Roberta burns mother biography. Translations into Russian

Years of life: from 01/25/1759 to 07/21/1796

British (Scottish) poet, folklorist, author of numerous poems and poems written in the so-called "plain Scottish" and English.

He was born on January 25, 1759 in Alloway (County Ayr) in the family of a gardener and tenant farmer William Burns. Robert and his brother Gilbert went to school for two years. In 1765, his father leased the Mount Oliphant farm, and from the age of 12 Robert worked as an adult worker, malnourished and overworked his heart. He read everything that came to hand, from penny pamphlets to Shakespeare and Milton. At school he only heard English speech, but from his mother and old servants and from the same pamphlets he joined the language of Scottish ballads, songs and fairy tales. In 1777 his father moved to Lochley Farm near Tarbolton, and Robert began to new life. At Tarbolton he found company to his liking, and soon became its leader. In 1780, Burns and his friends organized a cheerful "Bachelor's Club", and in 1781 he joined the Masonic lodge. On February 13, 1784, his father died, and with the money left after him, Robert and Gilbert moved the family to the Mossgil farm near Mohlin. Even earlier, in 1783, Robert began to write down his youthful poems and rather grandiloquent prose in a notebook. The connection with the maid Betty Peyton led to the birth of his daughter on May 22, 1785. Local clergy took the opportunity and imposed a penance for fornication on Burns, but this did not stop the laity from laughing while reading the Holy Fair and the Prayer of Saint Willy that went on the lists.

At the beginning of 1784, Burns discovered the poetry of R. Fergusson and realized that the Scottish language is by no means a barbaric and dying dialect and is capable of conveying any poetic shade - from salty satire to lyrical delights. He developed the tradition of Fergusson, especially in the genre of aphoristic epigram. By 1785, Burns had already gained some fame as the author of bright friendly messages, dramatic monologues and satires.

In 1785, Burns fell in love with Jean Armor (1765-1854), the daughter of the Mohlin contractor J. Armor. Burns gave her a written "commitment" - a document, according to Scottish law, certifying the actual, albeit illegal marriage. However, Burns' reputation was so bad that Armor broke his "commitment" in April 1786 and refused to take the poet as a son-in-law. Even before this humiliation, Burns had decided to emigrate to Jamaica. It is not true that he published his poems in order to earn money for the trip - the idea of ​​​​this edition came to him later. Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, printed in Kilmarnock went on sale on August 1, 1786. Half of the 600 copies were sold by subscription, the rest was sold in a few weeks. Glory came to Burns almost overnight. Noble gentlemen opened the doors of their mansions to him. Armor dropped the lawsuit, and Betty Peyton was paid off with £20. September 3, 1786 Jean gave birth to twins.

The local nobility advised Burns to forget about emigration, go to Edinburgh and announce a nationwide subscription. He arrived in the capital on November 29 and, with the assistance of J. Cunningham and others, concluded an agreement on December 14 with the publisher W. Krich. During the winter season, Burns was in great demand in high society. He was patronized by the "Caledonian Hunters", members of an influential club for the elite; at a meeting of the Grand Masonic Lodge of Scotland, he was proclaimed "The Bard of Caledonia". The Edinburgh edition of Poems (published April 21, 1787) collected about three thousand subscribers and brought Burns about 500 pounds, including one hundred guineas, for which he, having obeyed bad advice, assigned the copyright to Creech. About half of the proceeds went to help Gilbert and his family in Mossgil.

Before leaving Edinburgh in May, Burns met J. Johnson, a semi-literate engraver and fanatical lover of Scottish music, who had recently published the first issue of The Scots Musical Museum. From the autumn of 1787 until the end of his life, Burns was actually the editor of this publication: he collected texts and melodies, supplemented the surviving passages with stanzas own composition, lost or obscene texts replaced with his own. He was so successful in this that, without documented evidence, it is often impossible to determine which are the folk texts and which are the texts of Burns. For the "Museum", and after 1792 for the more refined, but less bright "Selected Original Scottish Melodies" ("Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs", 1793-1805) by J. Thomson, he wrote more than three hundred texts, each on his own motive.

Burns triumphantly returned to Mohlin on July 8, 1787. Half a year of fame did not turn his head, but changed the attitude towards him in the village. The Armors welcomed him and he rekindled his relationship with Jean. But the Edinburgh maid Peggy Cameron, who gave birth to a child from Burns, sued him, and he again went to Edinburgh.

There, on December 4, he met an educated married lady, Agnes Craig M "Lehuz. Three days later, he dislocated his knee and, bedridden, started a love correspondence with "Clarinda", as she called herself. The dislocation had more significant consequences. the doctor was acquainted with the Commissioner for Excise in Scotland R. Graham. Having learned about the desire of the poet to serve in the excise, he turned to Graham, who allowed Burns to undergo proper training. The poet underwent it in the spring of 1788 in Mochlin and Tarbolton and received a diploma on July 14. The prospect of an alternative source of income gave him the courage to sign a contract on March 18 for the lease of Ellisland Farm.

