Poems and Songs
by Robert Burns
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1786-1796
- Form
- Lyric poetry
- Language
- English
- Length
- Long · 500 pp300 to 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendSelected PoemsPenguin Classics, 1996Carol McGuirk's selection with a glossary of Scots and notes on the songs' tunes.
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The poems and songs of the Ayrshire farmer who became Scotland's national poet, from the Kilmarnock edition of 1786 to the songs he wrote and collected for The Scots Musical Museum until his death in 1796. They include the mock-heroic Tam o' Shanter, the satires Holy Willie's Prayer and Address to the Deil, To a Mouse and To a Louse, The Cotter's Saturday Night, the radical A Man's a Man for A' That, and songs such as Auld Lang Syne, A Red Red Rose, Ae Fond Kiss and Scots Wha Hae. Most are in Scots, with a glossary needed by outsiders.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Poems and Songs are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
