Robert Burns

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Robert Burns is a man of the most impassioned temper; with passions not strong only, but noble, and of the sort in which great virtues and great poems take their rise. It is his love towards his country, people, and nature that inspires him. That opens his eyes to its beauty, leading his heart and voice to praise them with his passion.
Robert Burns was born January 25, 1759, in a straw-thatched cottage, to William and Agnes Burns. His mother had a great store of folklore songs and ballads, and his father tried at all costs to surround his children with good reading and conversation. At the age of seven, his father moved the family to Mt.Otiphant from Alloway. In 1773, at the age of only 15, Robert composed his first song, Handsome Nell, in honor of the village blacksmith's daughter. In 1777, that family moved to Lochlea. In 1778, Robert was fortunate enough to have a summer term of schooling at Kirkoswald.

" It is said he ate his meals with Fergusson's poems in one hand and his spoon in the other."
(Essay on Burns, 24)

Returning to the farm, he composed Poor Mailie's Elegy, Winter, and other early pieces, under a blooming interest to become a poet of the people, or as he put it, "a Scottish bard." In 1784 his father died, and Robert, with his brother Gilbert, moved to Mossgiel, in Mauchline. Most of Robert's best work was accomplished here. At the age of 26, Robert helped his brother out on the farm. Every chance he got, during the day, he would pull his book out of his pocket and begin to read, and think out themes. At night, he would climb up into his attic room, where he would write his thoughts down before going to bed. He wrote ballads, epistles, epitaphs, satires, and dedications. He wrote of winter, spring, and summer, of rivers, braes, and uplands. He wrote of anything, and of everything, that could have ever passed his mind working through those hard days on his farm.
One thing that inspired Robert with great esteem is nature, this opens his eyes to great beauty, making his heart and voice express his praises.

"There is a true old saying, 'Love furthers knowledge:' but above all, it is the living essence of that knowledge which makes poets; the first principle of its existence, increase, activity. Not

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