Robert Burns: The Scottish Bard

by Robert Burns, O.B. Duane

Collects selected works of the Scottish poet, and includes a biographical introduction

Genres: Poetry, Classics

96 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1997

About the author

Robert Burns (also known as Robin) was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language. He also wrote in English and a "light" Scots, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland.

He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement and after his death became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism. A cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish Diaspora around the world, celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature.

As well as making original compositions, Burns collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting them. His Auld Lang Syne is often sung at Hogmanay (the last day of the year), and Scots Wha Hae has served as an unofficial national anthem. Other poems and songs of Burns that remain well-known across the world today, include A Red, Red Rose, A Man's A Man for A' That, To a Louse, To a Mouse, The Battle of Sherramuir, Tam o' Shanter and Ae Fond Kiss.

Reviews

[Liliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say that a lot of these poems were nearly another language to me, but I could understand the mastery involved. And those that I did understand fully, were wonderful.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Burns: The Scottish Bard is a fairly short collection with some appropriately Scottish illustrations, but it does provide a nice overview of Burns' work, from the humorous to the introspective, in both Scots and English.

The introduction states the decision to fully display some scandalous words that had been censored in their original publication (e.g. h-ll for hell), which made me wonder what was going on when I still spied a dash in the text. An oversight, or were there still some words that were deemed too risque when the poems were published two hundred years later?

At any rate, though, Burns is justly celebrated as a top-notch wordsmith. My favorite aspects of these poems, though, are the small moments in which he deeply considers the small things, a louse nestling into a bonnet, a daisy plucked up by a plough, and then turns these observations into a reflection of the human condition, such as with his famous address to a mouse:

Still, thou art blest, compar'd wi' me!
The present only toucheth thee;
But Och! I backward cast my e'e,
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho- I canna see,
I guess an' fear!

[Addie Leigh Baird · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was in need of a poetry pick-me-up and this hit the spot! It was a pretty short collection (which led to my sister telling me I was cheating and shouldn’t let it count towards my goal but I read it didn’t I??) which meant I was able to read it all in an evening without getting burnt out.
The atmosphere of these poems is so homey and comfortable. I didn’t understand a lot of the words 😂 but there was a glossary in the back which helped. I would love to hear a Scottish person read them aloud. I did my best, which means I most likely butchered the accent, but it was fun!
Would recommend for lovers of Scotland and poetry.
(Also?? He wrote Auld Lang Syne AND Sweet Afton?? I was not aware of this before)

[Elliot · Rating 3 out of 5]

the glossary should have been so so much longer like probably 2 or 3 times longer at least

[Mad]

I loved his rhyming schemes, there is a wonderful melodic quality to his poems. Unfortunately the Scots proved to be too much, while I was able by the end to decipher about half of the words, I could never really get into the poems for lack of comprehension.

[Michael Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good edition, and the illustrations really add to it. I really recommend this collection, it's not a very expensive collection and it's just a quick, pleasant read.