On August 5, 1788, Robert Burns married Jean Armour. It seems only fitting that we might take a look in on a verbal picture he paints of Scottish home life on this anniversary. Funny how times change and yet so much doesn’t.
The Cotter’s Saturday Night is a long, sentimental poem included in his first book of poems, Kilmarnock Volume. It was extremely popular with his Victorian readers. His critics find it too derivative of poets ranging from Gray to Spenser. But then, critics find flaws in things that most do not. In today’s day and age, we have long learned that there is nothing new under the sun. Then again, that same subject was broached in the Old Testament was it not? I often feel like most critics think they get paid by the insult and not thought. This appears to be the case with this poem.
We have previously looked at Burns’ role in the world of poetry. Today, my thoughts are elsewhere. So, I will leave this one alone. It’s no better or worse than any Burns’ poem. Oddly, though I was born in Scotland, I don’t find it all that great that he wrote a lot in a dialect that is so hard to read. But, I get its effect and understand why so many love his work. I apologize that my mind is on my sister and thinking that life is too short to criticize a man’s work for resting on the shoulders of giants or even that he too often shifts voice in his poem. None of this occurred to me on reading through it. So, I guess for this one, I would suggest never-minding the critics and form your own reaction to the work at hand. That’s probably best on all occasions really….
This classic Burns’ poem may be read in its entirety here:
http://www.bartleby.com/6/83.html
Alternatively, this poem may be heard in its audiobook format here:
ALOHA PROMISES FOREVER 