Upon learning that Jean was pregnant again, her parents kicked her out of the house. Burns returned to Mohlin on February 23, 1788 and, apparently, immediately recognized her as his wife, although the announcement took place only in May, and the church court approved their marriage only on August 5. On March 3, Jin gave birth to two girls who died soon after. On June 11, Burns began work on the farm. By the summer of 1789, it became clear that in the near future Ellisland would not bring income, and in October, under patronage, Burns received a position as an exciseman in his rural area. He played it beautifully; in July 1790 he was transferred to Dumfries. In 1791, Burns relinquished his lease on Ellisland, moved to Dumfries and lived on the salary of an exciseman.

The creative work of Burns for three years in Ellisland was reduced mainly to texts for Johnson's Museum, with one major exception - a story in verse by Tam O' Shanter (Tam O' Shanter). In 1789, Burns met the collector of antiquities Fr. Grose, who compiled a two-volume anthology of Scottish antiquities (The Antiquities of Scotland). The poet suggested that he give an engraving depicting the Alloway church in the anthology, and he agreed - on the condition that Burns write a legend about witchcraft in Scotland to accompany the engraving. Thus, one of the best ballads in the history of literature was born.

Meanwhile, passions flared up around the Great french revolution which Burns accepted with enthusiasm. There were investigations into the loyalty of civil servants. By December 1792, so many denunciations had accumulated on Burns that Chief Exciseman William Corbet arrived in Dumfries in order to personally conduct an inquiry. Through the efforts of Corbet and Graham, it all ended with the fact that Burns was obliged not to talk too much. He was still going to be promoted, but in 1795 he began to lose his health: rheumatism affected his heart, which had been weakened in adolescence. Burns died July 21, 1796.

Burns is praised as a romantic poet - in everyday and literary sense this definition. However, Burns' worldview was based on the practical common sense of the peasants among whom he grew up. He had nothing in common with romanticism. On the contrary, his work marked the last flowering of Scottish poetry in mother tongue- lyrical, earthly, satirical, sometimes mischievous poetry, the traditions of which were laid down by R. Henryson (c. 1430 - c. 1500) and W. Dunbar (c. 1460 - c. 1530), forgotten during the Reformation era and revived in the 18th century . A. Ramsey and R. Ferguson.

Initially, many of Burns's works were created as songs, were reworked or written to the melody of folk songs. Burns's poetry is simple, rhythmic and musical, and it is no coincidence that in the Russian translation many poems were set to music. Creation musical works D. Shostakovich and G. Sviridov were engaged in their time. A. Gradsky's repertoire includes a cycle of compositions based on Burns' poems, for example, "In the fields under snow and rain ..." (S. Marshak's translation of the poem "Oh Wert Thou In The Cauld Blast"). The Belarusian group "Pesnyary" performed a series of works on the words of Burns. The Moldovan group "Zdob Si Zdub" performs the song "You left me" to the words of Burns. The folk group "Melnitsa" set to music the ballad "Lord Gregory" and the poem "Highlander". Often songs based on the verses of a Scottish poet were used in films. Of the most popular, one can note the romance "Love and Poverty" from the movie "Hello, I'm your aunt!" performed by A. Kalyagin and the song "There is no peace in my soul ..." from the movie "Office Romance". Of the lesser known - "Green Valley", "Gorodok" performed by the ensemble "Ulenspiegel".

Burns Robert (1759-1796)

Scottish poet. Born in the village of Alloway, near the city of Ayr in Scotland, in a poor peasant family. All my life I struggled with extreme poverty. He began writing poetry at the age of 15.

He combined poetic creativity with work on a farm, then with the position of an excise official (since 1789). satirical poems. "The Two Shepherds" and "The Prayer of Holy Willie" circulated in manuscript form and cemented Burns' reputation as a freethinker. The first book, Poems Written Predominantly in the Scottish Dialect, immediately brought the poet wide fame.

Burns prepared Scottish songs for printing for the Edinburgh edition of the Scottish Museum of Music and a Selected Collection of Original Scottish Melodies.
Burns welcomed the French Revolution (the poem "The Tree of Liberty", etc.) and the rise of the revolutionary democratic movement in Scotland and England.

On the basis of folklore and old Scottish literature, having mastered the advanced ideas of the Enlightenment, he created poetry that was original and modern in spirit and content.

Burns' work (" honest poverty”, etc.) affirms the personal dignity of a person, which the poet puts above titles and wealth. Poems to the glory of work, creativity, fun, freedom, disinterested and selfless love and friendship coexist in his poetry with satire, humor, tenderness and sincerity - with irony and sarcasm.

Burns's poems are characterized by simplicity of expression, emotionality, inner drama, which often manifests itself in the composition ("Merry Beggars", etc.). Numerous songs of his are set to music and live in oral performance. Burns' poems have been translated into many languages ​​of the world.

