Research Paper On Robert Burns

1930 Words4 Pages

Gardner

The poetry of Robert Burns

Evan Gardner
Mr. Matte
English 2
Period B
April 25, 2016

The Poetry of Robert Burns
Thesis: Besides being Scotland?s favorite poet and songwriter, Robert Burns was a major influence to other poets, such as Wordsworth and Shelley, and inspired leaders of democratic, liberal and socialist movements.
Influences to writing
Mother could read Bible but could not write
Birthday song/poem
Writing before him
Absorbing literature
Violin
Working on farms and meeting musicians
Influences in modern life
Ways of Writing
In his poems
Before his major works of poetry
Notes by Burns on own work Halloween Tam Samson?s elegy
Critics reaction to Burns? work
Thoughts
Feelings
Reactions

Poetry is like …show more content…

One influence on his writing was though his mother was not well educated, she could read the Bible and she loved to sing songs and tell folktales to him when he was young. Another influence occurred on Robert Burns? twenty-eighth birthday, he looked back to his first birthday, and it was celebrated by his parents with a song which actually turned into a poem.[endnoteRef:1] ?There was a lad was born in Kyle, but what na day o? what na style I doubt it?s hardly worth the while to be sae nice wi? Robin.?(sic) A second influence towards Robert Burns? writing was that his father created his own book called Manual of Religious Belief.[endnoteRef:2] This might have given Burns motivation, seeing his father create his own literature, to think, so can he. Another possible influence towards his writing is that Robert Burns and his younger brother Gilbert were at the top of the class. In their schooling, the books in the class most commonly used in school were the ?Spelling Book?, the New Testament, the Bible, Master?s Collection of prose and verse, and Fisher?s English Grammar.[endnoteRef:3] Robert Burns did well enough as a child in absorbing the folklore of Ayrshire from Agnes Brown.[endnoteRef:4] In the same way, although, he practiced the violin, he was not an excellent musician. The most influence that Robert Burns had received is when he got to meet many musicians. Robert Burns is just like an ordinary man, and he was influenced …show more content…

poems. One critic named William Allan Neilson said that Burns is the creator of beauty.[endnoteRef:9] Nielson also pointed out that a review of those poems of Burns that are primarily descriptive will recall to us the chief features of the Scottish world.[endnoteRef:10] A critic named David noted a poem of Robert Burns called ?Holy Willie?s Prayer? and said, greatest of all Burns patirical poems. (sic) It is the most brilliant assault ever deliver against the practical bigotry of the kirk.[endnoteRef:11] Another note to the poem ?Holy Willie?s Prayer? is that the story behind the poem is daddy Auld was a strict Calvinist minister in the parish of Mauchline.[endnoteRef:12] Burns is generally known as a proto-romantic poet and influenced William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Percy Bysshe Shelly. The reason why those three men were influenced by Robert Burns is because they are all poets and since they all have the same passion for literature, they can agree and write their same feelings like Robert Burns did but just in their own words. [9: ] [10: ] [11: ] [12:

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