Family and biography of Robert Burns. Burns, Robert - short biography

ROBERT BURNS
(1759-1796)

"An extraordinary man" or - "an excellent poet of Scotland", - so called Walter Scott Robert Burns, a poor peasant who became an outstanding artist of the word.

His country was a state of heroic and catastrophic fate: in 1707, after many years of hard struggle, it was united with England, which felt its strong influence. As a result of the rapid growth of bourgeois relations, the fencing and the industrial revolution, the most ancient clan traditions began to disappear, and the free grain growers and small artisans were generally impoverished. Two uprisings against the British (1715 and 1745) were ruthlessly suppressed and led to an even greater increase in oppression, taxation and bureaucratic pressure on the poor. Such was the socio-political situation in which the work of Burns developed. From an early age, a heightened sense of national pride in Scotland's past and a bitter sense of the tragedy of its present position were intertwined in his mind.

As a person and as a poet, Burns was formed under the influence of two state cultures - Scottish and British. Their interaction has developed for a long time, but after the union, British was recognized as the national language, and Scottish was reduced to the level of a dialect. The ruling classes of Great Britain tried to plant their own culture, which could not but give rise in the defeated, but not broken people, of an irresistible desire to preserve national traditions, to preserve their native language. Working in these conditions, Robert Burns was able to rise above both the slavish inclination towards British literature and state limitations, he was able to cooperate in his own poetry all the best of both literary traditions, comprehending and synthesizing them in his own way.

Robert Burns was born into a farmer's family. His short life was spent in a continuous struggle with poverty, in languid labor on farms, the rent of which was profitable only for landowners.

Collisions with stingy and rude owners, with preachers of Calvinist communities and ordinary people in the small villages of southwestern Scotland, where the poet spent his childhood and youth, introduced him early to the inequality and infringement of the poor. A man of independent mind and a proud soul, he deeply sympathized with people like himself, disenfranchised workers.

His education was limited to the lessons of his father, who knew how to read and write, reading a small library that was painstakingly kept. The young man's craving for knowledge was seen and developed by a timid village teacher, a friend of his father. The secured spiritual world of the poet, his extraordinary skill - all this was obtained by the method of continuous and stubborn self-education.

Burns' poetic talent awakened early. The first verse about bright youthful love (“Extraordinary Nellie”) was written at the age of fifteen. Others followed him. they were adored, remembered by Burns' friends - rural youth, local intellectuals. By subscription of these admirers in a provincial town in 1786, for the first time, a small book of his poems (“Kilmarnock volume”) was placed for the first time. None of the Edinburgh editions of a larger book of poems and lyrics (The Edinburgh Volume, 1787), not even the fashion for the poet-plowman in the salons of Edinburgh, changed the role of Burns. He lived in this town for about 2 years, visited the highest circles, where he aroused only condescending curiosity and conversation, but continued to live in poverty, in anxiety for his relatives, without conviction in the next day. In Stans for Nothing, he boldly called the nonentities of those with whom he had to meet in Edinburgh, who were phlegmatic to the poet, to the failures of the workers.

In the early poetic attempts of Burns, traces of acquaintance with the work of Pope, Johnson and other representatives of Enlightenment classicism are clearly noticeable. Later in the poetry of Burns one can find a roll call with many English and Scottish poets. He never followed traditions one hundred percent, he rethought them and created his own. Burns had the same attitude towards the folklore of the basis of his poetry. This is expressed in his deep understanding of the essence of folk art and his perception of the advanced thoughts of the century. In the folk song, the author's personality disappeared, and Burns connected the voice of the people with the poetic "I". The main themes of his poetry were love and friendship, man and nature.

Along with this, Burns early comprehended in his own poems and poems the collision of the individual and the people with public evil, although, of course, the opposition of Burns's intimate and social lyrics is completely arbitrary. Already early lyrics are poems about the rights of young people to happiness, about their collision with the despotism of religion and the family. Love in Burns is always a force that helps a person to defend a loved one, to protect her and himself from dangerous opponents. The poet often personally encountered the hypocrisy of churchmen. He rejects and ridicules him in "Greetings to his own illegitimate daughter" (1785). In the poems of Burns, religious awareness of the essence of human existence was often rejected. In "The Funeral Song" he argues with the apology of death as "the closest friend of the poor" on the way to "the grace beyond the grave." The same theme, in a brilliant combination of satire and humor, is revealed in the poem "Death and Dr. Harnbuk", which parodies both its poeticization and the greed of doctors who profit from death. An extremely close to reality portrait of an informer and a libertine in the "Prayer of the Holy Willy" and "Epitaph" to him, where the real fact became the reason for the brave revelations of the sanctimonious doctrine of Calvinism. The stupidity of the priest and his flock is ridiculed in the satire "Taurus". Burns was not an atheist, but his deism was similar to the atheistic rejection of the role of God in the life of man and nature.

Not in God, in nature, in life, in the fight against troubles, Burns and his heroes became courageous and ordinary people. Not heavenly forces, but personal dignity, love, the help of friends supported them.

Berne early began to think about the causes of public inequality. At first, in his own poems, he was ready to lay the blame for all the hardships of the poor and his own forces of the universe - "heavenly and devilish." But at the time of maturity, he concluded that it was not fate, but the real laws and orders of society that determine the role of people. In 1785, the cantata The Joyful Beggars was written. her characters are vagabonds: a cripple soldier, a poor lady, itinerant actors and artisans. Everyone in the past grief, tests, conflicts with the law, and now - persecution, poverty. But they remained human. Thirst for life, the ability to have fun, make friends and adore, sharp sarcastic speech, courage and fortitude - oh, so the poet portrayed in a dynamic group portrait of disadvantaged fellow countrymen, close in color to the table scenes in the painters of the Flemish school. At a joyful nighttime amusement in the brothel of vicious Pussy Nancy, the poet supports the poor. His song, rebellious and haughty, is the end of the cantata:

To hell with those whom the laws protect from the people! Prisons are a defense for cowards, Churches are a haven for hypocrisy.

