Robert Burns’s versed epistles

• Authors: Mirosława Modrzewska
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Robert Burns wrote a number of poetic letters, such as Epistle to John Rankie, Epistle to Davie, A Brother Poet, Epistle to John Lapraik, An Old Scottish Bard, To William Simpson, and others. Versed epistles, although practiced by poets of various epochs, is a typically neo-classical genre connected with Horatian tradition, and followed by A. Pope. It was part of aristocratic courtly culture and an elegant way of presenting a didactic or even satirical purpose, but also a powerful tool for manipulating public opinion. This paper examines the ways in which Robert Burns used those conventions and created his own rhetorical style, using parody, grotesque, speaking at times on behalf of the “public” or in a plural sort of voice, but in the end creating a free individual poetic personality similar to that of G. G. Byron in the Romantic way of composing motifs and registers of language.

Keywords

EN

poetry; Romanticism; Scottish literature; versed epistle

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Gdański
• Journal: Beyond Philology: An International Journal of Linguistics, Literary Studies and English Language Teaching
• Year: 2011
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 95-107

Contributors

author

Mirosława Modrzewska

• Instytut Anglistyki i Amerykanistyki, Uniwersytet Gdański

References

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• Dowling, William C. (1991). The Epistolary Moment. Princeton – New York: Princeton University Press.
• Lonsdale, Roger (ed.) (2009). The Oxford Book of Eighteenth-Century Verse. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Matuszewska, Przemysława (1977). “List poetycki”. In: Teresa Kostkiewiczowa (ed.). Słownik literatury polskiego oświecenia. Wrocław – Warszawa – Kraków – Gdańsk: Ossolineum.
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• Weston, John C. (1970). “Robert Burns’ use of the Scots verse-epistles form”. Philological Quarterly 49: 2.

Identifiers

ISSN

1732-1220