It describes one of the happiest and most affecting scenes to be found in country life; and draws a domestic picture of rustic simplicity, natural tenderness, and innocent passion, that must please every reader whose feelings are not perverted" 9 (February 1787) 91. Or, Moses bade eternal warfare wage The Cotter's Saturday Night is a poem by Robert Burns that was first published in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect in 1786. The use of dialect in a serious poem had the effect of elevating the status of two of Burns's models in Scots vernacular poetry, Allan Ramsay and Robert Fergusson. How were those happy and worthy people educated? These disparate elements Burns combines into a new kind of national poem that celebrates the political significance of ordinary people, a kind of poetry that takes popular culture rather than polite literature as its point of departure. TORRENT download. download 1 file . Our presentation of this classic poem comes from The Poems and Songs of Robert Burns (1909). James Gray: "It was here that Burns kindled that celestial lamp that was destined to cheer the drooping heart of the Scottish absentee in every region of the world, an the banks of the the and the Ganges, — in Van Diemans Land, and amidst the snows of the polar regions. But blate an laithfu, scarce can weel behave; Betray sweet Jenny's unsuspecting youth? O happy love! For them and for their little ones provide; Ah! The mother, wi her needle and her sheers The Cotter's Saturday Night is a landmark poem in the Spenserian tradition. While circling Time moves round in an eternal sphere. The Book of Georgian Verse Robert Chambers: "Burns came as a potent auxiliary or fellow-worker with Cowper, in bringing poetry into the channels of truth and nature. 'An honest man's the noblest work of God'; With joy unfeign'd, brothers and sisters meet, And each for other's weelfare kindly spiers: The social hours, swift-wing'd, unnotic'd fleet; Each tells the uncos that he sees or hears. 1829: John Strachan, The Cottager's Sabbath Day. And weary, o'er the moor, his course does hameward bend. Download: Go. Th' expectant wee-things, toddlin, stacher through evening after their week's labour, knowing that Sunday is a day No more to sigh or shed the bitter tear, Weel-pleas'd the mother hears, it's nae wild, worthless rake. The toilworn cotter frae his labor goes,— This night his weekly moil is at an end,— 15: Collects his spades, his mattocks, and his hoes, Hoping the morn in ease and rest to spend, And weary, o’er the moor, his course does hameward bend. 1804: John Struthers, The Poor Man's Sabbath. What makes the youth sae bashful and sae grave; The peasant Poet bears himself, we might say, like a King in exile: he is cast among the low, and feels himself equal to the highest; yet he claims no rank, that none may be disputed to him. download 1 file . That he who stills the raven's clam'rous nest, With Amalek's ungracious progeny; Earl R. Wasserman: "Although Burns had not read Spenser, he did know Shenstone's [School-Mistress], and Fergusson's theme [in The Farmer's Ingle], which Burns borrowed, must have led him to Shenstone as a model for such subject matter and style" Elizabethan Poetry in the Eighteenth Century (1947) 115. His friend, inspirer, guardian, and reward!] Princes and lords are but the breath of kings, A family sit round the kitchen table waiting eagerly for the dumpling to be laid on the table. That, 'yont the hallan snugly chows her cood: At length his lonely cot appears in view, Beneath the shelter of an aged tree; But the truth is, you see, that the soobject's sae heaped up wi' happiness, and sae charged wi' a sorts o' sanctity — sae national and sae Scottish — that beautifu' as the poem is — really, after a', naething can be mair beautifu' — there's nae satisfyin' either peasant or shepherd by ony delineation o't, tho' drawn in lines o' licht, and shinin' equally wi' genius and wi' piety. Implore His counsel and assisting might: No mercenary bard his homage pays; Points to the parents fondling o'er their child? And each for other's welfare kindly spiers: A cannie errand to a neebor town: [The patriot's God, peculiarly Thou art, And mind your duty, duely, morn and night! November chill blaws loud wi' angry sugh, The short'ning winter day is near a close; The miry beasts retreating frae the pleugh, The black'ning trains o' craws to their repose; The toil-worn Cotter frae his labour goes,-- This night his weekly moil is at an end,-- Collects his spades, his mattocks and his hoes, Hoping the morn in ease and rest to spend, And weary, o'er the moor, … That it may be understood by our Readers, it is accompanied by a Glossary, and Notes, with which we have been favoured, by a friend, who thoroughly understands the language, and has often, he says, witnessed with his own eyes, that pure simplicity of manners, which are delineated with the most fanciful accuracy in this little performance. This is the age for self-taught genius" 31 January 1787; in Works (1826) 2:51. James Montgomery: "In The Cottar's Saturday Night, the poet has so varied his dialect that there are scarcely two consecutive stanzas written according to the same model. They never sought in vain that sought the Lord aright.' Nae unison hae they, with our Creator's praise. The sire turns o'er, wi patriarchal grace, Cyclopaedia of English Literature (1844; 1850) 2:480. I've paced much this weary, mortal round, November chill blaws loud