A NEW LIFE OF BURNS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 2, 3 January 1931, Page 2 (Supplement)

A NEW LIFE OF BURNS.

"HARDLY CREDIBLE" CULT. In that amusing little book, "A House Boat on the Styx," Phidias, on being I introduced to Burns by Homer, says, !"You are not much like your statues. "No," replies Burns, "if I were 1 B^°^ d commit suicide." One wonders what the poet, strolling round the Elysian fields, thinks of his biographies. Does he think them like his statues? Perhaps he will welcome the new Life of him by Catherine Carswell (Chatto and Windus), for it is intended to be a true portrait. As the authoress says, she is trying to present him from a new angle. Frankly, it is not a pleasant one, and it raises again the question why the Scots have chosen Burns for their national poet. We notice that in a letter to the "Spectator" Miss Carswell says that "the situation created by the official Burns cult is hardly credible" and that "more than any poet of modern times Burns has suffered from deliberate destruction and suppression of biographical material." Her own skin hatf been "picturesquely threatened," and on the eve of publication _ steps were taken by the Burns to have her book suppressed or mutilated. Miss Carswell sets out to be a realist, to present Burns as he really was, and to give an account of Scots contemporary 1 life. The value of the hook lies largely in the fact that Burns is presented in his environment, which was far from being pleasant. In many ways Burns was neither better nor worse than the class from which he sprang. In spite of the fact that his father was a man of strict life and brought up his family well, Burns very early in his life showed the propensities which were to mar his reputation as a man and ultimately contributed largely in bringing him to an early grave. The emphasis on the coarse side of Burns —though it was undoubtedly a big element in his character —may spoil the book for the ordinary reader. The poetic side of Burns is merely brought in as incidental. One thing is clear. Burns was absolutely spontaneous in his poetry and could not write to order, or, if he did, his work was inferior. Also, he made it quite clear that he would not write for money's sake. This was the more creditable seeing that he was always in financial difficulties. The object of the book is a portrayal of the man, and he does not excite respect. His character was a weak one. A want of stability runs through it all. Dependent largely on the goodwill of others .to live from day to day, he would at times show, as weak men often do, a foolish pride and vanity towards his benefactors, to be followed by an abject submission, almost grovelling. Posing as the poet of the honest poor, he had little of the sturdy independence which they generally show. His greatest bane was his popularity with women, which, added to his natural inclinations, was the cause of his numerous lapses* An appalling letter quoted here shows him as an unspeakable cad. His treatment of his wife before and after his marriage was despicable.. She is really, in spite of her want of .education and her coarseness of fibre, one of the pleasantest character in the book. With all her faults, she loved him, -and hei _