The Main Trends in Burns' Works

Song-writer, satirist, narrative poet, celebrator of friendship, of love and of hate, Burns was also a brilliant talker and an in­telligent observer and sometimes a dangerous personality. One of biographers

Robert Burns is a great Scotland's national bard. He was ex­tremely bold in expressing his ideas and he had created po­ems and songs full of hatred and scorn towards the ruling class without thinking whether they would ever be published or not. Many of them up to now have not been included in English edi­tions of his poems.

This is what Robert Burns wrote to Mrs. Denlope, a woman of high position who usually admired Burns's poems but criti­cized the poem "A dream".

"Madam, I understand your criticizing! You are right saying I don' often follow advice. But poets better than myself flattered those who possess riches and power so much that I firmly set my mind on never flattering any human creature either in prose or on verse. I care for Kings, lords, priests and their like no more than these honourable personalities for my poetical majesty." Burns always stood for liberty and attacked social inequali­ty. His sympathy lay with the poor. He greeted the French Rev­olution with the poem "A Free of Liberty" calling the poor peo­ple of Britain to arms. The poem is of great political importance even in the present days. The same idea but in other words is expressed in the poem "A Revolutionary Lyric":

When Burns spoke about the future he was always optimis­tic. Here are some lines from the poem "A Man's A Man for A'That":

Looking through his poems one can here and there find the lines full of hatred and contempt towards the rulers and church

Burns spent many years collecting folk songs and ballads When creating songs of his own he used folk tunes, expressions, words, melody. He often used an old folk chorus as foundation for a new song. "Auld Lang Syne" sets a good ex ample for that: Burns never claimed for the authorship of this poem.

His songs were admired by common people. One of Burns's contemporaries wrote: "Weavers in Kilmarnock bought the book together, shared it by pages, learnt them by heart and exchanged the pages."

Burns loved his native land and his people. Scotland occupies a prominent place in Burns's creative work. ("My heart' in the Highlands...")

MY HEART IS IN THE HIGHLAND

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,

My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer -

A-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 valleys below;

Farewell to the forrests and wild-hanging woods;

Farwell 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, whereever I go.

А. Козлов: МОЁ СЕРДЦЕ В ШОТЛАНДИИ.

В Шотландии сердце, со мной его нет,

В Шотландии скачет оленю вослед.

Цель – дикий олень или горный козёл,

В Шотландии сердце, куда б я ни шёл.

Прощай же Шотландия, север родной,

Край доблести, чести и славы былой.

Где б я ни бродил, был в какой из сторон –

В родные холмы я навеки влюблен.

Прощайте вершины, прощайте снега,

Прощайте ущелья, долины, луга,

Прощайте леса в небесах голубых,

Прощай и потоков бурлящий разлив.

В Шотландии сердце, со мной его нет,

В Шотландии скачет оленю вослед.

Цель – дикий олень или горный козёл,

В Шотландии сердце, куда б я ни шёл.

Burns wrote many poems about poor people of his native land. He sang love, gaiety, nature. He could draw philosophical conclusions out of small events he witnessed.

In his poem "A Mountain Daisy" he compared his fate with the one of a daisy he crushed while ploughing:

Burns's poetry is bone of the bone and flesh of the flesh of Scottish common people.

He glorified a healthy, joyous and clever Scotch peasant. He sang honest poverty contrasting them to earls, bigots and hyp­ocrites.

Questions and tasks

1. When and where was Robert Burns born?

2. What education did he get?

3. Who were his first teachers of good manners?

4. When did Burns publish his first poems?

5. Why were aristocrats surprised to see Bums?

6. Where did Burns travel?

7. What do you know about Burns's wife?

8. Why were the last years of Burns's life very hard?

9. What are the main ideas of Burns's poems?

10.What did he stand for?

11.What did Bums write about in his epigrams?

12.Speak about the life of Robert Bums.

13.Speak about the main trends of Burns's works.