The text of this cantata was published only after the death of the writer.
The life and destinies of his contemporaries immediately entered the poetic world of Burns with a lyrical “I”: relatives, friends, neighbors, those whom he met at one moment, he remembered forever. He is not indifferent to people. He loves some, is friends with them, he cannot stand others; he calls many by name, and these names are lives and personalities, and the reader remembers them forever. Such are the greedy Maggie from the mill, the assertive and charming boyfriend Findlay, the proud Tibby, the joyful Willy the bastard, the poet's friend John Anderson. And in the midst of them, Berne himself is joyful and courageous, affectionate and passionate in love, faithful in friendship. He shares happy and difficult moments with the reader.

Already the early poems of Burns were full of the deepest thoughts about the life of people, about themselves and others, just like him. Together with songs about love, separation, sadness, songs written on popular folk motifs, such poetic discoveries appeared as “A field mouse whose nest I destroyed with a plow”, “There was a conscientious peasant my father”, “Friendship of the past years” and many satires.

Walter Scott defended Burns from accusations of "rudeness", "ill manners", with jewelry accuracy assessed the nature of his talent, which combined lyrics and satire. He fairly correctly determined the poet's civilian position: "The feeling of one's own pluses, the way of thinking, and specifically Burns' indignation were plebeian, however, such that a plebeian with a proud soul, an Athenian or Roman citizen, has."

The second half of the 1980s was full of excitement for the poet and his contemporaries in connection with the revolution in North America, the pre-revolutionary crisis in France, and political indignation in Great Britain. To them were added personal obstacles and changes in the life of the poet. He fell in love with the daughter of a wealthy farmer Jean Armor, but did not see her for about 3 years. The death of his father, financial and family disagreements forced him to seriously consider leaving for Jamaica. But he did not seek to make his poetry a source of income.

Burns did not go, but was obliged to accept the position of excise bureaucrat offered to him, and to the end of his days he carried the yoke of this boring and poorly paid position. The administration strictly controlled the freethinker poet, who "does not need" to be interested in politics.

A huge role in the work of Burns was played by love for working people. His standard of man appeared in the comprehension of folk history and many years of experience of the labor ranks, their current situation. The poet's love belongs to conscientious and good workers, fighters for truth and humanity. Together with this, he rejects the conservative-nationalist illusions that are widespread among the Scottish people. This was reflected in the poetic assessment of the fates and personalities of the Scottish rulers, from Mary Stuart to the pretender prince. Moving forward and only forward he asserted as the law of being.
The struggle of the new with the old in Burns is dramatic, capable of leading to unexpected accidents and tragedies, everything that stands in the way of the future must be destroyed. Such is the subtext of "The Song of Doom" (1792), "The Tree of Liberty" (1793) and other poems that were written during the Great French Revolution. Even earlier, the poet was for the South American revolution. He took it as a blow to the English monarchy. But actions in France were closer to him. Burns met with ecstasy the fall of the Bastille, the tribunal and the verdict of the Convention on the Bourbons, was carried away by the struggle of the Republic against the army of the anti-French coalition. The poem "The Tree of Liberty" deeply generalized this poet's confidence in the rightness, in the pan-European significance of the experience of France, especially of principle for Great Britain. The assessment in this verse of the British revolution of the 17th century again confirms the insight and sharpness of the poet's historical views. But the text of this poem was posted only in 1838, and then he did not go to all editions of his poems. Burns' comments on the revolution in France are not only evidence of his sympathy for it, but also the program of the struggle for the coveted Freedom and Justice, for the real greatness of man, not subject to crowns and money.

The British reaction of those years and later in particular could not stand his accusatory satires and epigrams. Many of them were oriented against the war. "Wars are plague epidemics, in which not nature is to blame, but people." He directly stated that wars are necessary for monarchs, parliamentarians, traders: war blesses the church; she is expected, and with her new ranks, generals. Their income and fame are paid for at the cost of thousands of human lives ("Gratitude for the National Victory"). Only a war for the freedom of the people is justified.

Political satires and epigrams of Burns naturally had a clear address and asserted the principles of plebeian-democratic statehood and morality. One of the main targets of exposure for Burns is the noble-bourgeois parliamentary system in the Anglo-Scottish version.
About the royal couple - George III and his wife, about their heir, Burns spoke with contemptuous drama in the "Tavern Ballad", in the satirical poem "Dream" - a sarcastic greeting of the king on his birthday, and in other poems. The crowned heads of Great Britain are worthless puppets in the hands of those who profit from money speculation and start wars. An alliance of corrupt politicians with merchants and the church, pre-election speculations are revealed by Burns in the satires "The Gallery of Politicians and Saints", "The Ballad of the Election of Mr. Waron" and others. These poetic political feuilletons open up the existing system of criminal deception of the people. Among the late satires full of anger and pain, the “Message of Beelzebub” (1790) stands out in particular.

In the rich development of Burns's social experience and his revolutionary plebeian worldview, new abilities and facets were revealed. The innovative direction of his own time - sentimentalism - Burns subjected to a critical assessment, discarded in it what he called "mannership" (mucilaginous responsiveness, passivity, religious illusions of creators and heroes). In pre-romanticism, he did not accept the poetization of despair and the nightmare of life. The central theme before the romantics - the omnipotence of the demon, evil in the world - was solved by Burns without mysticism, in a materialistic plan, and includes a political assessment of the real forces of the era. Sharp common sense, salty folk humor of the poet destroyed the pre-romantic poeticization of encounters with "evil spirits". Not a bad parody of the pre-romantic "diaboliad" is Burns' funny poem "Tom O'Shanter".

