Social Satire in Burns’ Poetry
The period before Romanticism, namely the period of Sentimentalism, was very productive in the sense that many renowned writers and poets lived and created in this period. One of them is certainly Robert Burns. Born on 25th of January 1759 in Allowy, Scotland, Robert Burns is considered one of the best known Scottish poets, as well as one of the best representatives of Sentimentalism in English poetry. He did not have any formal education, but he was not illiterate. He was self-taught and critics of that time used to call him the ‘Heaven-taught ploughman’. He is one of the rare poets who wrote in the Scottish vernacular of his native Ayrshire, which is very important taking in account political scene at the time. In 1707 Scottish Parliament united with English Parliament which marked a further step in the assimilation of Scottish culture with English. However, frustrated with political happenings, Scotsmen turned to their literary heritage. Robert Burns was one of those frustrated common men farmers who wrote poetry for his own amusement. As the product of this amusement “Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect” were published in 1786. It contained some of his best known poems such as: “The Twa Dogs”, “Scotch Drink”, “To a Mouse”, “The Holy Fair”, “To a Louse”, etc. Robert Burns died at the age of 37 on 21st July 1796 in Dumfries. What was it that made Burns’ poetry appealing to the people back then and what is it that makes it appealing to the people now? Is it the specific language he uses or is it the manner he wrote the poems? The secret to the success of his poetry lies in the themes he talked about in his poetry. He once said: “I 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 Language of the poetry was his way to express what was on his heart or mind. Themes of his poems vary from love, patriotism, to social problem. For the
Bibliography: * Daiches, David. “A Critical History of English Literature, Volume II”. London: Secker & Warburg, 1961. * Dizdar, Srebren * Hodgart, Mathew. “Satire: Origins and Principles”. New Jersey: Transcation Publisher, 2009. * Ronald, Carter, McRae John. “The Routledge History of Literature in English – Britain and Ireland”. New York: Routledge, 1998. * Sanders, Andrews. “The Short Oxford History of English Literature, second edition”. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Web sources: * Johnston, Ian. (November 22, 1998). “A brief Introduction to Restoration and Eighteenth Century Satire.” Retrieved November 4, 2010 on the Wold Wide Web: http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/Eng200/satire3.htm. * Orr, Jennifer. BBC – Robert Burns. Retrived November 28, 2010 on the World Wide Web: http://www.bbc.co.uk/robertburns/works/the_twa_dogs/. * “The World Burns Club. Retrived November 24, 2010 on the World Wide Web: http://www.worldburnsclub.com/poems/translations/index.htm. * “What is predestination? Is predestination Biblical?” gotQuestion? Retrieved November 25, 2010 on the World Wide Web: http://www.gotquestions.org/predestination.html. [ 2 ]. David Daiches, A Critical History of English Literature, Volume II (London: Secker & Warburg, 1961) 817-819. [ 4 ]. Matthew Hodgart, Satire: Origins and Principles (New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 2009) 7. [ 6 ]. Johnston, Ian. (November 22, 1998). “A brief Introduction to Restoration and Eighteenth Century Satire.” Retrieved November 4, 2010 on the Wold Wide Web: http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/Eng200/satire3.htm. [ 8 ]. Johnston “A brief Introduction to Restoration and Eighteenth Century Satire.” Retrieved November 4, 2010 on the Wold Wide Web: http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/Eng200/satire3.htm. [ 10 ]. “To A Louse” The World Burns Club. Retrived November 24, 2010 on the World Wide Web: http://www.worldburnsclub.com/poems/translations/552.htm. [ 11 ]. “To A Louse” The World Burns Club. Retrived November 24, 2010 on the World Wide Web: http://www.worldburnsclub.com/poems/translations/552.htm. [ 12 ]. (May 11, 2006). “Robert Burns – 57. Holy Willie Prayer.” Poetry Connection. Retrived November 15, 2010 on the world wide web: http://www.poetryconnection.net/poets/Robert_Burns/9438/comments. [ 13 ]. B. Ford, ed. “The New Pelican Guide to English Literature, Volume V From Blake to Byron” (London: Penguin Books, 1983) 102. [ 14 ]. “Holy Willie Prayer” The World Burns Club. Retrived November 20, 2010 on the World Wide Web: http://www.worldburnsclub.com/poems/translations/holy_willies_prayer.htm. [ 15 ]. “What is predestination? Is predestination Biblical?” gotQuestion? Retrieved November 25, 2010 on the World Wide Web: http://www.gotquestions.org/predestination.html. [ 18 ]. “Holy Willie Prayer” The World Burns Club. Retrived November 20, 2010 on the World Wide Web: http://www.worldburnsclub.com/poems/translations/holy_willies_prayer.htm. [ 21 ]. Orr, Jennifer. BBC – Robert Burns. Retrived November 28, 2010 on the World Wide Web: http://www.bbc.co.uk/robertburns/works/the_twa_dogs/. [ 22 ]. Srebren Dizdar, Poezija Engleskog Romantizma, (Sarajevo: TKP Šahinpašić, 1999) 64. [ 23 ]. “The Twa Dogs. A Tale” The World Burns Club. Retrived November 20, 2010 on the World Wide Web: http://www.worldburnsclub.com/poems/translations/521.htm.