!
And I will come again, my love,
Though it were ten thousand
mile.
In his lyrical poems Robert Burns glorifies true love
and friendship, free from any motives of gain and
hypocritical morality. In all his works he remains the
bard
of freedom.
People sing the song “Auld
Lang
Syne” on the last day of the
year.
They sing it, holding one
another’s hands.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!
And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I'll be mine,
And we'll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!
CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!
We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou'd the gowans fine,
But we've wander'd monie a weary
fit,
Sin auld lang syne.
We twa hae paidl'd in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae
roar'd
Sin auld lang syne.
And there's a hand my trusty
fiere,
And gie's a hand o thine,
And we'll tak a right guid-willie
waught,
For auld lang syne
CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!