Burns died on July 21, 1796 at Dumfries. He was only 37 years old. According to contemporaries, the cause of Burns' imminent death was excessive alcohol consumption. Historians and biographers of the twentieth century are inclined to believe that Burns died from the consequences of severe physical labor in his youth with congenital rheumatic heart disease, which in 1796 was aggravated by the diphtheria he had suffered.

Robert Burns. Portrait by Alexander Nesmith, 1828

At the age of 19, Burns, not content with his meager education, went to school, but the death of his father (1784) forced the poet to return to working life and again take up arable farming. This period includes his poetic acquaintance with Mary Campbell, to whom the most charming of his poems are dedicated and of whom he retained an indelible memory for the rest of his life (the girl soon died).

With the publication of the first volume of Burns's works, published by his friends by subscription (1786), the poet's living conditions changed for a while: he moved to Edinburgh, made friends with a circle of writers, and even ended up in high-society salons. But a year later he was drawn to his native mountains. Returning to his homeland, Robert married and again took up farming. Crop failures and other failures forced him, however, to take the place of tax collector offered to him by one of his influential friends. First events french revolution, which aroused a lively enthusiasm in Burns, soon deprived him of the favor and support of his noble acquaintances. Despite all the vicissitudes of fate, Burns continued to create his wonderful songs and write political articles. But a difficult childhood, a wrong life, alcohol abuse, to which he became addicted in his youth, completely undermined his health and led to a serious illness that quickly brought the 38-year-old poet to an untimely grave (July 21, 1796).

Robert Burns. Biography

Burns' poetry is the poetry of nature, direct feeling and living reality. hallmark versatility is also her: Carlyle, the best of Burns' critics, sees in her a combination of imperious strength and charming grace, the "gentle trembling compassion" of a woman and the "deep seriousness and fiery power of the hero"; in the poet's chest, according to the critic, "there is an echo to every note of human feeling." The best works Burns are: "Merry Beggars", "Tam O" Shanter", "Mountain Daisy, which I crushed with my plow", "John is Barleycorn", songs - "My Heart is in the Mountains", " Winter night”, the ballad “Sheramur battle”, the poems “Return of the soldier”, “Honest poverty” and others. Masterfully reproducing old Scottish legends, Burns was the first to give a literary treatment to the folk-poetic form of the ballad, which his followers later used with such success.

The artlessness, sincerity and originality of Burns's poetry introduced renewing elements into the prim and imitative literature of the previous period and contributed to the revival of national creativity, temporarily stalled in the grip of conventionality. Walter Scott , Thomas Moore, the poets of the so-called "Lake School" (Lake School) and even Shelley and Byron were the successors of the literary direction he had begun.

Robert Burns was born on January 25, 1759 in the village of Alloway (three kilometers south of the city of Eyre, Ayrshire), the son of a peasant William Burness (William Burness, 1721-1784). In 1765, his father rented the Mount Oliphant farm, and the boy had to work on an equal basis with adults, enduring hunger and other hardships. From 1783, Robert began to compose poetry in the Ayshire dialect. In 1784, his father dies, and after a series of failed attempts to do agriculture Robert and his brother Gilbert move to Mossgil. In 1786, Burns's first book, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish dialect, was published. To initial period Creativity also includes: "John Barleycorn" (John Barleycorn, 1782), "Merry Beggars" ("The Jolly Beggars", 1785), "The Prayer of St. Willie" ("Holy Willie's Prayer"), "Holy Fair" ("The Holy Fair, 1786). The poet is quickly becoming known throughout Scotland.

About the origins of the popularity of Burns, I. Goethe noted:

Let's take Burns. Isn't he great because the old songs of his ancestors lived in the mouths of the people, that they sang them to him, so to speak, even when he was in the cradle, that as a boy he grew up among them and became related to the high perfection of these samples, which he found in them living basis, relying on which could go further? And yet, is he not great because his own songs immediately found receptive ears among his people, that they then sounded towards him from the lips of reapers and sheaf knitters, because they greeted his cheerful comrades in the tavern? This is where something could have happened.
Johann Peter Eckermann. Gespräche mit Goethe in den letzten Jahren seines Lebens. Leipzig, 1827.

In 1787, Burns moved to Edinburgh and became a member of the high society of the capital. In Edinburgh, Burns met Scottish folklore promoter James Johnson, with whom they began publishing The Scot's Musical Museum. In this edition, the poet published many Scottish ballads in his own adaptation and his own works.

Published books bring Burns a certain income. He tried to invest his royalties into renting a farm, but only lost his small capital. The main source of livelihood from 1791 was work as a tax collector in Damfis.

Robert Burns led a rather free lifestyle and had three illegitimate daughters from casual and short-lived relationships. In 1787, he married his longtime lover Jean Armor. In this marriage he had five children.

