This famous dictum is a standing challenge to any critic who
regards Burns as a creator of beauty. It is true that when Burns took
this world at its apparent worst, when Scotch drink meant bestial
drunkenness, when Scotch manners meant shameless indecency, when
Scotch religion meant blasphemous defiance, he created _The Jolly
Beggars_, which the same critic found a "splendid and puissant
production." We must conclude, then, that sufficient genius can
sublimate even a hideously sordid world into a superb work of art,
which is presumably beautiful.
But the verdict passed on the Scottish world of Burns is not to be
taken without scrutiny. A review of those poems of Burns that are
primarily descriptive will recall to us the chief features of that
world.
Let us begin with _The Cotter's Saturday Night_, Burns's tribute to
his father's house. Let us discard the introductory stanza of
dedication, as not organically a part of the poem. The scene is set in
a gray November landscape. The tired laborer is shown returning to his
cottage, no touch of idealization being added to the picture of
physical weariness save what comes from the feeling for home and wife
and children. Then follow the gathering of the older sons and
daughter, the telling of the experiences of the week, and the advice
of the father. The daughter's suitor arrives, and the girl's
consciousness as well as the lover's shyness are delicately rendered.
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