Burns's poetry is in the Scottish dialect; many of them are based on folk songs and have themselves become the songs that Scotland sings to this day. Renewal and democratization of the theme, language, artistic means went into it in unity with the restructuring of the classical system of lyrical genres, its enrichment. Strange energy, sharpness and wealth of judgment, many rhythms and intonations, breathtaking elasticity and brilliance of the vernacular - these corresponding features of Burns's best poems brought him worldwide fame.

Robert Burns was born on January 25, 1759 in the village of Alloway (three kilometers south of the city of Eyre, Ayrshire), the son of a peasant William Burness (William Burness, 1721-1784). In 1765, his father rented the Mount Oliphant farm, and the boy had to work on an equal basis with adults, enduring hunger and other hardships. From 1783, Robert began to compose poetry in the Ayshire dialect. In 1784, his father died, and after a series of unsuccessful attempts to engage in agriculture, Robert and his brother Gilbert moved to Mossgil. In 1786, Burns's first book, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish dialect, was published.

The initial period of creativity also includes: John Barleycorn (John Barleycorn, 1782), The Jolly Beggars (1785), Holy Willie's Prayer, Holy Fair ("The Holy Fair", 1786). The poet is quickly becoming known throughout Scotland.

In 1787, Burns moved to Edinburgh and became a member of the high society of the capital. In Edinburgh, Burns met Scottish folklore promoter James Johnson, with whom they began publishing The Scot's Musical Museum. In this edition, the poet published many Scottish ballads in his own adaptation and his own works.
Published books bring Burns a certain income. He tried to invest his royalties into renting a farm, but only lost his small capital. The main source of livelihood from 1791 was work as a tax collector in Damfis.

Robert Burns led a rather free lifestyle and had three illegitimate daughters from casual and short-lived relationships. In 1787, he married his longtime lover Jean Armor. In this marriage he had five children.

In the period 1787-1794, the famous poems "Tam o' Shanter" ("Tarn o' Shanter", 1790) and "Honest poverty" ("For A'That and A'That", 1795), "Ode dedicated to the memory Mrs. Oswald ”(“ Ode, sacred to the Memory of Mrs. Oswald ”, 1789). In essence, Burns was forced to engage in poetry in between his main work. He spent his last years in need and a week before his death he almost ended up in a debtor's prison.

Burns died on July 21, 1796 at Dumfries. He was only 37 years old. According to biographers of the 19th century, one of the reasons for Burns's sudden death was excessive drinking. Historians of the 20th century are inclined to believe that Burns died from the consequences of heavy physical labor in his youth and congenital rheumatic heart disease, which in 1796 was aggravated by diphtheria he had suffered.

Robert Burns was an 18th century Scottish poet and folklorist. Known for poetry and poems written in languages ​​commonly referred to as Plain Scots and English. In Scotland, his birthday is a national holiday.

Early Years: Hard Labor and Freemasons

Burns was born on January 25, 1759 in the Scottish village of Alloway. The boy was brought up in a large family with six (total number) brothers and sisters. Robert had a teacher who taught him to read and write. The teacher saw the child's abilities and advised him to study literature more. This was not easy, as Burns was forced to work like adults from an early age, starving at times. This is because in 1765 his father rented the Mount Oliphant farm.

In 1781, Robert joined the Masonic lodge, which had a serious impact on his work. Burns wrote his first poems in 1783.

In 1784 his father died. Robert tried to take over farming, but he did not succeed in the farming business and soon left Mine Oliphant for Mossgil with his brother Gilbert.

Poems and popularity

Burns' first book was published in 1786 under the title Poems, Principally in the Scotch Dialect. Quickly enough, the poet's fame spread throughout Scotland. One of the best, from the point of view of literary critics, poems "Merry Beggars" Burns wrote in 1785. How different is this from modern English?

The Jolly Beggars (excerpt)

Then niest outspak a raucle carlin,
Wha kent fu’ weel to cleek the sterlin;
For mony a pursie she had hooked,
An' had in mony a well been douked;
Her love had been a highland laddie,
But weary fa' the waefu' woodie!
Wi' sighs an' sobs she thus began
To wake her braw John Highlandman.

Other notable early works by Burns are "Holy Fair", "John Barleycorn", "Holy Willie's Prayer".

Johann Wolfgang Goethe believed that the secret of Burns' popularity in Scotland was that the folk songs that his ancestors passed down orally from generation to generation sang to him from an early age, and in this folklore he found a basis on which he could rely. Equally, his poems went back to the people and turned into songs of reapers, knitters and drunkards from a tavern.

Big city and high society

In 1787, Burns moved to the Scottish capital of Edinburgh and became a member of high society. The poet met the folklorist James Johnson and began publishing with him the Scottish Museum of Music collection. Burns included in it a number of national ballads revised by him, as well as works of his own authorship.

Published books brought Robert some money, and he decided to invest in agriculture by renting a farm. The initiative turned out to be a loss, and Burns lost capital.

Since 1971 he has been working as an excise collector in Dumfries, and this has become his main source of income.

In his personal life, Burns was quite a free bird. Before marrying his longtime love Jean Armor in 1787, he managed to acquire three illegitimate daughters from casual and short romances. Jean bore him five more children.

From 1787 to 1794, Burns wrote several famous poems and the poem "John Anderson", which reflects on death. Robert was at that time (1789) 30 years old.

