Robert Burns And His Contribution to Scottish Verse

Author: Wayne Nelson

It is a firm belief amongst the elite of the literature sphere across the world that Robert Burns was the national poet of the country Scotland. Although, Scotland has witnessed the birth and growth of other eminent names of the literature world, such as Robert Fergusson and Allan Ramsay, it is Robert Burns who is considered to be the national poet of Scotland and that is a deserved honour bestowed upon this extremely talented and creative writer. His collection of poems is available online for all the literature enthusiasts to read and understand. His collection of poems is a source of immense knowledge and deep insight into the Scottish culture and traditions.

Robert Burns, just like his father, was a tenant farmer. Majority of his day was dedicated to toiling away at farm. This extremely busy and harsh nature of his work meant that Robert Burns couldn’t elude the strains and labour of life. Nevertheless, he was able to alleviate from the stresses of his work life through poetry. Poetry provided the much needed respite to him from the quirks of the soil. As a poet, he observed the strands of farm life, conventions, culture and the misrepresentations of various classes.

Burns is considered to be a significant and complicated luminary in the sphere of literature for various reasons. The primary and the chief most reason is his contribution to the Scottish dialect. His work in Scottish verse is invariably Burn’s best and it is the poetry written in Scottish verse that brought all the acclaims and awards to him.

the robert burns collection retains the title and prestige of being the national poet of Scotland due less to his credentials as an English poet and more to his works in the Scottish dialect. That he was deemed the last of the line of famous Scottish names in the field of literature, is a testimony to his work of immense creativity and art and his strong command over Scottish verse. After Robert Burns, there hardly has been any poet of that fame and claim from the lands of Scottish verse. The main reason behind that was that by the beginning of 16th century, English language had gained prominence and there was a paradigm shift in the writing world as the most works of famous poets were dominated by the English verse. The world of literature was under the linguistic supremacy of the English language as the Scottish dialect lost in popularity and comprehensibility and therefore, wasn’t the fancied language of the writers and poets anymore. Therefore, it can be safely assumed that Robert Burns was the last in the line of famed Scottish poets and after him, Scottish dialect slid into obscurity in regards to literature.