Pre-Romantics

Robert Burns(1759-1796)

General Background of His EraIn the Neoclassical Age, people often thought of

country folk as oafish, not-too-bright, and rustic, lacking the elegance and polish of “their betters.”

But the French philosopher, Jean Jacques Rousseau, altered this attitude when he set forth his doctrine of primitivism, which states that “primitive man is closer to nature and not corrupted by society, and thus is nobler than ‘civilized’ man.”

As a result, country people and children also were considered somehow superior because, like the “noble savage,” they had escaped the corrupting influences of city life

General Background of His EraIn William Wordsworth’s preface to the Lyrical

Ballads (the BIG BOOK OF ROMANTIC POETRY), he is all for the use of simple, non-fancy language of the common people. He feels this is the best way to write poetry.

Do you agree with Wordsworth, and that the best poetry is written this way? Why or why not? What effect does it have?

Even though Robert Burns died before Wordsworth and Coleridge’s book came out, Burns comes as close to Wordsworth’s ideal as any later Romantic poet.

The Voice of ScotlandYou know this guy…what song do they play when the ball drops in New York’s Times Square every single New Year’s celebration?

“Auld Lang Syne”: 50 years ago, they played it for graduation ceremonies; now they play “Pomp and Circumstance.” “Auld Lang Syne” is for New Year’s, and it means for “old time’s sake.”

Poor but learned beginningsHe was a farmer and a farmer’s son born in Alloway,

in Ayrshire, and he spent his early years in the two-room clay cottage his father had built.

Although poverty prevented Burns from receiving a formal education, w/his father’s encouragement, he read widely, studying the Bible, Shakespeare, and Alexander Pope.

Though his mom was illiterate, she instilled in him a love of Scottish folk songs, legends, and proverbs

This love of those songs is one reason they call him “the voice of Scotland” and LOVE him there.

The Voice of ScotlandThe other reason

they call him this is he wrote in the Scots dialect, which NOBODY ever did before. Remember, he is living in the Neoclassical era, which is all about rules and the proper ways of going about things.

A Red, Red RoseO my Luve's like a red, red roseThat's newly sprung in June; O my Luve's like the melodieThat's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,So deep in luve am I:And I will luve thee still, my dear,Till a' the seas gang dry:

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,And the rocks melt wi' the sun:I will luve thee still, my dear,While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee well, my only LuveAnd fare thee well, a while! And I will come again, my Luve,Tho' it were ten thousand mile.

~Robert Burns

The Voice of ScotlandHis first collection of poems (Poems, Chiefly in the

Scottish Dialect) was published in 1786 and was a huge success, applauded by critics and country folk alike.

He was invited to the Scottish capital, where he was swept into the social scene and hailed as the “heaven-taught plowman.”

Most famous poems:” “To a Mouse” “My Heart is in the Highlands

The Voice of ScotlandBefore he published his poetry, works of literature were

almost always modeled on the classics, in which structure, grammar, and vocabulary were polished and complex. But he totally ignored these conventions and boldly put poetry in the hands of the people, writing in their language, Scottish dialect, and using common folk as his subject matter.

Hence, he’s a national poet and a national hero, who when he died, had THOUSANDS of people from all social levels follow his coffin to the grave.

200 years after his death, countless hundreds of Burns’ Suppers are held on the anniversary of his birth.