In general, Burns wrote poems during his rest hours from his main work. The last years of his life he was in poverty and almost ended up in a debtor's prison.

Death and legacy

In 1796, July 21, Burns died in Dumfries, where he was at work, already being ill. Robert's biographer James Curry suggested that alcohol abuse may have been the cause of death. Contemporaries, on the other hand, believe that, most likely, the poet died from the consequences of hard physical labor and chronic rheumatic heart disease, which he had been ill with since childhood. In 1796, the disease was aggravated by diphtheria.

Burns' birthday, 25 January, is celebrated in Scotland as a national holiday. On this day, his compatriots arrange a gala dinner, using the dishes sung by the poet in the order in which he wrote about them. The food is brought in to the sound of the Scottish bagpipes and the reading of the relevant poems by Burns. Fans of the poet's work from all over the world also celebrate on January 25th.

In Russia, Burns was first heard in 1800, when the first prose translation of his writings appeared. Some of his poems were translated by Mikhail Lermontov during his youth. Vissarion Belinsky was engaged in a serious study of the works of the Scottish poet.

In the Soviet Union, Burns was known from translations of Samuil Marshak. He studied them for over 20 years and translated into Russian at least 200 texts - this is about a quarter of the Scot's legacy. Marshak's translations are far from the original poems, but they convey an emotional tone close to Burns and are notable for the lightness of the language. For example, the passage quoted at the beginning of the article, translated by Samuil Yakovlevich, sounds like this:

The fool is silent. Behind him
The middle-aged person got up,
With a mighty camp, formidable chest.
She has been tried many times by judges.
For being smart on the hook
She caught the purse
Ring, scarf and whatever.
The people drowned her in the well,
But he couldn't drown,
Satan himself protected her.

In the old days - during it -
She loved Highlander John.
And sang about him
About John, his highlander.

