Robert Burns: How To Know Him (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. An Accessible Study of Scotland's National Bard, His Songs, Satire, Rural Speech, and Literary LegacyBy William Allan Neilson
Length6h 59m
About this audiobook
Robert Burns: How To Know Him is a compact but discerning introduction to Scotland's national poet, presenting Burns not as a relic of sentimental nationalism but as a vigorous lyric intelligence rooted in song, satire, rural speech, and Enlightenment-era social feeling. Neilson's prose is lucid, pedagogical, and critically balanced, guiding readers through the poems, songs, and biographical circumstances that illuminate Burns's art. The book belongs to an early twentieth-century tradition of humane literary criticism, designed to make canonical writers intelligible without diminishing their complexity. William Allan Neilson, a Scottish-born literary scholar, editor, and educator who later became president of Smith College, was unusually well placed to interpret Burns for an Anglophone readership. His academic training, editorial experience, and cultural memory of Scotland enabled him to combine scholarly judgment with sympathy for dialect, popular tradition, and moral temperament. Neilson's purpose is not merely to praise Burns, but to teach readers how to approach him intelligently. This volume is recommended for readers seeking an accessible yet substantial entrance into Burns's poetry and reputation. It will especially reward students, teachers, and general readers who want historical orientation, critical tact, and a clear sense of why Burns remains emotionally immediate and artistically durable.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
Audiobook details
GenreBiography and Memoir
Length6 hrs 59 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateDec 1, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
58OPEN THE DOOR TO ME, O!
2CHAPTER I BIOGRAPHY
59WANDERING WILLIE
31. Alloway, Mount Oliphant, and Lochlea
60HOW LANG AND DREARY
4THE COTTER'S SATURDAY NIGHT
61THE BONNIE LAD THAT'S FAR AWA
5HANDSOME NELL
62BRAW BRAW LADS
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6THE DEATH AND DYING WORDS OF POOR MAILIE, THE AUTHOR'S ONLY PET YOWE
63MY HEART'S IN THE HIGHLANDS
7POOR MAILIE'S ELEGY
64WHAT CAN A YOUNG LASSIE
8MARY MORISON
65TO DAUNTON ME
9MY NANNIE O
66I'M OWRE YOUNG TO MARRY YET
10THE RIGS O' BARLEY
67MY LOVE SHE'S BUT A LASSIE YET
112. Mossgiel
68BESSY AND HER SPINNIN'-WHEEL
12A PRAYER IN THE PROSPECT OF DEATH
69JOHN ANDERSON, MY JO
13THE POET'S WELCOME TO HIS LOVE-BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER
70THE WEARY PUND O' TOW
14WILL YE GO TO THE INDIES, MY MARY?
71O MERRY HAE I BEEN
15THE GLOOMY NIGHT
72HAD I THE WYTE?
16ON A SCOTCH BARD, GONE TO THE WEST INDIES
73MACPHERSON'S FAREWELL
173. Edinburgh
74THE HIGHLAND BALOU
18AE FOND KISS
75DUNCAN GRAY
19MY NANNIE'S AWA
76DUNCAN DAVISON
20CLARINDA
77THE DE'IL'S AWA WI' TH' EXCISEMAN
214. Ellisland
78COMIN' THROUGH THE RYE
22I HAE A WIFE
79THE DEUK'S DANG O'ER MY DADDIE
235. Dumfries
80WHA IS THAT AT MY BOWER DOOR?
24CHAPTER II INHERITANCE: LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
81WILLIE'S WIFE
25GO FETCH TO ME A PINT O' WINE
82A MAN'S A MAN FOR A' THAT
26CHAPTER III BURNS AND SCOTTISH SONG
83SCOTS, WHA HAE ROBERT BRUCE'S ADDRESS TO HIS ARMY, BEFORE THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN
27AULD LANG SYNE
84IT WAS A' FOR OUR RIGHTFU' KING
28MY LOVE IS LIKE A RED RED ROSE
85COME BOAT ME O'ER TO CHARLIE
29YESTREEN I HAD A PINT O' WINE
86THE HIGHLAND LADDIE
30OF A' THE AIRTS
87BANNOCKS O' BARLEY
31O THIS IS NO MY AIN LASSIE
88KENMURE'S ON AND AWA
32POORTITH CAULD
89THERE'LL NEVER BE PEACE TILL JAMIE COMES HAME
33MY WIFE'S A WINSOME WEE THING
90I HAE BEEN AT CROOKIEDEN
34HIGHLAND MARY
91CHARLIE HE'S MY DARLING
35TO MARY IN HEAVEN
92CHAPTER IV SATIRES AND EPISTLES
36CA' THE YOWES (Second Version)
93HOLY WILLIE'S PRAYER
37AFTON WATER
94ADDRESS TO THE UNCO GUID, OR THE RIGIDLY RIGHTEOUS
38THE BLUE-EYED LASSIE
95TO THE REV. JOHN M'MATH
39BONNIE LESLEY
96EPISTLE TO DAVIE, A BROTHER POET
40LASSIE WI' THE LINT-WHITE LOCKS
97EPISTLE TO A YOUNG FRIEND
41MONTGOMERIE'S PEGGY
98ON JOHN DOVE, INNKEEPER
42THE LEA-RIG
99CHAPTER V DESCRIPTIVE AND NARRATIVE POETRY
43AULD ROB MORRIS
100HALLOWEEN
44O, WERT THOU IN THE CAULD BLAST
101THE TWA DOGS
45GREEN GROW THE RASHES
102THE HOLY FAIR
46THERE WAS A LAD
103WILLIE BREW'D A PECK O' MAUT
47CONTENTED WI' LITTLE
104THE JOLLY BEGGARS A Cantata
48MY FATHER WAS A FARMER
105TAM O' SHANTER A Tale
49O FOR ANE AN' TWENTY, TAM!
106TO A MOUSE, ON TURNING HER UP IN HER NEST WITH THE PLOUGH, NOVEMBER, 1785
50YE BANKS AND BRAES (Second Version)
107TO A LOUSE On Seeing One on a Lady's Bonnet at Church
51(Third Version)
108TO A MOUNTAIN DAISY On Turning One Down With a Plough in April, 1786
52SIMMER'S A PLEASANT TIME
109THE AULD FARMER'S NEW-YEAR MORNING SALUTATION TO HIS AULD MARE, MAGGIE.
53WHISTLE, AND I'LL COME TO YE, MY LAD
110ADDRESS TO THE DEIL
54TAM GLEN
111DEATH AND DOCTOR HORNBOOK
55THE RANTIN' DOG THE DADDIE O'T
112TAM SAMSON'S ELEGY
56LAST MAY A BRAW WOOER
113Memorable Quotes
57FOR THE SAKE O' SOMEBODY
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