McKenzie 1
Brittany McKenzie
Kanu
Period 6
Author Essay Biography Robert Burns was born January 25, 1759 according to the Poetry Foundation. He was the Bard of Ayrshire and was a scottish poet. His early life was that of a humble one his father was a tenant farmer who personally educated his children. When his father died Burns was bankrupt so he and his brother took over the farm. When he was fifteen he was inspired to write his first known poem because he fell in love. Since then he developed a love for poetry and continued. In 1785 he had his first child out of the fourteen he would end up having. His biographer, DeLancey Ferguson, had said, “it was not so much that he was conspicuously sinful as that he sinned conspicuously” (“Ferguson”). …show more content…
It is more widely observed than the official national day, St. Andrew's Day. …show more content…
He was known to correspond with Burns but never actually meeting and almost never seeing eye-to-eye. Thomson primary critical approach to Burns and his work involved the application of ‘genius’ theory; the continuum of critical responses demonstrates the fluid nature of this concept throughout the eighteenth century. Ronnie Young has noted, ‘the genius myth itself can help us understand something of Scottish criticism in the late eighteenth century and the crucial role this tradition played in facilitating Burns's rise to fame’. However, attention to the poet’s reception history also shows that while the concept underwent significant moderation as an aesthetic category, its association with moral failings was almost uniformly expressed by Burns' critics. The ties between genius and biography, particularly in Burns' case, became increasingly knotted as later commentators attempted to understand the poet’s life and works. Young is certainly correct to assert that Burns' early reviews were ‘a damaging blend of myth-building and moralising’. This essay will demonstrate that the process of ‘myth-building and moralising’ surrounding Burns continued unabated during this period, particularly as critics assayed the poet’s nationalist iconicity while attempting to diminish the relevance of moral failings wrought by his ‘genius’. Burns' fame still highlights this tension between his undeniable poetic gifts and
Brittany McKenzie
Kanu
Period 6
Author Essay Biography Robert Burns was born January 25, 1759 according to the Poetry Foundation. He was the Bard of Ayrshire and was a scottish poet. His early life was that of a humble one his father was a tenant farmer who personally educated his children. When his father died Burns was bankrupt so he and his brother took over the farm. When he was fifteen he was inspired to write his first known poem because he fell in love. Since then he developed a love for poetry and continued. In 1785 he had his first child out of the fourteen he would end up having. His biographer, DeLancey Ferguson, had said, “it was not so much that he was conspicuously sinful as that he sinned conspicuously” (“Ferguson”). …show more content…
It is more widely observed than the official national day, St. Andrew's Day. …show more content…
He was known to correspond with Burns but never actually meeting and almost never seeing eye-to-eye. Thomson primary critical approach to Burns and his work involved the application of ‘genius’ theory; the continuum of critical responses demonstrates the fluid nature of this concept throughout the eighteenth century. Ronnie Young has noted, ‘the genius myth itself can help us understand something of Scottish criticism in the late eighteenth century and the crucial role this tradition played in facilitating Burns's rise to fame’. However, attention to the poet’s reception history also shows that while the concept underwent significant moderation as an aesthetic category, its association with moral failings was almost uniformly expressed by Burns' critics. The ties between genius and biography, particularly in Burns' case, became increasingly knotted as later commentators attempted to understand the poet’s life and works. Young is certainly correct to assert that Burns' early reviews were ‘a damaging blend of myth-building and moralising’. This essay will demonstrate that the process of ‘myth-building and moralising’ surrounding Burns continued unabated during this period, particularly as critics assayed the poet’s nationalist iconicity while attempting to diminish the relevance of moral failings wrought by his ‘genius’. Burns' fame still highlights this tension between his undeniable poetic gifts and