POETRY AND THE PAST.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 102, 2 May 1931, Page 8

POETRY AND THE PAST.

Wlile reading an article on Boras in a recent supplement (book review columns) the thought came to me tliat writers, and especially women writers, oould surely find something finer to write about than to rake up tlie past of tie dead. Before one condemns Burns the poet one must realise that his lack of education must have been a serious handicap in the battle of life. Perhaps if he had had the education and refined atmosphere which most writens have got his life story may have stood the test of the severest critic. Perhap3 it is 'best, after all, to sift out the beauty in •most of his works, dwell on them, and leave the rest to his God. For if we were to study deeply over the questionable matter which is put into soil to bring forth the choicest fruits and the rarest blooms, then the former, would lose its flavour (to the majority of us) and the latter its divine perfume. Lovers of Burns' poetry (and they are many) must feel deeply hurt when a woman turns the searchlight on one who was most sureJy a victim of environment and circumstance. AN IRISH LOVER OF BURNS.