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Selected Poems
This selection gives equal weight to the two aspects of Robert Burns's reputation, as a lyricist and as a much-loved Scottish poet. Placing works in probable order of composition, it includes lyrics to his most well known songs, such as the nostalgic "Auld Lang Syne," the romantic "A Red, Red Rose," and the patriotic "Scots What Hae." As a poet, Burns wrote with deceptive simplicity and imaginative sympathy, and demonstrated enormous range - from comic dramatic monologues such as Holy Willie's Prayer, which mocks hypocrisy, to narratives including the celebrated Tam O' Shanter, about the ghostly visions of a drunk.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1898
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927 people want to read
About the author
Robert Burns
2,010Ìýbooks339ÌýfollowersRobert Burns (also known as Robin) was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. 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. He also wrote in English and a "light" Scots, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland.
He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement and after his death became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism. A cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish Diaspora around the world, celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature.
As well as making original compositions, Burns collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting them. His Auld Lang Syne is often sung at Hogmanay (the last day of the year), and Scots Wha Hae has served as an unofficial national anthem. Other poems and songs of Burns that remain well-known across the world today, include 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 and Ae Fond Kiss.
He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement and after his death became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism. A cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish Diaspora around the world, celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature.
As well as making original compositions, Burns collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting them. His Auld Lang Syne is often sung at Hogmanay (the last day of the year), and Scots Wha Hae has served as an unofficial national anthem. Other poems and songs of Burns that remain well-known across the world today, include 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 and Ae Fond Kiss.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
October 3, 2022
Burns is one of the writers who gave me a taste for vernacular literature, for which I will ever be thankful. Fortunately, my edition of his works had an extensive glossary in the back, because the 18th century Gaelic-English dialect had a lot of unfamiliar words. Plenty were understandable through context or phonic similarity, but many definitions quite surprised me!
I knew Burns mostly through his vernacular Scottish poems, but was surprised to see he had facility, if not particular ability, in standard English (such as it was). However, I’m not sure that he’d be so widely known and appreciated today if not for his vernacular poems. They’re special; his other work does not rise above his contemporaries. As a historian I value his vernacular poems and songs deeply. They are like the Carmina Gadelica of folk music and speech, and Burns was placed in a difficult socio-political situation. Did he know the magnitude of what he was saving amidst the Highland clearances? I hope so. Poetry is always better spoken than written, and Burns’s is even more appropriate when sung.
(because if you haven't heard "To a Mouse" in a thick brogue, why are we even here)
The commentary at the end was also helpful, providing musical annotation for the songs and context for the personal and social poems. Sometimes the editor was a little too invested in when the poem was written, but I suppose that’s helpful information for the right type of research. Often the drama (especially political) was illuminating. It’s oddly comforting to know that people of old thought their governors were as ridiculous as we think ours today, and I’m amazed that Burns escaped with his life given certain…phrasings. There’s no shortage of color here.
After the notes, the end matter includes a detailed chronology of Burns’s life and times, a glossary, and indexes by title and first line. I am glad to have spent some time with Burns, but he’s not really a favorite of mine. It’s time to move on to a poet who’s more to my personal taste.
I knew Burns mostly through his vernacular Scottish poems, but was surprised to see he had facility, if not particular ability, in standard English (such as it was). However, I’m not sure that he’d be so widely known and appreciated today if not for his vernacular poems. They’re special; his other work does not rise above his contemporaries. As a historian I value his vernacular poems and songs deeply. They are like the Carmina Gadelica of folk music and speech, and Burns was placed in a difficult socio-political situation. Did he know the magnitude of what he was saving amidst the Highland clearances? I hope so. Poetry is always better spoken than written, and Burns’s is even more appropriate when sung.
(because if you haven't heard "To a Mouse" in a thick brogue, why are we even here)
The commentary at the end was also helpful, providing musical annotation for the songs and context for the personal and social poems. Sometimes the editor was a little too invested in when the poem was written, but I suppose that’s helpful information for the right type of research. Often the drama (especially political) was illuminating. It’s oddly comforting to know that people of old thought their governors were as ridiculous as we think ours today, and I’m amazed that Burns escaped with his life given certain…phrasings. There’s no shortage of color here.
After the notes, the end matter includes a detailed chronology of Burns’s life and times, a glossary, and indexes by title and first line. I am glad to have spent some time with Burns, but he’s not really a favorite of mine. It’s time to move on to a poet who’s more to my personal taste.