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Classical » Robert Burns

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Love Poems by Robert Burns

Biography of Robert Burns
Burns, Robert (1759-1796), Scottish poet. Created
original poetry, in which he glorified labor, people and freedom, disinterested
and selfless love and friendship. Satirical anti-church poems "Two
shepherd" (1784), "The Prayer of the Holy Willy" (1785), a collection of "Poems,
written mainly in the Scottish dialect" (1786), patriotic
anthem "Bruce to the Scots", cantata "Merry Beggars", civic and love
lyrics (poems "Freedom Tree", "John Barleycorn", etc.),
drinking songs. Collected and prepared for publication works of Scottish
poetic and musical folklore, with which his poetry is closely connected.
Born January 25, 1759 in Alloway (County Ayr) in the family of a gardener and
tenant farmer William Burns and his wife, Agnes. First of seven
children. He received an excellent education thanks to his father. Read since childhood
the Bible, English Augustian poets (Pope, Edison, Swift and Steele) and
Shakespeare. He began writing poetry when he was in school and worked on a farm.
Robert and his brother Gilbert went to school for two years. In 1765 my father took
rent Mount Oliphant Farm, and Robert worked like an adult from the age of 12
worker, malnourished and overworked his heart. He read everything that came up
hand, from penny pamphlets to Shakespeare and Milton. At school he heard
only English speech, but from the mother and the old servants and from the same pamphlets
joined the language of Scottish ballads, songs and fairy tales.
In 1777 his father moved to Lochley Farm near Tarbolton, and for Robert
a new life began. At Tarbolton he found company to his liking, and soon
became her leader. In 1780, Burns and his friends organized a cheerful "Club
bachelors", and in 1781 he joined the Masonic lodge. February 13, 1784 father
died, and with the money left after him, Robert and Gilbert moved the family to
Mossgil farm near Mochlin. Even earlier, in 1783, Robert began to record in
a notebook with his youthful poems and rather grandiloquent prose. Communication with
Servant Betty Peyton led to the birth of his daughter on May 22, 1785.
The local clergy seized the opportunity and imposed a penance on Burns for
fornication, but this did not prevent the laity from laughing while reading those who went to
lists of the Holy Fair and the Prayer of Holy Willy.
At the beginning of 1784, Burns discovered the poetry of R. Fergusson and realized that
Scots is by no means a barbaric and dying dialect and is capable of
convey any poetic shade - from salty satire to lyrical
enthusiasm. He developed the tradition of Fergusson, especially in the genre of aphoristic
epigrams. By 1785, Burns had already gained some fame as the author of vivid
friendly messages, dramatic monologues and satires.
In 1785 Burns fell in love with Jean Armor (1765–1854), the daughter of a Mochlin
contractor J. Armor. Burns gave her a written "commitment" - a document
according to Scottish law, certifying an actual, albeit illegal, marriage.
However, Burns' reputation was so bad that Armor tore
"obligation" in April 1786 and refused to take the poet as a son-in-law. Even before this
humiliated, Burns decided to emigrate to Jamaica. It is not true that he published his
poems to get money for the trip - the thought of this edition
came to him later. Poems printed in Kilmarnock
predominantly in the Scottish dialect (Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish
Dialect) went on sale August 1, 1786. Half edition of 600
copies sold by subscription, the rest was sold for a few
weeks. After that, Burns was accepted into the aristocratic literary circle.
Edinburgh. Collected, processed and recorded about two hundred songs for the Scottish
musical society. He began to write songs himself. Glory came to Burns hardly
not overnight. Noble gentlemen opened the doors of their mansions to him.
Armor dropped the lawsuit, and Betty Peyton was paid off with £20. September 3
1786 Jean gave birth to twins.
The local nobility advised Burns to forget about emigration, to go to
Edinburgh and announce a nationwide subscription. He arrived in the capital on 29
November and with the assistance of J. Cunningham and others concluded an agreement on December 14
with the publisher W. Krich. In the winter season, Burns was snapped up in the secular
society. He was patronized by the Caledonian Hunters, members
an influential club for the elite; at a meeting of the Grand Masonic Lodge
In Scotland, he was hailed as the "Bard of Caledonia". Edinburgh edition
Poems (published April 21, 1787) gathered about three thousand subscribers and
brought Burns about £500, including a hundred guineas, for which he,
on bad advice, ceded the copyright to Creech. about half
the proceeds went to help Gilbert and his family in Mossgil.
Before leaving Edinburgh in May, Burns met J. Johnson,
semi-literate engraver and fanatical lover of Scottish music, who
shortly before that he published the first issue of the Scottish Music Museum
("The Scots Musical Museum"). From the autumn of 1787 until the end of his life, Burns actually
was the editor of this publication: he collected texts and melodies, supplemented
surviving passages in stanzas of his own composition, lost or
obscene texts replaced by their own. He was so good at it that
documented evidence, it is often impossible to establish where folk
texts, and where are the texts of Burns. For the "Museum", and after 1792 for more
refined, but also less bright "Selected Original Scottish Melodies"
(“Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs”, 1793–1805) by J. Thomson he
wrote more than three hundred texts, each on his own motive.
Burns triumphantly returned to Mohlin on July 8, 1787. Half a year of glory did not
turned his head, but changed the attitude towards him in the village. armors
he was warmly received, and he renewed his relationship with Jean. But the Edinburgh
maid Peggy Cameron, who gave birth to a child from Burns, filed a lawsuit against him, and
he went back to Edinburgh.
There, on December 4, he met an educated married lady, Agnes Craig.
M "Lehuz. Three days later he dislocated his knee and, bedridden, started
with "Clarinda," as she called herself, a love letter. dislocation had and
more significant consequences. The doctor who used Burns was familiar with
Commissioner for Excise in Scotland R. Graham. Having learned about the desire of the poet to serve in
excise, he turned to Graham, who allowed Burns to go through the proper
education. The poet passed it in the spring of 1788 at Mochlin and Tarbolton, and on July 14
received a diploma. The prospect of an alternative source of income gave him
courage to sign on March 18 a contract for the lease of Ellisland Farm.
Upon learning that Jean was pregnant again, her parents kicked her out of the house. Burns
returned to Mochlin on February 23, 1788 and, apparently, immediately recognized her as his
wife, although the announcement took place only in May, and the church court approved them
marriage only on August 5th. On March 3, Jin gave birth to two girls, who soon
died. On June 11, Burns began work on the farm. By the summer of 1789 it became clear
that in the near future Ellisland will not bring income, and in October Burns
patronage received the position of an exciseman in his rural area. He's fine
performed it; in July 1790 he was transferred to Dumfries. In 1791 Burns refused
rent Ellisland, moved to Dumfries and lived on the salary of an exciseman.
Burns's creative work for three years in Ellisland was reduced to
mainly to texts for Johnson's "Museum", for one serious
the exception is the story in verse by Tam O "Shanter". In 1789 Burns
met with the collector of antiquities Fr. Grose, who compiled
two-volume anthology Scottish antiquities (The Antiquities of Scotland).
The poet invited him to give in the anthology an engraving depicting the Alloway
church, and he agreed - on the condition that Burns write a legend for the engraving
about witchcraft in Scotland. This is how one of the best ballads in history was born.
literature.
Meanwhile, passions flared up around the French Revolution,
which Burns accepted with enthusiasm. There have been investigations regarding
loyalty of civil servants. By December 1792, Burns had accumulated
so many denunciations that the Exciseman, William Corbet, came to Dumfries to
personally conduct an inquiry. Through the efforts of Corbet and Graham, everything ended with the fact that
Burns was ordered not to talk too much. He was still going to be promoted
in the service, but in 1795 he began to lose his health: rheumatism affected
weakened in adolescence heart. Burns died July 21, 1796.
Burns is hailed as a romantic poet - in everyday and
the literary sense of this definition. However, Burns' worldview
rested on the practical common sense of the peasants among whom he grew up. FROM
Romanticism, in essence, had nothing in common. On the contrary, his work
marked the last flowering of Scottish poetry in their native language - poetry
lyrical, earthly, satirical, sometimes mischievous, whose traditions were
founded by R. Henryson (c. 1430 - c. 1500) and W. Dunbar (c. 1460 - c.
1530), forgotten during the Reformation and revived in the 18th century. A. Ramsey and
R. Ferguson.

Poems about love (and not only)

There is no peace in my soul
All day I'm waiting for someone
Without sleep I meet the dawn
And all because of someone.
There is no one with me
Oh where to find someone
I can go around the whole world
To find someone.
To find someone
I can go around the world...

Oh you who keep love
Unknown forces!
Let the unharmed return again
To me my someone dear.
But there is no one with me
I'm sad for some reason
I swear that I would give everything
In the world for someone.
In the light for someone
I swear I'd give anything...

KISS

Wet seal of confessions,
The promise of secret negs -
Kiss, early snowdrop,
Fresh, clean, like snow.

silent surrender,
Passion child's play
Friendship of a dove with a dove,
Happiness is the first time.

Joy in a sad parting
And the question: "when again?"
Where are the words to name
To find these feelings?

LITTLE BALLAD

Somewhere a girl lived.
What a girl she was!
And she loved a nice guy.

But they had to part
And love each other apart
Because the war has begun.

Over the seas, over the hills -
Where cannons throw fire
The warrior's heart did not waver in battle.

This heart fluttered
Only at night at the hour of rest,
Remembering your sweetheart!

