Robert Burns Criticism
Robert Burns, often revered as the national poet of Scotland, occupies a distinguished place in literature for his significant contributions to Scottish identity and his widespread appeal. Burns's poetic journey, influenced by his humble upbringing in Ayrshire and his largely self-directed education, marks a departure from the typical decorous themes of the eighteenth century. Despite popular myths portraying him as an 'uneducated peasant,' Burns was profoundly shaped by his exposure to English literature and the vernacular poetry of Allan Ramsay and Robert Fergusson, as detailed by Kenneth Simpson. Burns's work, characterized by naturalness, humor, and compassion, reflects his complex relationship with both Scottish and English literary traditions, as explored by Gertrude M. White.
Burns's poetry often carries a satirical edge, with pieces like "Holy Willie's Prayer" and "The Holy Fair" critiquing religious orthodoxy through humor and irony. His vivid portrayal of rural Scottish life is captured in these works, as noted by critics Stopford Brooke and L. M. Angus-Butterworth. Additionally, Mary Ellen Brown discusses Burns's dedication to collecting and preserving Scottish folk songs, showcasing his role in bridging oral and literate traditions Mary Ellen Brown.
Despite facing early criticisms that focused on his personal life, Burns's genius is widely recognized today. Frederick L. Beaty appreciates Burns's comedic insights into romantic love, while David Murison highlights Burns's vibrant use of the Scots dialect as a means to enrich his work and critique social mores Frederick L. Beaty, David Murison. Burns's lasting legacy remains a key subject of both scholarly inquiry and public admiration, as chronicled by Ian McIntyre.
Burns's "rebel" spirit and intellectual curiosity enabled him to create poetry that transcended his immediate milieu, articulating themes of freedom, love, and fellowship. His celebrated works such as "A Man's a Man for A' That" underscore these themes, while his love poetry, including "My Luve is Like a Red, Red Rose," showcases his psychological insights and emotional range as analyzed by Kenneth Rexroth and Frederick L. Beaty.
Initially gaining fame with Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, Burns's work faced varied critical reception. While "The Jolly Beggars" was initially dismissed for its coarse subject matter, it is now celebrated for its vibrancy and humor. Critics like Alan Bold argue that Burns's works in the Scots dialect surpass those in English, due to their narrative skill and thematic depth, as praised by Alan Bold and Robert P. Wells.
Contents
- Principal Works
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Burns, Robert (Vol. 29)
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Poet of the Parish
(summary)
In the following essay, Crawford analyzes Burns's attempt at treating local themes in a universal manner in his poetry.
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Burns: A Mouse and a Louse
(summary)
Highet examines Burns's use of Scottish dialect and meter in his odes "To a Mouse" and "To a Louse."
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The Christis Kirk Tradition: Its Evolution in Scots Poetry to Burns, Part IV
(summary)
In the following excerpt, MacLaine analyzes Burns's use of the Christis Kirk genre, which he describes as a "distinctively Scottish genre … [which] well demonstrates [Burns's] ability to make distinguished poetry out of the most ordinary stuff of life."
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Burns's Comedy of Romantic Love
(summary)
In the essay below, Beaty assesses the humorous aspects of Burns's love poetry.
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Explaining the Obvious
(summary)
In the following essay, first published in The New York Times Book Review in 1968, Wilbur examines the structure and tone of Burns's poem, "A Red, Red Rose."
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Poet: Kilmarnock Edition
(summary)
In this excerpt, Fitzhugh discusses several poems included in Burns's 1786 collection, Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect.
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Robert Burns's Declining Fame
(summary)
In the following essay, Bentman contends that Burns's poetry is a significant part of British literary history, despite his declining popularity in recent decades.
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Don't Look Back: Something Might Be Gaining on You
(summary)
Here, White examines Burns's struggle to reconcile "the English literary tradition with which alone his formal education was concerned, and the Scottish literary tradition as he encountered it."
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Robert Burns
(summary)
Rexroth describes Burns as a rebel, attributing his frustration to the conflict between his situation as a working man and his potential as a well-educated man. He highlights Burns' unique background as a farmer and his adherence to the principles of the French Revolution, emphasizing the rebellious nature of Scottish farmers during the Industrial Revolution.
