Book Description
Robert Burns (1759-96), was the eldest son of a tenant farmer in Ayrshire. He endured hardship and frustration before emerging as poet and song-writer in his native dialect as well as English. His Poems were published in 1787, and when he received part of the money which the new edition earned for him, he made a number of tours, to the Borders and to the Highlands. Otherwise, apart from a return visit to Ayrshire, he was to spend the winter of 1787-8 in Edinburgh also. Later, he lived in Dumfriesshire and became an Excise Officer. Burns's literary work in the remaining years of his life consists of many outstanding songs, and the poem 'Tam o' Shanter'.
About the Author
Donald A. Low studied at St Andrews and Pembroke College, Cambridge, and was Professor of English Studies at the University of Stirling. His publications on Burns include Poems in Scots and English and The Songs of Robert Burns.
Robert Burns: Selected Poems FROM THE PUBLISHER
Robert Burns, the son of a tenant farmer in Ayshire, Scotland, endured great hardship before emerging as a poet and songwriter in his native dialect, as well as in English. This "Bard of Scotland" caught the spirit of his country, as these 23 verses and songs so vividly show. Though his works frequently focused on two of his greatest pleasures--women and Scotch--he also found inspiration in local subjects. His "Tam O'Shanter" is one of the finest examples of narrative verse ever written: it vividly evokes the Scottish landscape and weather, the native inns and native folk, all while telling a compelling, almost supernatural story of the drunken Tam. From "The Twa Dogs" to "Death and Doctor Hornbook," this colorful collection is a pure delight.