January 9, 2019
This collection was read aloud over a series of days by myself; Chelsea Rectanus, owner of Heirloom Books; and Harry White, retired professor of English literature at the bookstore. Most challenging--and fun!--were the poems written in Scottish, for which editor Fraser provides some translation in an appendix. Gradually, we acquired some facility with Scots terms.
As Harry pointed out, Burns stands apart from many of his contemporary poets, his work being concrete, concerned especially with themes of love, sex and conviviality. Much of it is humorous, some of it being satire directed at the Kirk, particularly its conservative wing, and the aristocracy. Much of it was written to be sung to popular tunes. All of it is rather simple, once the vocabulary is mastered.
All in all, reading Burns has made me interested in picking up a biography of the man.
As Harry pointed out, Burns stands apart from many of his contemporary poets, his work being concrete, concerned especially with themes of love, sex and conviviality. Much of it is humorous, some of it being satire directed at the Kirk, particularly its conservative wing, and the aristocracy. Much of it was written to be sung to popular tunes. All of it is rather simple, once the vocabulary is mastered.
All in all, reading Burns has made me interested in picking up a biography of the man.
February 3, 2020
my head hurts a little now, but, i really liked it.
February 17, 2022
did i read 187 pages of burns' poetry over two days? yes
was it a good time? yes
was it a good time? yes
August 7, 2020
This is a difficult one to rate. I know some Scots, but not nearly enough to truly appreciate it when Burns uses it, at least without using the glossary in the back. I preferred his poems about Scottish independence, the wars, and the generally snarky ones. I tried to find as many of the songs as I could online so I could get a better feel for them, and I definitely recommend reading these out loud or finding narrations of them. Sometimes when you read them aloud, you can understand the Scots better because the spellings don't throw you off.
May 11, 2013
My review is on "Selected Poems" by Robert Burns (I noticed the description stated Frost but my ISBN matched their image of the book; my cover is different as it shows Robert Burns as painted by Alexander Nasmyth). I had picked up this book while visiting Scotland several years back and it was a good read then as it is now. His poetry is usually written in dialect which may be difficult to understand for some. However, his lyrical style will capture your ear if not your heart.
My love is like a red red rose
That's newly sprung in June:
My love is like the melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune....
My love is like a red red rose
That's newly sprung in June:
My love is like the melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune....
March 6, 2019
Burns� laid back and down to earth language, tone and subjects perfectly captures everyday life with hilarious wit. A reminder that you do not need to be viewed as great, by yourself or others, to make great things.
Although I will say that I am glad I am from Northern Ireland and could therefore make sense of most of the old Scots colloquialisms which make up Burns� poems. Not necessarily an easy read - think of the language as Scottish Shakespeare! A little pondering and deciphering will likely be necessary.
Although I will say that I am glad I am from Northern Ireland and could therefore make sense of most of the old Scots colloquialisms which make up Burns� poems. Not necessarily an easy read - think of the language as Scottish Shakespeare! A little pondering and deciphering will likely be necessary.
June 11, 2021
You would either think that he'd be a semi-literate hick (compare the excessive verse ravings of various poor ministers & the like) or just another tepid anglo rhymer; but his position, intelligent and well-meshed in a genuine folk culture in the last times before Industrialization, permits him to sit well and avoid both issues. From the superb Tristram Shandy he learned the ultimate way of perspectivizing expressions of domestic nonsensicalities and from Alexander Pope he learned how to express truths in a way that emerged from deceitfully simple wit, instead of Miltonian bluster or what have you. As such he develops various scenes and farces (country lovers, free-style theology, carnivalesques&satires, political tunes, etc) with an attitude you don't see very often elsewhere - Wordsworth and Yeats are too studied, and his agrarian predecessors are too foggy&limited, in their perspectives. At times he verges onto various, proto-Tennyson-esque derivations wherein he ruminates on a personal issue with a pretty limited scope and then arrives at a dubious and excessively celebrated solution (that turns out to be a cop-out platitude), but that's the way of poetry...