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The Satires: Underground Poetry
(summary)
In the following essay, Scott details what were considered the scandalous aspects of Burns's satires.
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Love and the Lassies
(summary)
In this essay, Ericson-Roos analyzes the women of Burns's love poetry, asserting that "Burns shows an extraordinary psychological insight into the feminine mind."
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'That Bards are Second-Sighted is Nae Joke': The Orality of Burns's World and Work
(summary)
In the following essay, Brown examines the influence of the folkloric milieu on Burns's poetry.
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Burns and Narrative
(summary)
In the following essay, Wells explores the narrative structure and didactic content of several of Burns's poems.
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'Tam o' Shanter': The Truth of the Tale
(summary)
Below, McGuirk analyzes Burns's use of irony in 'Tam o' Shanter.' 'Tam o' Shanter' tells the story of a drunken farmer who encounters a witches' dance on his way home from a market day carousal in Ayr. The poem offers an adult's retrospective view of horror stories; there is an overtone of indulgent irony in the sections of the poem that describe the witches' dance and its gruesome concomitants.
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Point of View in Some Poems of Burns
(summary)
In this essay, MacLachlan examines Burns's varying role as narrator in the context of his literary-historical position.
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Spontaneity and the Strategy of Transcendence in Burns's Kilmarnock Verse-Epistles
(summary)
In the following essay, McKenna offers a thematic and structural analysis of Burns's verse-epistles.
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Words, Music, and Emotion in the Love Songs of Robert Burns
(summary)
Here, Ashmead and Davison explore several features of Burns's love songs, noting the connection he establishes between music and emotion. This essay will analyse five love songs in order to sample the artistry of Burns and gain insight into his remarkable fusion of words, music and personal emotion.
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Dialect and Diction in Burns
(summary)
In this essay, Bold contends that Burns's poems written in the Scots dialect are superior to those he wrote in English.
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Robert Burns (1759-96)
(summary)
In the following essay, he provides a brief overview of Burns's career as a poet.
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Poet of the Parish
(summary)
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Burns, Robert (Vol. 40)
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Robert Burns
(summary)
In the following essay Brooke praises Burns as the first writer to achieve naturalism in his Scottish poems, the restorer of passion to poetry, and the master of sincerity, pathos, and stinging satire.
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The Background of Burns: Eighteenth-Century Scotland
(summary)
In the following excerpt Keith describes Scotland's Golden Age, a time of nationalism and rich intellectual life; Edinburgh's reception of and influence on Burns; and why Burns's limited reading and self-education caused him to focus on satire and song.
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The 'Annus Mirabilis,' 1785
(summary)
In the following excerpt Angus-Butterworth examines the histories and inspirations of several of Burns's famous poems.
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Light from Heaven: Love in British Romantic Literature
(summary)
In the excerpt below Beaty analyzes Burns's use of humor in his writings about romantic love. Robert Burns's distinction as a love poet stems chiefly from his ability to perceive the comic aspects of what he considered a very serious emotion. The eighteenth-century adaptation of sentiment to comedy, as well as the Scottish vernacular tradition, afforded him ample precedent for this seemingly paradoxical combination.
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The Language of Burns
(summary)
In the following essay Murison outlines the history of the Scots dialect and examines the relationship between Scots and English in Burns's writing.
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The Early Period: Burns's Conscious Collecting of Folksongs
(summary)
Here, Brown describes Burns as a transitional figure bridging the two spheres of oral and literate composition.
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Burns and Philosophy
(summary)
In the following excerpt Bold considers Burns's familiarity with the works and ideas of John Locke, David Hume, and other philosophers.
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Robert Burns: 'Heaven-taught ploughman'?
(summary)
In the following excerpt Simpson examines the myth of Burns as an uneducated peasant and the benefits and limitations such an image held for Burns.
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Apotheosis
(summary)
Here, Mclntyre presents a survey of critical and public reaction to Burns over the span of two hundred years.
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Robert Burns
(summary)
- Further Reading