wi' angry sugh; The short'ning winter-day is near a close; The miry beasts retreating frae the pleugh; The black'ning trains o' craws to their repose: The toil-worn COTTER frae his labor goes, This night his weekly moil is at an end, Collects his spades, his mattocks, and his hoes, Hoping the morn in ease and rest to spend, And weary, o'er the moor, his course does hameward bend. Belyve, the elder bairns come drapping in, The characters and incidents which the poet here describes in so interesting a manner, are such as his father's cottage presented to his observation; they are such as may every where be found among the virtuous and intelligent peasantry of Scotland. The priest-like father reads the sacred page, The Cottar's Saturday Night of Burns, who was himself a peasant, is most faithfully exact, both in language and costume, and is at the same time so far from exhibiting any thing low or coarse, that, in sublimity and tenderness, it bids defiance to the most delicate taste, and, as a picture, would adorn any pastoral drama, however polished" "Observations on the Gentle Shepherd and Strictures on Pastoral Poetry" NS 10 (June 1802) 417. Critical Review: "We have had occasion to examine a number of poetical productions, written by persons in the lower rank of life, and who had hardly received any education; but we do not recollect to have ever met with a more signal instance of true and uncultivated genius, than in the author of these Poems" 63 (May 1787) 387-88. Cotter's Saturday night. Gilbert Burns recorded his recollections of its origin: 'Robert had frequently remarked to me that he thought there was something peculiarly venerable in the phrase, "Let us worship God!" William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. To you I sing, in simple Scottish lays, 1809: Rev. A "Cotter" in Burns's time was a Some ca' the pleugh, some herd, some tentie rin Abstract. His bonnet rev'rently is laid aside, 1828: John Gilmour, The Sabbath Sacrament. The sweetest far of Scotia's holy lays: And O! Elijah Waring, The Village Sunday, a Poem. And in His Book of Life the inmates poor enroll. In other's arms, breathe out the tender tale, | Burns Loch Lomond Connections | where love like this is found: be sure to fear the LORD alway! Robert Burn's poem 'The Cotters Saturday Night' recited and illustrated by Matthew McKinnon Then kneeling down to Heaven's Eternal King, The black'ning trains o craws to their repose: From scenes like these, old SCOTIA'S grandeur springs, That makes her lov'd at home, rever'd abroad: Princes and lords are but the breath of kings, 'An honest man's the noblest work of GOD:' And certes, in fair Virtue's heavenly road, The Cottage leaves the Palace far behind: What is a lordling's pomp? a rap comes gently to the door; The POWER, incens'd, the Pageant will desert, The pompous strain, the sacerdotal stole; But haply, in some Cottage far apart, May hear, well pleas'd, the language of the Soul; And in His Book of Life the Inmates poor enroll. tho' his worth unknown, far happier there I ween! Perhaps the Christian volume is the theme: Then homeward all take off their sev'ral way, The poem is far enough from Spenser whom Burns had not read. Then, howe'er crowns and coronets be rent, With honest pride, I scorn each selfish end, And heard great Bab'lon's doom pronounc'd by Heaven's command. a cumbrous load, This poem The Youngster's artless heart o'erflows wi' joy, But blate and laithfu', scarce can weel behave; The Mother, wi' a woman's wiles, can spy What makes the youth sae bashfu' and sae grave; Weel-pleas'd to think her bairn's respected like the lave. I've paced much this weary, mortal round, And sage EXPERIENCE bids me this declare— 'If Heaven a draught of heavenly pleasure spare, One cordial in this melancholy Vale, 'Tis when a youthful, loving, modest Pair, In other's arms, breathe out the tender tale, Beneath the milk-white thorn that scents the ev'ning gale.' Lest in temptation's path ye gang astray, This poem relates how the Cotter and his family take time to relax on a Saturday evening after their week's labour, knowing that Sunday is a day of rest." For whom my warmest wish to heaven is sent! In spite of many feeble lines, and some heavy stanzas, it appears to me, that even his genius would suffer more in estimation, by being contemplated in the absence of this poem, than of any other single performance he has left us" Life of Burns (1828) 97. 1816: John Wilson, The Children's Dance. A number of later poets with little formal education, notably John Clare, took the "Cotter" as their point of departure in writing descriptive poems about the lives of ordinary poems. They chant their artless notes in simple guise, They tune their hearts, by far the noblest aim: Perhaps Dundee's wild-warbling measures rise, Or plaintive Martyrs, worthy of the name; Or noble Elgin beets the heaven-ward flame, The sweetest far of SCOTIA'S holy lays: Compar'd with these, Italian trills are tame; The tickl'd ears no heart-felt raptures raise; Nae unison hae they, with our CREATOR'S praise. Eunice Pinney.jpg This painting seems to be giving a look into a family event that most likely happens every saturday night. His wee bit ingle, blinkan bonilie, His clean hearth-stane, his thrifty Wifie's smile, The lisping infant, prattling on his knee, Does a' his weary kiaugh and care beguile, And makes him quite forget his labor and his toil. Poems chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, by