In the period 1787-1794 were created famous poems"Tam o' Shanter" ("Tarn o' Shanter", 1790) and "Honest Poverty" ("For A'That and A'That", 1795), "Ode Dedicated to the Memory of Mrs. Oswald" ("Ode, sacred to the Memory of Mrs. Oswald", 1789).

In essence, Burns was forced to engage in poetry in between his main work. Last years he spent in need and a week before his death almost ended up in a debtor's prison

Burns died on July 21, 1796 at Dumfries. He was only 37 years old. According to biographers of the 19th century, one of the reasons for Burns's sudden death was excessive drinking. Historians of the 20th century are inclined to believe that Burns died from the consequences of heavy physical labor in his youth and congenital rheumatic heart disease, which in 1796 was aggravated by diphtheria he had suffered.
[edit] The main dates of the poet's life

* January 25, 1759 birth of Robert Burns
* 1765 Robert and his brother go to school
* 1766 move to Mount Oliphant Farm
* 1773 Robert writes the first poems
* 1777 move to Lochley farm
* 1784 death of father, moving to Mossgil
* 1785 Robert meets Jean, "Merry Beggars", "Field Mouse" and many other poems are written
* 1786 Burns transfers the rights to the Mossgil farm to his brother; the birth of twins; trip to Edinburgh
* 1787 reception of the poet in the Grand Lodge of Scotland; the first Edinburgh edition of the poems is published; trips in scotland
* 1789 excise work
* 1792 appointment to the Port Inspectorate
* 1793 second Edinburgh edition of poems in two volumes
* December 1795 Burns' severe illness
* July 21, 1796 death
* July 25, 1796 funeral, on the same day the fifth son of Burns was born - Maxwell

[edit] Burns' language
monument to the poet in London

Although Burns was trained in rural school, but his teacher was a man with a university education - John Murdoch (Murdoch, 1747-1824). Scotland then experienced the peak of national revival, was one of the most cultural corners of Europe, there were five universities in it. Under Murdoch's direction, Burns worked on, among other things, the poetry of Alexander Pope. As the manuscripts testify, literary English language Burns spoke flawlessly, but the use of Scots (a northern dialect of English, as opposed to Gaelic - Celtic Scots) was a conscious choice of the poet.
[edit] "Burns stanza"

Burns is associated with special form stanzas: six-line AAABAB scheme with shortened fourth and sixth lines. A similar scheme is known in medieval lyrics, in particular, in Provencal poetry (since the 11th century), but since the 16th century its popularity has faded. It survived in Scotland, where it was widely used before Burns, but is associated with his name and is known as the "Burns stanza", although its official name is the standard gabby, it comes from the first work that glorified this stanza in Scotland - "Elegy on death Gabby Simpson, Piper of Kilbarhan" (c. 1640) by Robert Sempill of Beltris; "gabby" is not a proper name, but a nickname for the natives of the town of Kilbarhan in Western Scotland. This form was also used in Russian poetry, for example, in Pushkin's poems "Echo" and "Collapse".
[edit] Burns in Russia

The first Russian translation of Burns (prose) appeared as early as 1800, four years after the poet's death, but Burns's work was made famous by the pamphlet A Rural Saturday Evening in Scotland, published in 1829. Free imitation of R. Borns by I. Kozlov. AT periodicals Numerous responses appeared, and in the same year the first Russian literary article by N. Polevoy “On the Life and Works of R. Borns” appeared. Subsequently, V. Belinsky was engaged in the work of Burns. In the library of A. Pushkin there was a two-volume book by Burns. A youthful translation of Burns's quatrain, made by M. Lermontov, is known. T. Shevchenko defended his right to create in the “non-literary” (exclusively Russian was meant as a literary) Ukrainian language, citing Burns as an example, writing in Scottish English:

But Borntz still sings folk and great.
Unpublished works of Shevchenko. 1906.

N. Nekrasov in a letter asked I. Turgenev to send several translations of Burns in order to "translate into verse", however, these intentions did not materialize. Burns was translated by many authors, and interest in the work of the Scottish poet intensified especially in connection with the centenary of his death. This made it possible to publish several collections of Russian translations, including "Robert Borns and his works translated by Russian writers" by A. Suvorin's publishing house from the "Cheap Library" series. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, interest in Burns was due to the poet's "peasant origin". The publication of Burns's works was included in the plans of the publishing house of M. Gorky's World Literature (not implemented). Burns' individual verses were translated by various poets, for example, in 1917 a translation of the poem "John Barleycorn" by K. Balmont was published, which was noted by everyone as unsuccessful.
The Robert Burns Hall at the Moscow Izmailovo Gymnasium

The poetry of Robert Burns gained wide popularity in the USSR thanks to the translations of S. Ya. Marshak. Marshak first turned to Burns in 1924, systematic translations began in the mid-1930s, the first collection of translations was published in 1947, and in a posthumous edition (Robert Burns. Poems translated by S. Marshak. M., 1976 .) already 215 works, which is approximately two-fifths of the poetic heritage of Robert Burns. Marshak's translations are far from the literal transmission of the original, but they are characterized by simplicity and lightness of the language, an emotional mood close to Burns's lines. In the 1940s an article appeared in the London newspaper The Times claiming that Burns was incomprehensible to the British and had only a limited regional significance. As one of the counterarguments in the reviews of the article, Burns' huge popularity in the USSR was cited. In 1959 Marshak was elected honorary chairman Burns Federation in Scotland.

