Selected Poetry

Scotsman and poet Robert Burns was born in 1759. His family didn’t have much in terms of money, but Burns was still optimistic about life and love. His first poems were songs written to his many lovers, though those were not received well by the mistresses. In 1786, Burns’ first anthology “Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect” was released. It contained some of his best works, such as “The Twa Dogs” and “To a Mouse, On Turning Up Her Nest With The Plow”. Burns then moved around Scotland and even took up a short residence in Jamaica as a bookkeeper on a plantation. After returning to his native land, Burns settled down in Dumfries and devoted himself to his poems and lyrics. In this phase of his life, Burns became highly invested in collecting and preserving many of the local Scottish hymns and tunes. However, he was also famous for taking his own words and singing them with the melody of traditional Scottish songs. This is the case for “Auld Lang Syne” and “A Red, Red Rose”. His poetry and lyrics are still famous to this day, in large part due to his ability to weave seamlessly between emotions. A staunch supporter of republicanism, Burns was a Scottish patriot and believed in equality of all races, classes, and genders. In 2009, he was voted as the most influential and beloved Scot of all time by the people of Scotland. In this volume of "Selected Poetry" you will find a representative selection of his poetry that illustrates why he is widely regarded as Scotland’s greatest poet. This edition includes a biographical afterword.