Shortly
before Burns' time, however, Allan Ramsay and Robert Fergusson had been
the leading figures in a revival of the vernacular, and Burns received
from them a national tradition which he succeeded in carrying to its
highest pitch, becoming thereby, to an almost unique degree, the poet of
his people.
He first showed complete mastery of verse in the field of satire. In
"The Twa Herds," "Holy Willie's Prayer," "Address to the Unco Guid,"
"The Holy Fair," and others, he manifested sympathy with the protest of
the so-called "New Light" party, which had sprung up in opposition to
the extreme Calvinism and intolerance of the dominant "Auld Lichts." The
fact that Burns had personally suffered from the discipline of the Kirk
probably added fire to his attacks, but the satires show more than
personal animus. The force of the invective, the keenness of the wit,
and the fervor of the imagination which they displayed, rendered them an
important force in the theological liberation of Scotland.
The Kilmarnock volume contained, besides satire, a number of poems like
"The Twa Dogs" and "The Cotter's Saturday Night," which are vividly
descriptive of the Scots peasant life with which he was most familiar;
and a group like "Puir Mailie" and "To a Mouse," which, in the
tenderness of their treatment of animals, revealed one of the most
attractive sides of Burns' personality.
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