His concealedly studious attitude lead him to pay attention to typography and spelling, thanks perhaps in part to Mr Lawrence Sterne, and as such even the reader (like I) who knows nothing of Scots can read aloud and hear a pretty decent facsimile. Maybe because of this, the rhythms pour out of him fresh - various foot-substitutions and unusual rhymes/assonances, and a wide variety of metrical structures (and not an heroic couplet to be found!). A great number of these are songs which read quite fluently as lyric poetry but seem best suited for in-depth comparison between their sung melody (almost all tunes are preserved and availably recorded) and the words, which would require a bit of effort (for readers than more devoted than I).
His concealedly studious attitude lead him to pay attention to typography and spelling, thanks perhaps in part to Mr Lawrence Sterne, and as such even the reader (like I) who knows nothing of Scots can read aloud and hear a pretty decent facsimile. Maybe because of this, the rhythms pour out of him fresh - various foot-substitutions and unusual rhymes/assonances, and a wide variety of metrical structures (and not an heroic couplet to be found!). A great number of these are songs which read quite fluently as lyric poetry but seem best suited for in-depth comparison between their sung melody (almost all tunes are preserved and availably recorded) and the words, which would require a bit of effort (for readers than more devoted than I).
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December 18, 2024i don’t think i’m enough of a classical poetry fan to enjoy burns� work as presented in this book but i liked some of it
January 15, 2023
"My love is like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June:
My love is like the melody
That's sweetly played in tune."
Can it be?
Is it truly possible?
Have I finally, after all these years, come across some poems that I actually enjoyed?!
It's a miracle!
In all seriousness, though, Robert Burns poems were delightful! At least, the ones that I had to read. "A Red, Red Rose" was the first poem of Robert Burns' that I listened to. Before I knew it, I replayed it again. And again. And again.
Even when I had to move on from it to read the others, I found myself sometimes going back to "A Red, Red Rose." It's definitely my favorite piece of Burns's poetry. In fact, it might be my favorite poetry piece period. And that's something I thought would never happen.
And I think it's a crying shame that this has a lower rating compared to Wordsworth: Poems!
Thank you, Robert Burns, for your poetry.
That's newly sprung in June:
My love is like the melody
That's sweetly played in tune."
Can it be?
Is it truly possible?
Have I finally, after all these years, come across some poems that I actually enjoyed?!
It's a miracle!
In all seriousness, though, Robert Burns poems were delightful! At least, the ones that I had to read. "A Red, Red Rose" was the first poem of Robert Burns' that I listened to. Before I knew it, I replayed it again. And again. And again.
Even when I had to move on from it to read the others, I found myself sometimes going back to "A Red, Red Rose." It's definitely my favorite piece of Burns's poetry. In fact, it might be my favorite poetry piece period. And that's something I thought would never happen.
Thank you, Robert Burns, for your poetry.
July 17, 2013
I've only read the typical required Robert Burns, and that has always been presented in a way that made me think that he was uptight and staid. Nothing could be further from the truth, and after reading the surrounding poems, even the familiar ones seemed to be fresh and full of life and joy.
Yes, the language is challenging for a modern-day American, but lots of poetry is. Get past it and keep reading, because the poems here are exuberant and rapturous. Even when he's lambasting the sanctimonious, there is a vehemence and wit that is delectable. He is at his best when he's plain-spoken. You can see the twinkle in his eye as you hear him recite his work to a crowd of ne'er-do-wells. There was a good cross-section of work in this selection too, lots of different poem structures and subject matter to represent. I will be reading much more Burns in the future.
Yes, the language is challenging for a modern-day American, but lots of poetry is. Get past it and keep reading, because the poems here are exuberant and rapturous. Even when he's lambasting the sanctimonious, there is a vehemence and wit that is delectable. He is at his best when he's plain-spoken. You can see the twinkle in his eye as you hear him recite his work to a crowd of ne'er-do-wells. There was a good cross-section of work in this selection too, lots of different poem structures and subject matter to represent. I will be reading much more Burns in the future.
July 22, 2020
Burns is the great Scottish poet. His work can be difficult for Americans because it is written in Scots, which is very close to English but has several different words and its own idiosyncratic spelling. This particular edition does a good job of providing explanatory notes without slowing down the rhythm of the poetry.
As a poet, Burns is fascinated with the rural, the common, and the everyday, which often inspires him to think philosophically about humanity's place in the universe, our relationships to one another, and to God. Many of Burns' poems focus on distinctly Scottish themes--local lore, Scottish Presbyterianism, Scottish home life, and so on.
