The Poetry of Robert Burns

Despite his later fame as the greatest Scottish poet, Robert Burns had humble origins. He was born on January 25th, 1759, to William Burns in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland. He lived in several places during his life, including Alloway, Tarbolton, Mauchline, and Dumfries, Scotland. He died of heart disease at age 36. His early death was a great tragedy.

Burns' father was a farmer named William Burns. Robert Burns was the eldest of seven brothers. Burns also had a tutor named John Murdoch. Burns had many loves during his life, to which he had fourteen children. One of them was Jean Armour, whom he eventually married.

Burns received little formal education. He only went to school for a year. For the most part, he was taught by his father. John Murdoch taught him for three weeks on grammar, French, and Latin. For much of his life, Burns was a farmer, which contributed to his heart illness later in life. William Burns did not teach his children the strictest Calvinist beliefs, although they were still a religious family.

Later in his life, Burns became infamous for his many affairs with women. Shortly after his first child was born to one of his mother's servants, Burns married Jean Armour. However, he did not remain loyal to her, continuing to have affairs with other women. This was particularly conspicuous because of the strict religious feelings in Scotland. His feelings are reflected in poems such as "My Luve is Like a Red, Red Rose."

Robert Burns wrote many great poems. His first works were compiled in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. His farce "Tom o' Shanter" satires epic poetry. The song "Auld Lang Syne" is popular at New Year's parties, despite its new incomprehensibility to the non-Scottish reader. Many of his g...

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... by some small mistake or piece of luck. In light of this, the winter in the previous stanzas is the future for which we try to prepare, and the destruction of the mouse's home that random misfortune. In this matter, animals have an advantage because they do not dwell on the past or try to predict the future. The poem ends on this sober note.

"To a Mouse" contains several connections to Burns' life. The poem is told from the point of view of a farmer, which was Burns' occupation during his childhood. Mice probably stole some of his corn as well. He may have destroyed the home of a mouse just as in the poem. Such an event could have been the poem's inspiration. Burns wrote several poems containing a discourse between the speaker and a plant of animal, such as "To a Mountain Daisy" and "To a Louse." Out of these, this has become by far the most well-known.