Robert Burns Character Analysis in The Study of Poetry

Robert Burns (1759–1796) was a Scottish poet who is considered the national poet of Scotland. Matthew Arnold looks closely at Burns’s verse, which he clearly admires, and explains why it falls short of the high seriousness required of poetry of the first rank. Arnold points to Burns’s verse as an example of poetry that is especially likely to be subject to the personal estimate, since Scottish readers are likely to be especially fond of it and to overlook its flaws.

Robert Burns Character Timeline in The Study of Poetry

The timeline below shows where the character Robert Burns appears in The Study of Poetry. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

At this point Matthew Arnold turns to Robert Burns , a Scottish poet of the 18th century. Arnold points out that the personal estimate... (full context)

Next, Matthew Arnold analyzes one of Robert Burns ’s poems about drinking alcohol, arguing that, while many admire poems such as this one,... (full context)

There are times, to be sure, when Robert Burns meets the threshold of high seriousness, but these, Matthew Arnold argues, are the exception that... (full context)

Matthew Arnold uses this real estimate of Robert Burns to address the case of more contemporary English poets, such as Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord... (full context)