About Robert Burns
Robert Burns, (January 25, 1759 – July 21, 1796), was a Scottish poet, lyricist, and farmer. The son of farmers, and a farmer himself, he was self-taught and wrote poems in the dialect of the southern Lawlands from a very young age, which brought him immediate success. This success radically changed his life: he soon abandoned the farm life and began publishing, in several books, more than two hundred songs, some original, others revised, some lyrical, others caustic. His varied inspiration was unfortunately cut short by a premature death, the end, moreover, of a somewhat disorderly existence. A first-rate satirical author (Holy Willie's Prayer), Burns is also a great poet of love. In 1786, he published “Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect”, the first collection of poems in Scottish Gaelic followed by “The Jolly Beggars” published in 1790. The book's success and the death of his fiancée, Mary Campbell, dissuaded him from immigrating to Jamaica.In addition to his original compositions, Burns collected folk songs from across Scotland, often adapting or rewriting them. His poem (and song) “Auld Lang Syne” is frequently sung at Hogmanay (the last day of the year), and “Scots Wha Hae” long served as the country's unofficial national anthem.
Other poems and songs by Burns that remain among his best known include Comin' Thro' the Rye, A Red, Red Rose, A Man's A Man for A' That, To a Louse, To a Mouse, The Battle of Sherramuir, Tam o' Shanter, Halloween, and Ae Fond Kiss.
He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best-known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a 'light' Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement, and after his death became an important source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism.
Browse all poems and texts published on Robert Burns