As a poet, Burns is fascinated with the rural, the common, and the everyday, which often inspires him to think philosophically about humanity's place in the universe, our relationships to one another, and to God. Many of Burns' poems focus on distinctly Scottish themes--local lore, Scottish Presbyterianism, Scottish home life, and so on.
November 15, 2009
My first comprehensive introduction to Burns' work and very satisfying. Covers all the "must-haves" (Auld Lang Syne, Tam O'Shanter, etc.), while not shying away from either his political nor his bawdy verse. The notes at the back are extremely useful and valuable, helping those of us not fluent in Scots to parse some of the more challenging lines, while adding depth and meaning to the poems. And of course the biography and timelines are invaluable as well - especially the history of Scotland to put Burns into perspective. Great stuff.
July 19, 2011
I first read this, cover to cover, about 10 years ago when I was looking for a Scottish poem to write a critical essay on when I was still at school.
Since then I have loved Burns' works, and everything Robert Burns. So when I went to visit family and discovered this in a box with lots of my other stuff in it I picked it up... and did a re-read (cover to cover).
I'm glad I took this book back from my visit with me as it's an absolute pleasure to dip in and out of.
Since then I have loved Burns' works, and everything Robert Burns. So when I went to visit family and discovered this in a box with lots of my other stuff in it I picked it up... and did a re-read (cover to cover).
I'm glad I took this book back from my visit with me as it's an absolute pleasure to dip in and out of.
May 15, 2016
Enchanting; real poetry with feet in the soil.
"Some rhyme a neebor's name to lash;
Some rhyme (vain thought!) for needfu' cash;
Some rhyme to court the country clash,
An' raise a din;
For me, an aim I never fash:
I rhyme for fun."
"Some rhyme a neebor's name to lash;
Some rhyme (vain thought!) for needfu' cash;
Some rhyme to court the country clash,
An' raise a din;
For me, an aim I never fash:
I rhyme for fun."
September 10, 2008
Well.... what do you expect?????
June 5, 2012
This is simply a matter of preference. I really enjoyed a couple of the poems, however, with the poetry being very musical, I find it hard to enjoy this poetry unless you have the correct accent.
June 8, 2022
Robert Burns: Selected Poems edited by Carol McGuirk (Penguin Classics 1993) (811) (3647).
I am a proud descendant of Scots heritage. When I first tried to grow a beard at the age of eighteen, I was surprised to find that it grew in rusty-red and bushy. My friends hooted and said that I looked like a six-foot-five-inch leprechaun.
I was later to find that I felt as much at home in Edinburg, Scotland as I did back home in the mountains of Tennessee - which is full of my fellow Scots-Irish folk. (A confession: I can eat, but I do not relish, haggis, though I have a six-foot-six-inch-tall red-bearded son who will gobble his portion and clean everyone else’s plates as well. (Burp!)).
As a son of Scotland, I settled in with Robert Burns: Selected Poems to see why his work is so highly revered. Now I know.
Burns evokes the warmth of the hearth and the smell of a peat fire. One can almost breathe in the smoky wet wool worn in the Highlands. Burns� words call to mind the taste of ice-cold stream water and the fiery afterburn of single-malt whiskey.
Small wonder that Burns is so beloved. I was ready to swing a mug of ale and join in singing these rhymes around the glow of the fireplace.
This volume is a fine introduction to Burns� work. The editor has included roughly a hundred of the more than six hundred poems and songs that Burns set to paper. Burns often wrote in dialect, but his choice of language is much more accessible and easier to parse than the vocabulary one finds in Shakespeare’s plays.
I have finished the book, so this seems like a good time for a toast.
I’ll meet you at the pub.
My rating: 7/10, finished 6/8/22 (3647).
April 7, 2023
Excellent collection of poems and songs by Robert Burns along with biographical information. His best known poems are here, supplemented by copious notes by editor Carol McGuirk on their composition, publication, and connection to Burns personal and political life. The glossary of Scots words is extremely helpful and I found myself frequently using it. Burns' subjects range from nature, commentaries on daily life, politics, and history, letters in verse to friends, and of course his many love poems. I cannot praise this collection enough.
A lot of these poems have been set to music and recorded many times; in my mind I often could hear Dougie MacLean, Mairi Campbell, or Emily Smith singing as I read classics like “Scots Wha Hae,� “Auld Lang Syne,� or “It Was Upon a Lammas Night".
