The Famous Bards Poetry 3A

We call William Shakespeare “The Bard,” capital T, capital B. But a bard is simply someone who sang poetry, a word we may have been more familiar with if we’d lived in the Middle Ages. In a mini-series within a series, we'll look at several famous bards.

Known as the national poet of Scotland, Robert Burns wrote dozens of poems in the Scottish dialect. You may think Scots speak English, and they do, but they also speak Scots Gaelic. It’s best if you read the poems out loud, and you can almost hear the Scottish voice speaking! When he wrote in English, his writings were often blunt political and civil commentary. We’re going to stick with his poetry, though.

Robert Burns lived from 1759-1796. He was the oldest of seven children born to tenant farmers. He was given a home school education by his father but his teen years focused on working on the farm. He tried his hand at poetry when he was sixteen, a poem named “O, Once I Lov’d A Bonnie Lass.” It is typical of his later works. Let’s look at a few, found on the official Robert Burns website.

“Auld Lang Syne”: We sing this every New Year at the stroke of midnight. “Should auld (old) acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?”

“My Bonnie Bell”: This is for all residents of Northeast Pennsylvania! “The smiling Spring comes in rejoicing, and surly winter grimly flies; Now crystal clear are the falling waters, and bonnie blue are the sunny skies.” (Bonnie = beautiful)

“A Red, Red Rose”: This is one you might be familiar with, and this one is my favorite Burns’ poem. It’s not on the official website; I found it on the poetry foundation website. “O my Luve is like a red, red rose that’s newly sprung in June…”

Did you take the time to read the poems? What did you think? Which one is your favorite? Did you find the dialect was distracting or did it not bother you at all? Leave a comment on the Facebook page or the blog page! And check back later this week for another Bard!