AT recent times Marshak's translations are often criticized as inadequate, and poems translated by Marshak are also published in translations by other authors, but Burns's popularity is generally very high and by now up to ninety percent of his poetic heritage exists in Russian.
[edit] Burns and music

Initially, many of Burns's works were created as songs, were reworked or written to the melody of folk songs. Burns's poetry is simple, rhythmic and musical, and it is no coincidence that in the Russian translation many poems were set to music. D. Shostakovich and G. Sviridov were engaged in the creation of musical works in their time. A. Gradsky's repertoire includes a cycle of compositions based on Burns' poems, for example, "In the fields under snow and rain ..." (S. Marshak's translation of the poem "Oh Wert Thou In The Cauld Blast"). The Belarusian group "Pesnyary" performed a series of works on the words of Burns. The Moldovan group "Zdob Si Zdub" performs the song "You left me" to the words of Burns. The folk group "Melnitsa" set to music the ballad "Lord Gregory" and the poem "Highlander". Often songs based on the verses of a Scottish poet were used in films. Of the most popular, one can note the romance "Love and Poverty" from the movie "Hello, I'm your aunt!" performed by A. Kalyagin and the song "There is no peace in my soul ..." from the movie "Office Romance". Of the less well-known - "Green Valley", "Gorodok" performed by the ensemble "Ulenspiegel".
[edit] Burns in Soviet and English philately
Propaganda vignettes of the Scottish National Party and Wendy Wood with Robert Burns. A UK 4p 1966 postage stamp (Scott #444), which they sought to issue.

In 1959, the British Post Office for the first time in history announced the release of a British postage stamp for 1964 depicting a person other than the monarch of the kingdom, Shakespeare. At the same time, according to press reports, the candidacy of the Scot Robert Burns was also considered, but was rejected, despite the 200th anniversary of the poet's birth. This provoked protests from his nationalist compatriots. In particular, the Scottish National Party printed and distributed for a small fee propaganda stamps with a portrait of Burns and the inscription "Free Scotland". According to their idea, the stamps were to be pasted next to the official postage stamp of the country with a portrait of Shakespeare.

But another action was much more famous. The problem of infringement of Robert Burns on British stamps was taken to heart by Miss Wendy Wood, an ardent admirer of his talent and a staunch separatist. She printed on a hand press and began distributing postal envelopes with the slogan "If Shakespeare, why not Burns?" and several types of own propaganda stamps in order to organize a massive mail spam attack of relevant requests to the British Prime Minister, all members of the British Parliament and the Minister of Posts. In franking these letters, Wendy Wood used only her own brands. She reasoned that Postal office either accept the shipment as such, or force the recipient officials to pay the cost of postage. The total circulation of Miss Wood's stamps was about 30,000 copies. Some of it she perforated on a sewing machine, but most of The circulation remained without perforation.

The voice of the public was heard: the British Post agreed to issue a postage stamp in memory of Burns, and without even waiting round date birth, in the year of the 170th anniversary of the death of the poet. Satisfied, Wendy Wood then sent the Edinburgh Royal Postmaster the printed circuit boards from which she produced her propaganda stamps. His reaction to this gesture is not reported.

It is noteworthy that Wendy Wood's version of the effectiveness of the campaign is not the only one. Here is what Boris Stalbaum writes in the brochure What a Philatelist Needs to Know:
USSR postage stamp dedicated to Robert Burns, 40 kopecks, 1956 (Scott #1861).
“It was the Soviet “philatelic personalities” that prompted the British postal department to break the age-old tradition. For more than a hundred years, British stamps have printed exclusively portraits of the king or queen. On April 23, 1964, a portrait of an uncrowned Englishman, William Shakespeare, appeared for the first time on an English stamp. It would seem that the great playwright, who was once called "scaffold shaker", became a shaker of the foundations of English philately. However, as Emrys Hughes, a member of the British Parliament, testifies, this honor belongs to soviet stamp. It all started with a portrait of Robert Burns.