My favorites in this collection:
“It Was Upon a Lammas Night (Corn Rigs)�; “John Barleycorn. A Ballad�; “Green Grow the Rashes. A Fragment�; “The Holy Fair�; “To a Mouse�; “The Twa Dogs. A Tale�; “Scotch Drink�; “Address to the Deil�; “Lines Written on a Bank-Note�; “Elegy on the Death of Robert Ruisseaux�; “Auld Lang Syne�; “Lassie Lie Near Me�; “Farewell to the Highlands (My Heart’s in the Highlands):�; “Tam o’Shanter. A Tale�; “Ae Fond Kiss�; “O, Whistle an� I’ll Come to Yet, My Lad�; “Scots Wha Hae�; “A Red, Red Rose�; “Is There for Honest Poverty (A Man’s a Man for a� That)�; “I Murder Hate�; “It Was a� for Our Rightfu� King�.
A lot of these poems have been set to music and recorded many times; in my mind I often could hear Dougie MacLean, Mairi Campbell, or Emily Smith singing as I read classics like “Scots Wha Hae,� “Auld Lang Syne,� or “It Was Upon a Lammas Night".
My favorites in this collection:
“It Was Upon a Lammas Night (Corn Rigs)�; “John Barleycorn. A Ballad�; “Green Grow the Rashes. A Fragment�; “The Holy Fair�; “To a Mouse�; “The Twa Dogs. A Tale�; “Scotch Drink�; “Address to the Deil�; “Lines Written on a Bank-Note�; “Elegy on the Death of Robert Ruisseaux�; “Auld Lang Syne�; “Lassie Lie Near Me�; “Farewell to the Highlands (My Heart’s in the Highlands):�; “Tam o’Shanter. A Tale�; “Ae Fond Kiss�; “O, Whistle an� I’ll Come to Yet, My Lad�; “Scots Wha Hae�; “A Red, Red Rose�; “Is There for Honest Poverty (A Man’s a Man for a� That)�; “I Murder Hate�; “It Was a� for Our Rightfu� King�.
November 24, 2019
DNF... Kinda.
It feels like a bit of a betrayal to my heritage to say this, but during my attempts to read this book I have honestly felt like Burns's works are nigh unintelligible at times. Don't get me wrong, most of his poems have a nice enough rhythm and there are a few I legitimately enjoy (I love Tam o' Shanter - it's been a favourite of mine since primary school). But - and I'm sure I've said this before - the Scottish vernacular was simply not made to be written; particularly not Burns's archaic brand of it.
Which is why I bought an audiobook collection of his poems to enjoy instead. Burns's poetry is much easier to understand (and therefore much more enjoyable) when listened to as opposed to read the way you might read a novel. The way a lot of the slang is spelled doesn't really lend itself to intuitive interpretation, which inevitably disrupts the flow. Listening to someone who clearly knows all the pronunciation quirks on the other hand is a much more fulfilling experience.
It feels like a bit of a betrayal to my heritage to say this, but during my attempts to read this book I have honestly felt like Burns's works are nigh unintelligible at times. Don't get me wrong, most of his poems have a nice enough rhythm and there are a few I legitimately enjoy (I love Tam o' Shanter - it's been a favourite of mine since primary school). But - and I'm sure I've said this before - the Scottish vernacular was simply not made to be written; particularly not Burns's archaic brand of it.
Which is why I bought an audiobook collection of his poems to enjoy instead. Burns's poetry is much easier to understand (and therefore much more enjoyable) when listened to as opposed to read the way you might read a novel. The way a lot of the slang is spelled doesn't really lend itself to intuitive interpretation, which inevitably disrupts the flow. Listening to someone who clearly knows all the pronunciation quirks on the other hand is a much more fulfilling experience.
April 10, 2019
(1947 edition) I started this on Burns' Night, reading a few poems per day. This took me until April as Burns wrote so many poems and songs. The short biography at the beginning is very welcome and seems witty enough to have been written by Burns himself. The bulk of this edition is occupied with the poems which are often in such a thick 18thC Scottish dialect, the meaning behind is all but obscured to me, but despite this they still manage to display a charm and wit, a succinct turn of phrase, humour or, when I can (mostly) understand the gist, a kind and noble thought. The songs are somewhat less appealing without the accompanying music. Burns' odes to various pets, friends, his views on life, girlfriends and especially his 'everyman' touch is very endearing. I've not read many other poets, but somehow I feel like I'd get along with him more than most. 4.25/5
December 6, 2021
i had high hopes for this�
but i’m guessing it’s the typical kind of book you read in/for school. and not being in the english speaking school system i don’t get any english lit classes (well i do, but unconventional, anyway complicated, not here to vent about my life) and therefore no opportunity of studying these works. i’m sure they are much more interesting read in a scholar environment, with time to decrypt every one of them, rather than on my bed at 2 o’clock in the morning with nothing else keeping me going than my chronic insomnia.
