Synopses & Reviews
As is too often the case withpoets, the life of Scotlandis Robert Burns was filled with tragedy and hardship.Yet, this did not detract from his poetry; rather, it fed his talent for it.Even his death mirrored the adversity of his life. On July 26, 1796, on the sameday that his wife gave birth to their ninth child, Robert Burns, the bard ofScotland, was buried, thirty-seven years old and in debt.More remarkable than his death washis life . . . the life that made the man that made the poetry. Born on January25, 1759, in Alloway, in the district of Kyle, in Ayrshire, Scotland. The son ofa farmer, Burns, beginning at age nine, worked the field and farmyard, whilesubsisting on a diet of only oatmeal and skimmed milk. Yet, even at this youngage, his curiosity and imagination were strong, fueled by the stories of anelderly relative of his motheris, who had ithe largest collection in the countryof tales and songs concerning devils, ghosts, fairies, brownies, witches, warlocks.iLater in life, Burns, enamored withthe power of words, founded the Tarbolton Bachelors, a debating society. He alsobegan to write. He wrote loveletters for those who could not. He wrote verse onscraps of paper. Too, Burns was enamored with the ladies, and more than once hefathered a child out of wedlock, adding that public humiliation to his misery.Throughout it all, he wrote. This common man wrote extraordinary poetry usingordinary, everyday speech, and, so doing, found his voice . . . a voice thatspoke from his heart, his soul, a voice that spoke for Scotland to the world.
Synopsis
Robert Burns died in debt in 1796, at the age of thirty-seven, of rheumatic fever. On the day he was buried, his wife gave birth to their ninth child. Even his death exemplified the tragedy and accomplishments of his life. A poet in his prime, he continued to write until the very end of his short yet extremely difficult life.
He defied the classic conventions of poetry. A common man himself, he wrote in the ordinary language of the common man. His words, his voice, the voice of the people, became the voice of Scotland. Yet, Burns the man endured hardships and humiliation. A Little Life of Robert Burns captures the agony and the ecstasy of the beloved bard of Scotland, whose poetry inspires people the world over.
Synopsis
This common man wrote extraordinary poetry using ordinary, everyday speech, and, so doing, found his voice . . . a voice that spoke from his heart, his soul, a voice that spoke for Scotland to the world.