Love is like a rose, a rose is red
Blooms in my garden.
My love is like a song
With which I go.

Stronger than your beauty
My love is one.
She is with you as long as the sea
They won't dry to the bottom.

The seas will not dry up, my friend,
Granite does not crumble
The sand won't stop
And he, like life, runs ...

Be happy my love
Goodbye and don't be sad.
I'll come back to you, even the whole world
I would have to pass!

Making my way to the gate
Field along the boundary,
Jenny is soaked to the skin
Evening in the rye.

Very cold girl
Beats the girl trembling:
Soaked all the skirts
Walking through the rye

If someone called someone
Through thick rye
And someone hugged someone
What will you take from him?

And what do we care
If at the boundary
Kissed someone
In the evening in the rye!..

But look at both, making your way to me.
Find a loophole in the garden wall
Find three steps in the moonlit garden.
Go, but as if you are not going to me,
Walk like you're not going to me at all.

And if we meet in church, look
With my girlfriend, don't talk to me
Give me a gentle look furtively,
And more - look! - don't look at me
And more - look! - don't look at me!

Tell others, keeping our secret,
That you don't care about me at all.
But, even joking, beware, like fire,
So that someone does not take you from me,
And I really didn't take you away from me!

You whistle - I won't make you wait
You whistle - I will not make you wait.
Let my father and mother fight,
You whistle - I will not make you wait!

In the fields, under snow and rain,
My dear friend,
My poor friend
I would cover you with a cloak
From winter storms
From winter storms.

And if flour is destined
Your destiny
Your destiny
I'm ready for your grief to the bottom
Share with you
Share with you.

Let me descend into the gloomy valley,
Where is the night around
Where darkness is all around
In the darkness I would find the sun
Together with you
Together with you.

And if they gave me an inheritance
The whole globe of the earth
The whole globe of the earth
With what happiness I would own
You alone
You alone.

THE BARE GIRL

About this barefoot girl
I couldn't forget.
It seemed like the stones of the pavement
They torment the skin of tender legs.

Such legs to wear
In colored morocco or satin.
Such a girl would sit
In a carriage that has overtaken us!

The stream of her curls runs
Linen rings on the chest.
And the sparkle of the eyes in the darkness of nights
Swimmers would show the way.

She will outshine all the beauties,
Although the world does not know her.
She is dignified and humble.
She is not cuter in the world.

MY HAPPINESS

I'm happy with little, but I'm happy with more.
And if adversity breaks my way,
For a mug, to the song I drive them with a kick -
Let them fly to hell somersault.

In annoyance, I clench my teeth at times,
But life is a battle, and you, brother, are a hero.
My penny is inexchangeable - my careless disposition,
And all the kings will not deprive me of my rights.

Troubles oppress me all year long.
But an evening with friends - and everything will heal.
When we managed to reach the goal,
Why should we remember the pits on the way!

Whether to mess with the nag - my fate?
To me, from me, but I would go faster.
Care or joy will look into my house,
- Sign in! - I'll say, - maybe we'll live!

BEHIND THE RYE FIELD

Behind the field of rye bushes grew.
And buds of unopened roses
Bowed down, wet with tears,
Dewy early morning.

But twice the morning mist
Went down and the rose bloomed.
And so the dew was light
On her fragrant morning.

And linnet at dawn
Sat in a leafy tent
And everything was like in silver,
In the dew on a cold morning.

Happy time will come
And the kids will chirp
In the shade of a green tent
Hot summer morning.

My friend, your turn will come
Pay for a lot of worries
To those who keep your peace
Spring early morning.

You unopened flower
Spread every petal
And those whose evening is not far off,
Warm up on a summer morning!

IN THE MOUNTAINS MY HEART

I chase a deer, I scare a goat.
My heart is in the mountains, and I am below.

Farewell, my country! North, goodbye -
Fatherland of glory and valor.
We are driven by fate through the white world,
I will always be your son!

Farewell, peaks under the roof of snow,
Farewell, valleys and slopes of meadows,
Farewell, drooping into the abyss of the forest,
Farewell, streams of forest voices.

My heart is in the mountains... Until now I am there.
Following the trail of a deer, I fly over the rocks.
I chase a deer, I scare a goat.
My heart is in the mountains, and I myself am below!

And these are the famous Scottish fold cats

Piper:)

Robert Burns was born on January 25, 1759 in the village of Alloway (three kilometers south of the city of Eyre, Ayrshire), the son of a peasant William Burness (William Burness, 1721-1784). In 1765, his father rented the Mount Oliphant farm, and the boy had to work on an equal basis with adults, enduring hunger and other hardships. From 1783, Robert began to compose poetry in the Ayshire dialect. In 1784, his father died, and after a series of unsuccessful attempts to engage in agriculture, Robert and his brother Gilbert moved to Mossgil. In 1786, Burns's first book, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish dialect, was published. The initial period of creativity also includes: John Barleycorn (John Barleycorn, 1782), The Jolly Beggars (1785), Holy Willie's Prayer, Holy Fair ("The Holy Fair", 1786). The poet is quickly becoming known throughout Scotland.

About the origins of the popularity of Burns, I. Goethe noted:

Let's take Burns. Isn't he great because the old songs of his ancestors lived in the mouths of the people, that they sang them to him, so to speak, even when he was in the cradle, that as a boy he grew up among them and became related to the high perfection of these samples, which he found in them that living basis, relying on which he could go further? And yet, is he not great because his own songs immediately found receptive ears among his people, that they then sounded towards him from the lips of reapers and sheaf knitters, because they greeted his cheerful comrades in the tavern? This is where something could have happened.
Johann Peter Eckermann. Gespräche mit Goethe in den letzten Jahren seines Lebens. Leipzig, 1827.