“In 1959,” writes E. Hughes, “I happened to be present in Moscow at the anniversary evening dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns. When the solemn part ended, the Soviet Minister of Communications approached me and handed me an envelope with stamps. Each of the stamps featured a portrait of a Scottish bard. Frankly, I experienced at that moment a keen sense of shame. The minister, of course, felt quite legitimate pride: still, stamps with a portrait of Burns were issued in Russia, but not in England! I was ready to fall through the ground, although it was not my fault. In order not to suffer from the consciousness of hurt national pride alone, I decided to shame the then Prime Minister of England, Harold Macmillan, since he was also in Moscow at that time. At a reception at the English embassy, ​​I gave him my present - two stamps with a portrait of Burns. Looking at them in bewilderment, Macmillan asked: What is this? “Russian stamps issued in honor of Burns,” I replied. “You can stick them on an envelope and send a letter to our Postmaster General saying that Russia has overtaken the UK in this matter.”

The acute episode was not in vain. This is convincingly evidenced by the strange release date of the first English brand with a portrait of Burns. She appeared on the day ... the 207th anniversary of the birth of the poet.
»

It seems most likely that all of the above campaigns rather than just one of them played a role in promoting the urgent need for the British Post Office to issue a postage stamp in memory of Robert Burns.

Classical » Robert Burns

See also:
Love Poems by Robert Burns

Biography of Robert Burns
Burns, Robert (1759-1796), Scottish poet. Created
original poetry, in which he glorified labor, people and freedom, disinterested
and selfless love and friendship. Satirical anti-church poems "Two
shepherd" (1784), "The Prayer of the Holy Willy" (1785), a collection of "Poems,
written mainly in the Scottish dialect" (1786), patriotic
anthem "Bruce to the Scots", cantata "Merry Beggars", civic and love
lyrics (poems "Freedom Tree", "John Barleycorn", etc.),
drinking songs. Collected and prepared for publication works of Scottish
poetic and musical folklore, with which his poetry is closely connected.
Born January 25, 1759 in Alloway (County Ayr) in the family of a gardener and
tenant farmer William Burns and his wife, Agnes. First of seven
children. He received an excellent education thanks to his father. Read since childhood
the Bible, English Augustian poets (Pope, Edison, Swift and Steele) and
Shakespeare. He began writing poetry when he was in school and worked on a farm.
Robert and his brother Gilbert went to school for two years. In 1765 my father took
rent Mount Oliphant Farm, and Robert worked like an adult from the age of 12
worker, malnourished and overworked his heart. He read everything that came up
hand, from penny pamphlets to Shakespeare and Milton. At school he heard
only English speech, but from the mother and the old servants and from the same pamphlets
joined the language of Scottish ballads, songs and fairy tales.
In 1777 his father moved to Lochley Farm near Tarbolton, and for Robert
a new life began. At Tarbolton he found company to his liking, and soon
became her leader. In 1780, Burns and his friends organized a cheerful "Club
bachelors", and in 1781 he joined the Masonic lodge. February 13, 1784 father
died, and with the money left after him, Robert and Gilbert moved the family to
Mossgil farm near Mochlin. Even earlier, in 1783, Robert began to record in
a notebook with his youthful poems and rather grandiloquent prose. Communication with
Servant Betty Peyton led to the birth of his daughter on May 22, 1785.
The local clergy seized the opportunity and imposed a penance on Burns for
fornication, but this did not prevent the laity from laughing while reading those who went to
lists of the Holy Fair and the Prayer of Holy Willy.
At the beginning of 1784, Burns discovered the poetry of R. Fergusson and realized that
Scots is by no means a barbaric and dying dialect and is capable of
convey any poetic shade - from salty satire to lyrical
enthusiasm. He developed the tradition of Fergusson, especially in the genre of aphoristic
epigrams. By 1785, Burns had already gained some fame as the author of vivid
friendly messages, dramatic monologues and satires.
In 1785 Burns fell in love with Jean Armor (1765–1854), the daughter of a Mochlin
contractor J. Armor. Burns gave her a written "commitment" - a document
according to Scottish law, certifying an actual, albeit illegal, marriage.
However, Burns' reputation was so bad that Armor tore
"obligation" in April 1786 and refused to take the poet as a son-in-law. Even before this
humiliated, Burns decided to emigrate to Jamaica. It is not true that he published his
poems to get money for the trip - the thought of this edition
came to him later. Poems printed in Kilmarnock
predominantly in the Scottish dialect (Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish
Dialect) went on sale August 1, 1786. Half edition of 600
copies sold by subscription, the rest was sold for a few
weeks. After that, Burns was accepted into the aristocratic literary circle.
Edinburgh. Collected, processed and recorded about two hundred songs for the Scottish
musical society. He began to write songs himself. Glory came to Burns hardly
not overnight. Noble gentlemen opened the doors of their mansions to him.
Armor dropped the lawsuit, and Betty Peyton was paid off with £20. September 3
1786 Jean gave birth to twins.
The local nobility advised Burns to forget about emigration, to go to
Edinburgh and announce a nationwide subscription. He arrived in the capital on 29
