WHY BURNS IS THE NATIONAL POET OF SCOTLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14925, 24 February 1912, Page 4 (Supplement)

WHY BURNS IS THE NATIONAL POET OF SCOTLAND.

Poetry finds its origin among the people, "arising out' of. the need of emotional expression on the part of the folk as a whole. This craving for communication finds its satisfaction in the formation of Bong?, because rhythm, accompanied by music, is the easiest form of expression. These songs are never written down, but pass orally from one generation to another, often becoming incomprehensible, and still more often losing their rea'Hsm in naivete, which were their only beauty, and becoming coarse and crude. In the meantime the educated part of the population have evolved for themselves another form of poetry, but neither this nor the folksong is truly national, that is, belonging to the nation as a whole. When a poet arises "who is sufficiently of the people to know the folk-songs, and has insight enough to appreciate their possibilities, and genius to convert them with a few deft touches into pure poetry, without affecting their original character, then he is a national poet! And this Burns has done to the fullest extent. He has remoulded the purely popular, often nnpoetio lays, into such a form that they satisfy the connoiseur while still retaining their power of appeal to the simplest heart: they are, in short, national poems. "Auld Lang Syne" was once an almost unknown village song; now it has the power to inflame tho heart of every Scotchman, high or low, at homo or abroad; it is tho national hymn of Scotland. On'tho strength of this one lyric alone Burns has the right to be called the national poet of Scotland.