Robert Burns and the Sentimental Era

When the young and still obscure Robert Burns arrived in Edinburgh in 1786, he was hailed as the "heav'n-taught ploughman", a characterization that, with its aura of primitive purity, strongly appealed to the intellectuals of the sentimental era. Today, this demeaningly rustic image of Burns persists - at least outside Scotland -in the form of a general critical view that denies the skill and sophistication of his finest works, including the ironic "Tam O' Shanter". Reconstructing a misunderstood and often overlooked literary epoch, this book reveals the psychological and literary dynamics of the sentimental era, discussing Burns's work not only in terms of Scottish folk traditions, but also in terms of the English and Anglo-Scottish authors Burns admired - Henry Mackenzie (Burns wore out three copies of "The Man of Feeling" by carrying it next to his heart), Laurence Sterne, James Thomson, Alexander Pope and "Ossian". Burns drew much of his early inspiration from these writers. The book shows how Burns transcended his early models to create a poetry that is introspective yet intensely responsive, Scottish yet universal, simple in theme yet infinitely resonant in imagery and language.