Robert Burns. Their eldest hope, their Jenny, woman grown, About this Item. COTTERS SATURDAY NIGHT Robert 1759-1796 Burns No preview available - 2016. To grace the lad, her weel-hain'd kebbuck, fell; November chill blaws loud wi angry sugh; Thomas Carlyle: "The rough scenes of Scottish life, not seen by him in any Arcadian illusion, but in the rude contradiction, in the smoke and soil of a too harsh reality, are still lovely to him: Poverty is indeed his companion, but Love also, and Courage; the simple feelings, the worth, the nobleness, that dwell under the straw roof, are dear and venerable to his heart: and thus over the lowest provinces of man's existence, he pours the glory of his own soul; and they rise, in shadow and sunshine, softened and brightened into a beauty which other eyes discern not in the highest. The tickl'd ears no heart-felt raptures raise; Some of the strains are as purely English as the author could reach; others so racily Scottish as often to require a glossary; while in a third class the two are so enchantingly combined, that no poetic diction can excel the pathos and sublimity, blended with beauty and homeliness, that equally mark them" Lectures (1833) 135. join round the fireside to hear the father read from the bible. Additional Physical Format: Online version: Burns, Robert, 1759-1796. Then paints the ruin'd Maid, and their distraction wild! A "Cotter" in Burns's time was a poor peasant who was given the use of a Cot or Cottage by the property owner in exchange for labour as opposed to paying rent. There was the humour of Smollett, the pathos and tenderness of Sterne or Richardson, the real life of Fielding, and the description of Thomson — all united in delineations of Scottish manners and scenery by an Ayrshire ploughman!" O heart-felt raptures! The Cotter's Saturday Night Robert Burns Full view - 1872. The forward he can repel, the supercilious he can subdue; pretensions of wealth or ancestry are of no avail with him; there is a fire in that dark eye, under which the 'insolence of condescension' cannot thrive. That makes her lov'd at home, rever'd abroad: Cotter's Saturday Night', 'The The poem by which, a handful of songs apart, Burns is probably best known, was written in the autumn of 1785 or early in the winter of 1785/6. Edinburgh Magazine: "There can be no stronger proof of city prejudices and ignorance on the subject, than to suppose that truth and elegance are inconsistent, in describing the real manners of peasants. 1823: Rev. What Aiken in a cottage would have been; Collects his spades, his mattocks, and his hoes, IMITATIONS OF To meet their dad, wi flichterin noise and glee. At length his lonely cot appears in view, Beneath the shelter of an aged tree; And stand a wall of fire around their much-lov'd Isle. Robert Burns, illustrator. Perhaps the Christian Volume is the theme, How guiltless blood for guilty man was shed; How HE, who bore in heaven the second name, Had not on earth whereon to lay His head: How His first followers and servants sped; The Precepts sage they wrote to many a land: How he, who lone in Patmos banished, Saw in the sun a mighty angel stand, And heard great Bab'lon's doom pronounc'd by Heaven's command. 1797: Thomas Mounsey Cunningham, The Har'st Kirn. Thus we had the picture of a family — with all its interpenetrating relations, of the elder members towards the younger, and of the elder towards each other; the strong hold which any absent member retains over the affections of all at home, and the deep reverence and affectionate love with which they all regard the head of the family — set before us in a manner to rivet attention, by connecting with it a very fine disquisition on Burns's Cottar's Saturday Night" 1837; in Mary Wilson Gordon, Christopher North (1862; 1894) 250. John Gibson Lockhart: "The Cottar's Saturday Night is, perhaps of all Burns's pieces, the one whose exclusion from the collection, were such things possible now-a-days, would be the most injurious, if not to the genius, at least to the character, of the man. a Villain! The Cotter's Saturday Night is not only about tradition, it originated a tradition in English verse insofar as it became one of the more frequently imitated poems in the language. The miry beasts retreating frae the pleugh; Burns has ennobled his poem by the introduction of youthful love, of pure religion, of a lofty patriotism, and of every virtue that can render humble life amiable or delightful, or brighten the prospects beyond it, and all this in a strain of inspiration worthy of the subject" Poems of Robert Fergusson (1821) xxii-xxiii. That can, with studied, sly, ensnaring art, Betray sweet Jenny's unsuspecting youth? Title The Cotters Saturday Night Summary 7 persons at table with Bible. The saint, the father, and the husband prays: Does a' his weary kiaugh and care beguile, Genre/Form: Poetry: Additional Physical Format: Online version: Burns, Robert, 1759-1796. "A 'Cotter' in Burns's time was a poor peasant who was given the use of a Cot or Cottage by the property owner in exchange for labour as opposed to paying rent. In all the pomp of method, and of art; ‘The Cotter's Saturday Night’ was created in 1837 by David Wilkie in Romanticism style. 124-37]. Robert Burns's contribution to the emerging concept of a national culture, the principles and significance of which are boldly stated in this poem, would be difficult to overestimate.
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