November and with the assistance of J. Cunningham and others concluded an agreement on December 14
with the publisher W. Krich. In the winter season, Burns was snapped up in the secular
society. He was patronized by the Caledonian Hunters, members
an influential club for the elite; at a meeting of the Grand Masonic Lodge
In Scotland, he was hailed as the "Bard of Caledonia". Edinburgh edition
Poems (published April 21, 1787) gathered about three thousand subscribers and
brought Burns about £500, including a hundred guineas, for which he,
on bad advice, ceded the copyright to Creech. about half
the proceeds went to help Gilbert and his family in Mossgil.
Before leaving Edinburgh in May, Burns met J. Johnson,
semi-literate engraver and fanatical lover of Scottish music, who
shortly before that he published the first issue of the Scottish Music Museum
("The Scots Musical Museum"). From the autumn of 1787 until the end of his life, Burns actually
was the editor of this publication: he collected texts and melodies, supplemented
surviving passages in stanzas of his own composition, lost or
obscene texts replaced by their own. He was so good at it that
documented evidence, it is often impossible to establish where folk
texts, and where are the texts of Burns. For the "Museum", and after 1792 for more
refined, but also less bright "Selected Original Scottish Melodies"
(“Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs”, 1793–1805) by J. Thomson he
wrote more than three hundred texts, each on his own motive.
Burns triumphantly returned to Mohlin on July 8, 1787. Half a year of glory did not
turned his head, but changed the attitude towards him in the village. armors
he was warmly received, and he renewed his relationship with Jean. But the Edinburgh
maid Peggy Cameron, who gave birth to a child from Burns, filed a lawsuit against him, and
he went back to Edinburgh.
There, on December 4, he met an educated married lady, Agnes Craig.
M "Lehuz. Three days later he dislocated his knee and, bedridden, started
with "Clarinda," as she called herself, a love letter. dislocation had and
more significant consequences. The doctor who used Burns was familiar with
Commissioner for Excise in Scotland R. Graham. Having learned about the desire of the poet to serve in
excise, he turned to Graham, who allowed Burns to go through the proper
education. The poet passed it in the spring of 1788 at Mochlin and Tarbolton, and on July 14
received a diploma. The prospect of an alternative source of income gave him
courage to sign on March 18 a contract for the lease of Ellisland Farm.
Upon learning that Jean was pregnant again, her parents kicked her out of the house. Burns
returned to Mochlin on February 23, 1788 and, apparently, immediately recognized her as his
wife, although the announcement took place only in May, and the church court approved them
marriage only on August 5th. On March 3, Jin gave birth to two girls, who soon
died. On June 11, Burns began work on the farm. By the summer of 1789 it became clear
that in the near future Ellisland will not bring income, and in October Burns
patronage received the position of an exciseman in his rural area. He's fine
performed it; in July 1790 he was transferred to Dumfries. In 1791 Burns refused
rent Ellisland, moved to Dumfries and lived on the salary of an exciseman.
Burns's creative work for three years in Ellisland was reduced to
mainly to texts for Johnson's "Museum", for one serious
the exception is the story in verse by Tam O "Shanter". In 1789 Burns
met with the collector of antiquities Fr. Grose, who compiled
two-volume anthology Scottish antiquities (The Antiquities of Scotland).
The poet invited him to give in the anthology an engraving depicting the Alloway
church, and he agreed - on the condition that Burns write a legend for the engraving
about witchcraft in Scotland. This is how one of the best ballads in history was born.
literature.
Meanwhile, passions flared up around the French Revolution,
which Burns accepted with enthusiasm. There have been investigations regarding
loyalty of civil servants. By December 1792, Burns had accumulated
so many denunciations that the Exciseman, William Corbet, came to Dumfries to
personally conduct an inquiry. Through the efforts of Corbet and Graham, everything ended with the fact that
Burns was ordered not to talk too much. He was still going to be promoted
in the service, but in 1795 he began to lose his health: rheumatism affected
weakened in adolescence heart. Burns died July 21, 1796.
Burns is hailed as a romantic poet - in everyday and
the literary sense of this definition. However, Burns' worldview
rested on the practical common sense of the peasants among whom he grew up. FROM
Romanticism, in essence, had nothing in common. On the contrary, his work
marked the last flowering of Scottish poetry in their native language - poetry
lyrical, earthly, satirical, sometimes mischievous, whose traditions were
founded by R. Henryson (c. 1430 - c. 1500) and W. Dunbar (c. 1460 - c.
1530), forgotten during the Reformation and revived in the 18th century. A. Ramsey and
R. Ferguson.

Poems about love (and not only)

There is no peace in my soul
All day I'm waiting for someone
Without sleep I meet the dawn
And all because of someone.
There is no one with me
Oh where to find someone
I can go around the whole world
To find someone.
To find someone
I can go around the world...

Oh you who keep love
Unknown forces!
Let the unharmed return again
To me my someone dear.
But there is no one with me
I'm sad for some reason
I swear that I would give everything
In the world for someone.
In the light for someone
I swear I'd give anything...