In 1787, Burns moved to Edinburgh and became a member of the high society of the capital. In Edinburgh, Burns met Scottish folklore promoter James Johnson, with whom they began publishing The Scot's Musical Museum. In this edition, the poet published many Scottish ballads in his own adaptation and his own works.

Published books bring Burns a certain income. He tried to invest his royalties into renting a farm, but only lost his small capital. The main source of livelihood from 1791 was work as a tax collector in Damfis.

Robert Burns led a rather free lifestyle and had three illegitimate daughters from casual and short-lived relationships. In 1787, he married his longtime lover Jean Armor. In this marriage he had five children.

In the period 1787-1794, the famous poems "Tam o' Shanter" ("Tarn o' Shanter", 1790) and "Honest poverty" ("For A'That and A'That", 1795), "Ode dedicated to the memory Mrs. Oswald” (“Ode, sacred to the Memory of Mrs. Oswald”, 1789).

In essence, Burns was forced to engage in poetry in between his main work. He spent his last years in need and a week before his death he almost ended up in a debtor's prison.

Burns died on July 21, 1796 at Dumfries. He was only 37 years old. According to biographers of the 19th century, one of the reasons for Burns's sudden death was excessive drinking. Historians of the 20th century are inclined to believe that Burns died from the consequences of heavy physical labor in his youth and congenital rheumatic heart disease, which in 1796 was aggravated by diphtheria he had suffered.
[edit] The main dates of the poet's life

* January 25, 1759 birth of Robert Burns
* 1765 Robert and his brother go to school
* 1766 move to Mount Oliphant Farm
* 1773 Robert writes the first poems
* 1777 move to Lochley farm
* 1784 death of father, moving to Mossgil
* 1785 Robert meets Jean, "Merry Beggars", "Field Mouse" and many other poems are written
* 1786 Burns transfers the rights to the Mossgil farm to his brother; the birth of twins; trip to Edinburgh
* 1787 reception of the poet in the Grand Lodge of Scotland; the first Edinburgh edition of the poems is published; trips in scotland
* 1789 excise work
* 1792 appointment to the Port Inspectorate
* 1793 second Edinburgh edition of poems in two volumes
* December 1795 Burns' severe illness
* July 21, 1796 death
* July 25, 1796 funeral, on the same day the fifth son of Burns was born - Maxwell

[edit] Burns' language
monument to the poet in London

Although Burns studied at a rural school, his teacher was a man with a university education - John Murdoch (Murdoch, 1747-1824). Scotland then experienced the peak of national revival, was one of the most cultural corners of Europe, there were five universities in it. Under Murdoch's direction, Burns worked on, among other things, the poetry of Alexander Pope. According to the manuscripts, Burns was impeccable in literary English, while the use of Scots (a northern dialect of English, as opposed to Gaelic - Celtic Scots) was a conscious choice of the poet.
[edit] "Burns stanza"

A special form of the stanza is associated with the name of Burns: a six-line AAABAB scheme with shortened fourth and sixth lines. A similar scheme is known in medieval lyrics, in particular, in Provencal poetry (since the 11th century), but since the 16th century its popularity has faded. It survived in Scotland, where it was widely used before Burns, but is associated with his name and is known as the "Burns stanza", although its official name is the standard gabby, it comes from the first work that glorified this stanza in Scotland - "Elegy on death Gabby Simpson, Piper of Kilbarhan" (c. 1640) by Robert Sempill of Beltris; "gabby" is not a proper name, but a nickname for the natives of the town of Kilbarhan in Western Scotland. This form was also used in Russian poetry, for example, in Pushkin's poems "Echo" and "Collapse".
[edit] Burns in Russia

The first Russian translation of Burns (prose) appeared as early as 1800, four years after the poet's death, but Burns's work was made famous by the pamphlet A Rural Saturday Evening in Scotland, published in 1829. Free imitation of R. Borns by I. Kozlov. Numerous responses appeared in periodicals, and in the same year, the first Russian literary article by N. Polevoy "On the life and works of R. Borns" appeared. Subsequently, V. Belinsky was engaged in the work of Burns. In the library of A. Pushkin there was a two-volume book by Burns. A youthful translation of Burns's quatrain, made by M. Lermontov, is known. T. Shevchenko defended his right to create in the “non-literary” (exclusively Russian was meant as a literary) Ukrainian language, citing Burns as an example, writing in Scottish English:

But Borntz still sings folk and great.
Unpublished works of Shevchenko. 1906.

N. Nekrasov in a letter asked I. Turgenev to send several translations of Burns in order to "translate into verse", however, these intentions did not materialize. Burns was translated by many authors, and interest in the work of the Scottish poet intensified especially in connection with the centenary of his death. This made it possible to publish several collections of Russian translations, including "Robert Borns and his works translated by Russian writers" by A. Suvorin's publishing house from the "Cheap Library" series. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, interest in Burns was due to the poet's "peasant origin". The publication of Burns's works was included in the plans of the publishing house of M. Gorky's World Literature (not implemented). Burns' individual verses were translated by various poets, for example, in 1917 a translation of the poem "John Barleycorn" by K. Balmont was published, which was noted by everyone as unsuccessful.
The Robert Burns Hall at the Moscow Izmailovo Gymnasium

The poetry of Robert Burns gained wide popularity in the USSR thanks to the translations of S. Ya. Marshak. Marshak first turned to Burns in 1924, systematic translations began in the mid-1930s, the first collection of translations was published in 1947, and in a posthumous edition (Robert Burns. Poems translated by S. Marshak. M., 1976 .) already 215 works, which is approximately two-fifths of the poetic heritage of Robert Burns. Marshak's translations are far from the literal transmission of the original, but they are characterized by simplicity and lightness of the language, an emotional mood close to Burns's lines. In the 1940s an article appeared in the London newspaper The Times claiming that Burns was incomprehensible to the British and had only limited regional significance. As one of the counterarguments in the reviews of the article, Burns' huge popularity in the USSR was cited. In 1959 Marshak was elected honorary chairman of the Burns Federation in Scotland.