but i’m guessing it’s the typical kind of book you read in/for school. and not being in the english speaking school system i don’t get any english lit classes (well i do, but unconventional, anyway complicated, not here to vent about my life) and therefore no opportunity of studying these works. i’m sure they are much more interesting read in a scholar environment, with time to decrypt every one of them, rather than on my bed at 2 o’clock in the morning with nothing else keeping me going than my chronic insomnia.
March 7, 2018
Good collection of Robert Burns poems
I always been the guy who reads just about anything. The poems in this book show a wide range of topics and forms. You can understand Robert Burns poetry with this book. There's a dictionary of Scottish dialect in the back of the book and another section giving the background to the discussion of most of the poems. Anyone would enjoy it. Especially if you like his work and poems.
I always been the guy who reads just about anything. The poems in this book show a wide range of topics and forms. You can understand Robert Burns poetry with this book. There's a dictionary of Scottish dialect in the back of the book and another section giving the background to the discussion of most of the poems. Anyone would enjoy it. Especially if you like his work and poems.
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March 24, 2024“An honest man here lies at rest,
As e’er God with his image blest;
The friend of man, the friend of truth,
The friend of age, and guide of youth;
Few hearts like his with virtue warm’d,
Few heads with knowledge so inform’d;
If there’s another world, he lives in bliss,
If there is none, he made the best of this.�
Epitaph on My Own Friend, and My Father’s Friend,
William Muir of Tarbolton Mill, p.14
As e’er God with his image blest;
The friend of man, the friend of truth,
The friend of age, and guide of youth;
Few hearts like his with virtue warm’d,
Few heads with knowledge so inform’d;
If there’s another world, he lives in bliss,
If there is none, he made the best of this.�
Epitaph on My Own Friend, and My Father’s Friend,
William Muir of Tarbolton Mill, p.14
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November 28, 2020Half the fun of reading the reasonably hefty Penguin edition of Selected Poems by Robert Burns is going to the piano and playing the tunes conveniently reprinted in the endnotes. The verse itself is steadily lyrical, sometimes tricky � thanks to the Scots dialect he frequently deploys � and pretty robust in the bawdry and politics departments. I’m glad to have a better sense of his life and work.
April 7, 2023
Niestety czytanie tej poezji mnie przerosło, może gdyby bardziej mi zależało to tłumaczyłbym te poszczególne słowa, ale niestety nie zależy mi aż tak. Jeżeli ktoś chciałby sprawdzić to niech czuje się ostrzeżony że Burns pisał silnym dialektem, więc pewnie nawet ktoś znający angielski bardzo dobrze będzie miał tutaj problem.
October 11, 2024
Let others love the city,
And gaudy show at sunny noon;
Gi'e me the lonely valley,
The dewy eve, and rising moon,
Fair-beaming, and streaming,
Her silver light the boughs amang;
While falling, recalling,
The amorous thrush concludes her sang:
There, dearest Chloris, wilt thou rove
By whimpling burn and leafy shaw,
And hear my vows o' truth and love,
And say thou lo'es me best of a'?
And gaudy show at sunny noon;
Gi'e me the lonely valley,
The dewy eve, and rising moon,
Fair-beaming, and streaming,
Her silver light the boughs amang;
While falling, recalling,
The amorous thrush concludes her sang:
There, dearest Chloris, wilt thou rove
By whimpling burn and leafy shaw,
And hear my vows o' truth and love,
And say thou lo'es me best of a'?
March 21, 2024
3.5 stars. Alas, I’m not suited to fully appreciate this book since I read it in the original Scottish dialect (which is quite difficult for me to understand), but I did see some old favourites in here. Had I understood the dialect, I’m sure my appreciation would have been so much higher!
April 19, 2018
Not my style of poetry, I found it difficult to follow and enjoy.
January 22, 2020
The language takes some getting used to be he's a great poet. A friend of mine used to read his works out loud for me in a near perfect accent and it just made it that much more enjoyable.
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