KISS

Wet seal of confessions,
The promise of secret negs -
Kiss, early snowdrop,
Fresh, clean, like snow.

silent surrender,
Passion child's play
Friendship of a dove with a dove,
Happiness is the first time.

Joy in a sad parting
And the question: "when again?"
Where are the words to name
To find these feelings?

LITTLE BALLAD

Somewhere a girl lived.
What a girl she was!
And she loved a nice guy.

But they had to part
And love each other apart
Because the war has begun.

Over the seas, over the hills -
Where cannons throw fire
The warrior's heart did not waver in battle.

This heart fluttered
Only at night at the hour of rest,
Remembering your sweetheart!

Love is like a rose, a rose is red
Blooms in my garden.
My love is like a song
With which I go.

Stronger than your beauty
My love is one.
She is with you as long as the sea
They won't dry to the bottom.

The seas will not dry up, my friend,
Granite does not crumble
The sand won't stop
And he, like life, runs ...

Be happy my love
Goodbye and don't be sad.
I'll come back to you, even the whole world
I would have to pass!

Making my way to the gate
Field along the boundary,
Jenny is soaked to the skin
Evening in the rye.

Very cold girl
Beats the girl trembling:
Soaked all the skirts
Walking through the rye

If someone called someone
Through thick rye
And someone hugged someone
What will you take from him?

And what do we care
If at the boundary
Kissed someone
In the evening in the rye!..

But look at both, making your way to me.
Find a loophole in the garden wall
Find three steps in the moonlit garden.
Go, but as if you are not going to me,
Walk like you're not going to me at all.

And if we meet in church, look
With my girlfriend, don't talk to me
Give me a gentle look furtively,
And more - look! - don't look at me
And more - look! - don't look at me!

Tell others, keeping our secret,
That you don't care about me at all.
But, even joking, beware, like fire,
So that someone does not take you from me,
And I really didn't take you away from me!

You whistle - I won't make you wait
You whistle - I will not make you wait.
Let my father and mother fight,
You whistle - I will not make you wait!

In the fields, under snow and rain,
My Dear friend,
My poor friend
I would cover you with a cloak
From winter storms
From winter storms.

And if flour is destined
Your destiny
Your destiny
I'm ready for your grief to the bottom
Share with you
Share with you.

Let me descend into the gloomy valley,
Where is the night around
Where darkness is all around
In the darkness I would find the sun
Together with you
Together with you.

And if they gave me an inheritance
Whole globe,
The whole globe of the earth
With what happiness I would own
You alone
You alone.

THE BARE GIRL

About this barefoot girl
I couldn't forget.
It seemed like the stones of the pavement
They torment the skin of tender legs.

Such legs to wear
In colored morocco or satin.
Such a girl would sit
In a carriage that has overtaken us!

The stream of her curls runs
Linen rings on the chest.
And the sparkle of the eyes in the darkness of nights
Swimmers would show the way.

She will outshine all the beauties,
Although the world does not know her.
She is dignified and humble.
She is not cuter in the world.

MY HAPPINESS

I'm happy with little, but I'm happy with more.
And if adversity breaks my way,
For a mug, to the song I drive them with a kick -
Let them fly to hell somersault.

In annoyance, I clench my teeth at times,
But life is a battle, and you, brother, are a hero.
My penny is inexchangeable - my careless disposition,
And all the kings will not deprive me of my rights.

Troubles oppress me all year long.
But an evening with friends - and everything will heal.
When we managed to reach the goal,
Why should we remember the pits on the way!

Whether to mess with the nag - my fate?
To me, from me, but I would go faster.
Care or joy will look into my house,
- Sign in! - I'll say, - maybe we'll live!

BEHIND THE RYE FIELD

Behind the field of rye bushes grew.
And buds of unopened roses
Bowed down, wet with tears,
Dewy early morning.

But twice the morning mist
Went down and the rose bloomed.
And so the dew was light
On her fragrant morning.

And linnet at dawn
Sat in a leafy tent
And everything was like in silver,
In the dew on a cold morning.

Happy time will come
And the kids will chirp
In the shade of a green tent
Hot summer morning.

My friend, your turn will come
Pay for a lot of worries
To those who keep your peace
Spring early morning.

You unopened flower
Spread every petal
And those whose evening is not far off,
Warm up on a summer morning!

IN THE MOUNTAINS MY HEART

I chase a deer, I scare a goat.
My heart is in the mountains, and I am below.

Farewell, my country! North, goodbye -
Fatherland of glory and valor.
By white light driven by fate
I will always be your son!

Farewell, peaks under the roof of snow,
Farewell, valleys and slopes of meadows,
Farewell, drooping into the abyss of the forest,
Farewell, streams of forest voices.

My heart is in the mountains... Until now I am there.
Following the trail of a deer, I fly over the rocks.
I chase a deer, I scare a goat.
My heart is in the mountains, and I myself am below!

And these are the famous Scottish fold cats

Piper:)