The Poetical Works Of Robert Burns Vol 1

Reprint of the original, first published in 1839.

Excerpt from The Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Vol. 1 In these volumes the poetical works of Burns are presented in their due chronological sequence, the pieces following each other according to the dates of their composition - so far as ascertainable - so that the development of the poet's genius may be readily studied in connection with the facts of his life, as given in the biographical memoir contained in the first volume. As will be noticed, the year of the poet's age to which each poem belongs is inserted at the top of the page where the piece occurs. Numerous notes are appended to the author's text, giving the reader a vast amount of useful, and indeed indispensable, information in regard to the origin of the individual poems, and to persons, places, occurrences, local usages, &c., connected with or referred to by Burns. Without such a commentary many references and allusions would not be understood, nor would the several pieces possess anything like the same interest. A certain number of the notes are critical in their character - they may point out special beauties, or may indicate where the poet has been less happy in his efforts. These notes are chiefly selected from writers of eminence who have had Burns for their theme - such as, Scott, Wordsworth, Lockhart, Professor Wilson, Allan Cunnningham, and Carlyle, not to mention others. For the convenience of the reader, and to save him time and trouble, the distinctively Scottish words and expressions, such as occur especially in the best and most characteristic of Burns's poems, have their meanings made clear by marginal explanations accompanying each piece that requires such aid. To those unacquainted with the dialect that Burns often used this must prove a most valuable feature, as it will enable anyone readily to understand the meaning of even the most difficult passages, while the troublesome necessity of consulting a special glossary is entirely avoided. In the margin and opposite each line will be found the necessary interpretation, so that the reader carries the sense along with him as he reads, and only very rarely does a more detailed explanation require to be furnished in a footnote. But it may be pointed out that the difficulty of understanding Burns is apt to be exaggerated, and that many of his poems present few and trifling peculiarities of dialect and others none at all. The Sketch of the Poet's Life has been specially written for this edition. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Excerpt from Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Vol. 1 of 3: Including the Pieces Published in His Correspondence, With His Songs and Fragments; To Which Is Prefixed, a Sketch of His Life It is hardly possible, say his countrymen Who were on the spot at this time, to express with what eager admiration and delight these poems were every where received. Old and young, high and low, grave and gay, learned and ignorant, all were alike delighted, agitated, transported. Such trans ports would naturally find their way into the bosom of the author, especially when he found that, in stead of the necessity of flying from his native land, he was now encouraged to go to Edinburgh and superintend the publication of a second edition. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.