Robert Burns, a poor man, an educated man, and a ladies' man, is representative of Scotland, much like whisky, haggis, bagpipes, and kilts. He lived a life shortened by rheumatic heart disease, 1759-1796, but his life journey through poverty, informal education, disappointed love, nationalism, and literary and financial success can be identified by all Scots and common men the world over. He has become almost a national symbol of all things Scottish. His life is like a love story with a happy ending.
The Poet, Robert Burns
Robert Burns's family raised seven children on sparse, rented farmland on the west coast of Scotland. The family cottage still stands as a proud tourist attraction. The family farm was not successful and the family moved from farm to farm. Life on the farm in western Scotland was harsh and Robert worked long hours with his father.
Burn's father recognized the value of education and he managed to hire a local teacher to tutor Robert. He was an extremely bright student, mastering Shakespeare, current poets, French, Latin, philosophy, politics, geography, theology, and mathematics. His father read the Bible during the evenings around the cottage fireplace and Robert became an expert on the Bible and a devout Church member.
Robert Burns wrote his first poem at age 15. The poem was called "Handsome Nell" and was about his first love for a girl named Nellie Blair. Throughout his life, Burns was a charming and witty man, attracting the attention of numerous women. A dozen or more women can be identified as the inspiration for various poems. Burns wrote many famous love poems, including "A Red, Red Rose" and "One Fond Kiss."
Here's an excerpt from "Handsome Nell."
"O once I loved a bonnie lass,
Aye, and I love her still;
And whilst that virtue warms my breast,
I'll love my handsome Nell."
Burns, in a later comment on this poem, stated that he had "never had the least thought or inclination of turning poet till I got once heartily in love, and then rhyme and song were, in a manner, the spontaneous language of my heart."
The Turning Point
In 1786, at age 27, Robert Burns went through a major turning point in his life. He suffered a disappointing love affair with Jean Armour, who was pregnant with his twin sons. The local community and Armour's father were outraged by the affair and her father rejected Burns's offer of marriage.
Dejected and depressed, Burns made plans to leave Scotland and sail to Jamaica in the West Indies. To finance the trip, Burns submitted a volume of his poetry for publication.
The publication of 612 copies in a simple, unbound volume was called "Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect," also sometimes known as "The Kilmarnock Edition." The poems were well received in Edinburgh by socialites who were enchanted by the poems and amazed that a poor farmer could write so well.
So, instead of planning his escape to a new world, Burns planned a trip to Edinburgh. His confident manner, ingratiating style, and his obvious wit and intelligence brought Burns popularity and admiration. Soon, a second publication of his work was executed in Edinburgh.
The Growing Popularity
During his stay in Edinburgh, Robert Burns met printer James Johnson, who planned a project to print all of the folk songs in Scotland. This project enthralled Burns and embarked upon a journey throughout Scotland to collect as many folk songs as possible. Burns collected over 300 songs and wrote a few himself, including "A Red, Red Rose."
One of the results of his travels throughout Scotland was that Robert Burns ingratiated himself to everyone he met and he rose to national prominence and popularity.
The collected songs were published by Johnson in six volumes and by George Thomson in a five volume set.
Another happy outcome of this turning point in Robert Burns's life is that he was able to return home and marry his beloved Jean Armour, now with the blessing of her family.
Robert Burns continued to collect and write songs for The Scots Musical Museum, an anthology of traditional Scottish lyrical poems, until his untimely death from rheumatic heart disease in 1796.
Within a few years of his death groups of Robert Burns's friends and fans gathered to promote his memory and to celebrate his life. By 1801, five years after his death, groups met on the anniversary of his death, but later they began to meet on the anniversary of his birth, January 25. Now there are many Burns clubs and societies who celebrate his memory with dinners, including haggis, and readings of his works.
The Poem, "A Red, Red Rose"
One of the most famous songs that Robert Burns wrote for this project and first published in 1794 was "A Red, Red Rose." Burns wrote it as a traditional ballad, four verses of four lines each.
"A Red, Red Rose" begins with a quatrain containing two similes. Burns compares his love with a springtime blooming rose and then with a sweet melody. These are popular poetic images and this is the stanza most commonly quoted from the poem.
The second and third stanzas become increasingly complex, ending with the metaphor of the "sands of life," or hourglass. One the one hand we are given the image of his love lasting until the seas run dry and the rocks melt with the sun, wonderfully poetic images. On the other hand Burns reminds us of the passage of time and the changes that result. That recalls the first stanza and its image of a red rose, newly sprung in June, which we know from experience will change and decay with time. These are complex and competing images, typical of the more mature Robert Burns.
The final stanza wraps up the poem's complexity with a farewell and a promise of return.
"A Red, Red Rose" is written as a ballad with four stanzas of four lines each. Each stanza has alternating lines of four beats, or iambs, and three beats. The first and third lines have four iambs, consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, as in da-dah, da-dah, da-dah, da-dah. The second and fourth lines consist of three iambs. This form of verse is well adapted for singing or recitation and originated in the days when poetry existed in verbal rather than written form.
