Robert Burns Research Paper

898 Words2 Pages

Feel The Burn(s)
Robert Burns is defined as “the most charismatic wordsmith” in the history of Scotland. Born into a family of farmers, his father wanted him to have a good education. His father constantly pushing him to be as bright as possible, later affecting many of his songs, poems, and stories. Due to his alcoholism developed in his later years, and rheumatic fever, he died at the young age of 37. He was a complete and devout feminist, loving women so much that he had to marry them all! His affects, sparked the Romantic movement as well as later influencing literary works, such as “Of Mice and Men” and Lincoln’s first speech as president. Robert Burns, a pioneer in the Romantic movement, represented not only the feelings and issues of …show more content…

His “To a Louse” spoke on societal norms dealing with uncleanliness, symbolizing the lice as poverty happening internally in the community. It is one of the most powerful poems, because it points to signs about Scotland during this time that we otherwise wouldn’t know about. He even hopes that one day people can have the ability to speak freely about Scotland saying, “O would some Power the gift to give us//To see ourselves as others see us” (Burns). He wishes that people could see Scotland as he sees it. Yet, Burns’ most infamous poem describes society as having the ability to “break” a mouse. The lines, “I’m truly sorry that Man’s dominion has broken Nature’s social union” (Burns) is the true essence of what Burns’ poem at all about. As stated in the poem, “Your tiny house, is in ruins” signifying and representing the population of lower class people who struggle to survive in a world ruled by the strongest men. Creating a vivid picture of the time, Burns fearlessly writes about societal issues with no reluctance, describing the harmful potential man can have on the earth, if he can do such harm to a …show more content…

One poem was as an address to Haggis, a savory pudding served in Scotland. In it, he states that “You powers, who make mankind your care” (Burns), meaning that the one thing can make so many people come together. Its fascinating that Burns’ believes with his heart, that Haggis is the key to solving everyone’s problems, that it can make the bad good and the poor rich. Writing this questionable poem, stirred conflict, almost creating a dissatisfaction in the government. The rigid rules of the government almost banned the letter from being published due to its controversy. Following that scandal, Burns’ wrote his poems and songs to certain groups of people, until he wrote “The Devil awa wi’ th’ Exciseman”. Throughout the poem, Burns addresses the devil and tells him to come into Scotland and take the tax collectors away and send them straight to hell. This addresses the socio-economic troubles Scotland was facing during this time. People in the community were struggling from poverty, starvation, and everything in between, so Burns’ addressing this poem to the Devil and the tax collectors was appraised by most of

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