Show Roberl Burns The world has had many great poets and writers men of literary fame and genius Greece has had her Ilomer Italy her Dante and Petrarch England her Shakespeare and Milton France her Germany her Goethe and Hugo Schiller America her Bryant and and Scotland her Longfellow Burns and Scott And in all this great galaxy of literary stars no name perhaps is better known and more universally loved and admired than that of Bobbie Burns the Scotch Plowman Born into the world when the literary social and moral life of Scotland was at its lowest ebb when Scotsmen were despised by Englishmen and were ashamed to acknowledge their native land Burns saved the “Old Kingdom’’ from becoming a mere province and made every Scotsman proud of his home and country The peasantry of Scotland have loved Burns as perhaps no other people ever loved a poet And no wonder “He made the poorest plowman proud of his station and liis toil since Robbie Burns had He not shared and sung them only sympathized with the wants and trials the joys and sorrows of their obscure lot but he interpreted these to themselves and interpreted them to others and this too in their own language made musical and glorified by genius” Burns chose for his subject that Scottish life which even the literary men of Edinhorough had ignored men who were Scotsmen in nothing but dwelling place and took for his vernacular that language thev had despised and “touching the springs of emotions he back of on his the hearts brought countrymen a tide of patriotic feeling to which they had long been long-forgott- en strangers” Of course not Burns alone is re- for Scotland's place in literature Scott must have due credit for his work — and his work was great — but “Burns was first and so greater” Behind Scott was the work of Burns behind Burns there was practically nothing Burns is greatest as a lyric poet: perhaps stands as the world’s greatest lyrist It is his songs which have so endeared him in the hearts of his countrymen and made him so universallv loved and admired In them he is at his best — and especially when he uses his native dialect He knew the English language and knew it well — but he lacked the force with it that he had when he used the “brogue” of His songs ring true to Scotia nature and to life to that nature with which he himself had so intimately associated and that life sponsible |