Recently, Marshak's translations have often been criticized as inadequate, and poems translated by Marshak are also published in translations by other authors, but Burns's popularity is generally very high and by now up to ninety percent of his poetic heritage exists in Russian.
[edit] Burns and music

Initially, many of Burns's works were created as songs, were reworked or written to the melody of folk songs. Burns's poetry is simple, rhythmic and musical, and it is no coincidence that in the Russian translation many poems were set to music. D. Shostakovich and G. Sviridov were engaged in the creation of musical works in their time. A. Gradsky's repertoire includes a cycle of compositions based on Burns' poems, for example, "In the fields under snow and rain ..." (S. Marshak's translation of the poem "Oh Wert Thou In The Cauld Blast"). The Belarusian group "Pesnyary" performed a series of works on the words of Burns. The Moldovan group "Zdob Si Zdub" performs the song "You left me" to the words of Burns. The folk group "Melnitsa" set to music the ballad "Lord Gregory" and the poem "Highlander". Often songs based on the verses of a Scottish poet were used in films. Of the most popular, one can note the romance "Love and Poverty" from the movie "Hello, I'm your aunt!" performed by A. Kalyagin and the song "There is no peace in my soul ..." from the movie "Office Romance". Of the less well-known - "Green Valley", "Gorodok" performed by the ensemble "Ulenspiegel".
[edit] Burns in Soviet and English philately
Propaganda vignettes of the Scottish National Party and Wendy Wood with Robert Burns. A UK 4p 1966 postage stamp (Scott #444), which they sought to issue.

In 1959, the British Post Office for the first time in history announced the release of a British postage stamp for 1964 depicting a person other than the monarch of the kingdom, Shakespeare. At the same time, according to press reports, the candidacy of the Scot Robert Burns was also considered, but was rejected, despite the 200th anniversary of the poet's birth. This provoked protests from his nationalist compatriots. In particular, the Scottish National Party printed and distributed for a small fee propaganda stamps with a portrait of Burns and the inscription "Free Scotland". According to their idea, the stamps were to be pasted next to the official postage stamp of the country with a portrait of Shakespeare.

But another action was much more famous. The problem of infringement of Robert Burns on British stamps was taken to heart by Miss Wendy Wood, an ardent admirer of his talent and a staunch separatist. She printed on a hand press and began distributing postal envelopes with the slogan "If Shakespeare, why not Burns?" and several types of own propaganda stamps in order to organize a massive mail spam attack of relevant requests to the British Prime Minister, all members of the British Parliament and the Minister of Posts. When franking these letters, Wendy Wood used only her own stamps. She reasoned that the post office would either accept the item that way or force the receiving officials to pay for the postage. The total circulation of Miss Wood's stamps was about 30,000 copies. She perforated some of it on a sewing machine, but most of the print run remained unperforated.

The voice of the public was heard: the British Post agreed to issue a postage stamp in memory of Burns, and without even waiting for the round date of birth, in the year of the 170th anniversary of the death of the poet. Satisfied, Wendy Wood then sent the Edinburgh Royal Postmaster the printed circuit boards from which she produced her propaganda stamps. His reaction to this gesture is not reported.

It is noteworthy that Wendy Wood's version of the effectiveness of the campaign is not the only one. Here is what Boris Stalbaum writes in the brochure What a Philatelist Needs to Know:
USSR postage stamp dedicated to Robert Burns, 40 kopecks, 1956 (Scott #1861).
“It was the Soviet “philatelic personalities” that prompted the British postal department to break the age-old tradition. For more than a hundred years, British stamps have printed exclusively portraits of the king or queen. On April 23, 1964, a portrait of an uncrowned Englishman, William Shakespeare, appeared for the first time on an English stamp. It would seem that the great playwright, who was once called "scaffold shaker", became a shaker of the foundations of English philately. However, as Emrys Hughes, a member of the British Parliament, testifies, this honor belongs to the Soviet brand. It all started with a portrait of Robert Burns.

“In 1959,” writes E. Hughes, “I happened to be present in Moscow at the anniversary evening dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns. When the solemn part ended, the Soviet Minister of Communications approached me and handed me an envelope with stamps. Each of the stamps featured a portrait of a Scottish bard. Frankly, I experienced at that moment a keen sense of shame. The minister, of course, felt quite legitimate pride: still, stamps with a portrait of Burns were issued in Russia, but not in England! I was ready to fall through the ground, although it was not my fault. In order not to suffer from the consciousness of hurt national pride alone, I decided to shame the then Prime Minister of England, Harold Macmillan, since he was also in Moscow at that time. At a reception at the English embassy, ​​I gave him my present - two stamps with a portrait of Burns. Looking at them in bewilderment, Macmillan asked: What is this? “Russian stamps issued in honor of Burns,” I replied. “You can stick them on an envelope and send a letter to our Postmaster General saying that Russia has overtaken the UK in this matter.”

The acute episode was not in vain. This is convincingly evidenced by the strange date of issue of the first English stamp with a portrait of Burns. She appeared on the day ... the 207th anniversary of the birth of the poet.
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It seems most likely that all of the above campaigns rather than just one of them played a role in promoting the urgent need for the British Post Office to issue a postage stamp in memory of Robert Burns.