A Red, Red Rose
by Robert Burns
O my luve's like a red, red rose.
That's newly sprung in June;
O my luve's like a melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will love 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 weel my only Luve!
And fare thee weel a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' it were ten thousand mile!
*****************************
Garry Gamber is a public school teacher and entrepreneur. He writes articles about real estate, health and nutrition, and internet dating services. He is the owner of http://www.Anchorage-Homes.com and http://www.TheDatingAdvisor.com.
Delicately, my mind was selecting a muffled tune, out of... Read More
My life has changedin so so many waysIt seems to... Read More
The following two poems, one in English, the other in... Read More
The funeral rite concluded With the pastor shaking hands, Offering... Read More
All Hail.Is your hospital full of aliens, despite new cleaning... Read More
Note: written after seeing the little adobe 16th century church... Read More
JOINEDHeart beat of man pounding - yet unheard joined... Read More
BoyhoodOh me! Thy glorious days have flown! I mealy noticed,... Read More
Way of Life: Rhymes of the IncaPizarro (Spanish conquistador ((1525))The... Read More
Growing hurts sometimes; saying goodbye to friends, ... Read More
"For this reason poetry is something more philosophical and more... Read More
Have you ever thought about how nice it would be... Read More
"How Do I Love Thee?" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning was... Read More
English VersionA bunch of us guys in the hutIn ?Nam... Read More
Contract of DeathI heard today, the preacher say: "Daniel has... Read More
Out of the eight poems provided here [all previously unpublished],... Read More
Poetry is more than just rhyming and prose that is... Read More
Since Mohamed Ali?then Cassius Clay?announced that he had written "The... Read More
The Poet's Corner [Three poem/ see review of poetry under... Read More
Rhymes of an Ordnance Man [Vietnam War: 1971]An eleven part... Read More
The Incubus' Flash-lightHe looked inside my head And found a... Read More
Most of my poems are written late at night, often,... Read More
One of the most important poets of the post-war period,... Read More
You cannot make someone love you. All you can do... Read More
Do not be afraid to shine. This world needs what... Read More
Lord Byron's opening couplet to "She Walks In Beauty" is... Read More
Like a cat I slumber, blissfully unencumbered, Through eighty per... Read More
Do you ever stare at the paper, waiting for poetic... Read More
1.Night in Jamaica [Peruvianism: 1810]It was a rainy night... Read More
Real Power.One Tsunami, and all our armies, Seem belittled by... Read More
Here are three more poems by the author, Dennis Siluk,... Read More
Daybreak at Pikes Creek [Summer of 2005]Daybreak by Lake Superior... Read More
Here is some witty poetry (not sure if that is... Read More
(The city by the bay of Northern California, near which... Read More
"I heard what you said, Red. Yet, I have to... Read More
Part oneI see them in the skies I hear them... Read More
Frog SummerSummer grows hot, for the New-blooded frogs; The bugs... Read More
The Incubus' Flash-lightHe looked inside my head And found a... Read More
Take some time to stop and look at nature. Pick... Read More
The Exit Poems [And Socrates]Iron and FireIron can be... Read More
Part OneI tell you a legend of long ago Of... Read More
It's dark, it's cold, its' just six thirty,thoughts of sleep... Read More
Have you ever thought about how nice it would be... Read More
Footprints to Mantaro Valley (Peru; in English and Spanish)In what... Read More
"For this reason poetry is something more philosophical and more... Read More
You can do and you can be whatever you want.... Read More
In the quiet of the arctic night- In its deep... Read More
Here are three more poems by the author, Dennis Siluk,... Read More
Contract of DeathI heard today, the preacher say: "Daniel has... Read More
Growing hurts sometimes; saying goodbye to friends, ... Read More
The Epic Poem:A Death in Cajamarca, Peru [Atahualpa, in Cajamarca]Advance:... Read More
Ed Gallagher Dec. 11, 1907 - Sept. 5, 2004This poem... Read More
FIND the MAGICFind the Magic As you release old bondage... Read More
1.Evil's CreationThou knowith evil clings To tender peace-; Nor does... Read More
One of the most important poets of the post-war period,... Read More
English Version12) Black Poncho(of Saint Cosme Hill, by Lima, Peru)Lost... Read More
To many non-specialists of literature, poetry is deeply unsatisfying. There... Read More
"Song of the Great Zimbabwe"Across the African, winter's skyIn the... Read More
I'm not well. Can't you tell? Kinda low, so,... Read More
Wars, air of AmbiguityDedicated to 1st. Lt. Laura Walker (From... Read More
Daybreak at Pikes Creek [Summer of 2005]Daybreak by Lake Superior... Read More
English VersionThe Merchant of Copan [480 AD]Advance: The ballgame at... Read More
LIFE IS A FANTASY!A pink-eyed rabbit, fuzzy whiteHops in bedrooms... Read More
Have you ever sat there staring at the paper, ready... Read More
Fair Andes! Thy arms reach highOf iron-woven solid stone Thu... Read More
Way of Life: Rhymes of the IncaPizarro (Spanish conquistador ((1525))The... Read More
Poetry |