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'There's no other poem like it': Why this Robert Burns classic is a masterpiece

Nicholas Barber
23 January 2026

Tam O'Shanter is a rip-roaring tale of witches and alcohol, but it has hidden depths. On Burns Night this Sunday – and 235 years after the poem was published in 1791 – Scots everywhere may well be treated to a masterwork with a unique, universal appeal.

My hero / Robert Burns by Alex Salmond

 

Robert Burns

My hero: 

Robert Burns

by Alex Salmond

Scotland's first minister pays tribute to the national bard

Alex Salmond
Friday 29 August 2014

Robert Burns is a cultural and literary icon, whose poetry transcends culture, creed and era. Whether in traditional publications or online, his work continues to thrive. This year, I delivered the Immortal Memory of Robert Burns address at the Dunblane Youth Burns Club and it was fantastic to see younger generations fully appreciate the global contribution of Scotland's national bard.

Thousands of Burns celebrations take place across the world, from Boston to Beijing, every year. Bob Dylan named Burns as his greatest inspiration and there are more Burns monuments than any other figure of modern times – in the US, there are more statues of him than of any American writer.

The statue of Robert Burns in Stirling

Some of the best romantic poetry ever written is by Burns. My admiration for him lies in the descriptive, artistic phrasing that encapsulates Scottish identity – our creativity, pride and confidence – but also in his portrayal of love and a true humanitarian ethos. "Common weal" is an interesting auld Scots term meaning the wellbeing of all, with relevance to the core theme of Burns's work: The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor; Is king o' men for a' that.

Were he around today he would be tweeting and blogging his ideas to mass approval. Burns admirers keep his work and beliefs alive.

Robert Burns

"A Man's a Man for A' That" was recited at the opening of the Scottish parliament in 1999, its verse resonating around the debating chamber as MSPs took their seats for the first time in Scotland's reconvened legislature:

Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a' that,)
That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's coming yet for a' that,
That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.

THE GUARDIAN

Robert Burns Quotes

Robert Burns

Robert Burns Quotes

Discover lines from Robert Burns, Scottish writer.

by Esther Lombardi

Updated August 06, 2017

Recognized as one of the greatest Scottish writers of all time, Robert Burns had a great deal to say. He was born in 1759 and is perhaps the most well-known Scots language poet. However much of his poetry was also written in English, which often included the bluntest of his harsh political commentary. His English writing often included Scottish dialects. He was a charismatic pioneer of the Romantics literary movement.

His most famous work is "Auld Lang Syne" which is sung in many countries at the stroke of Midnight on New Year's Eve to help usher in the new year. Burns claims to have transcribed the folk song from an old man who'd had the song passed on to him. 

Here are a few quotes from Robert Burns.

• "Affliction's sons are brothers in distress; A brother to relieve, how exquisite the bliss!"
  - Robert Burns 
• "Ah, gentle dames! it gars we greet, To think how mony consels sweet, How mony lengthened, sage advices, The husband frae the wife despises."
  - Robert Burns 
• "And may you better reck the rede, than ever did th' adviser."
  - Robert Burns 
• "And there begins a lang digression about the lords o' the creation."
  - Robert Burns 
• "Dare to be honest and fear no labor."
  - Robert Burns 
• "Firmness in enduring and exertion is a character I always wish to possess. I have always despised the whining yelp of complaint and cowardly resolve."
  - Robert Burns 

• "His locked, lettered, braw brass collar, Shewed him the gentleman and scholar."
  - Robert Burns 
• "Liberty's in every blow! Let us do or die."
  - Robert Burns 
• "Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn!"
  - Robert Burns 
• "Nae man can tether time or tide."
  - Robert Burns 
• "Nursing her wrath to keep it warm."
  - Robert Burns 

• "Prudent, cautious self-control is wisdom's root."
  - Robert Burns 
• "Suspense is worse than disappointment."
  - Robert Burns 
• "The daisy's for simplicity and unaffected air."
  - Robert Burns 
• "The snowdrop and primrose our woodlands adorn, and violets bathe in the wet o' the morn."
  - Robert Burns 
• "The wide world is all before us - but a world without a friend."
  - Robert Burns 
• "There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing."
  - Robert Burns 
• "To liken them to your auld- warld squad, I must needs say comparisons are odd."
  - Robert Burns 
• "While Europe's eye is fix'd on mighty things, The fate of empires and the fall of kings; While quacks of State must each produce his plan, And even children lisp the Rights of Man; Amid this mighty fuss just let me mention, The Rights of Woman merit some attention."
  - Robert Burns 

THOUGHT CO

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Robert Burns / 'Comin' Thro the Rye'

'Comin' Thro the Rye'

Robert Burns' Poem

by Esther Lombardi

Updated June 14, 2017

The poem, "Comin Thro the Rye," by Robert Burns is probably best known because of Holden's misinterpretation of it in The Catcher in the Rye. He tells his fantasy to his sister, Phoebe (he's the "catcher in the rye," rescuing children). The reference in The Catcher in the Rye has prompted writers and scholars to take a look at the source. Here's the complete text of the poem.

Comin Thro the Rye

O, Jenny's a' weet, poor body,
Jenny's seldom dry;
She draigl't a' her petticoattie
Comin thro' the rye.

Chorus:
Comin thro the rye, poor body,
Comin thro the rye,
She draigl't a'her petticoatie,
Comin thro the rye!

Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro the rye,
Gin a body kiss a body,[r] Need a body cry?

Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro the glen,
Gin a body kiss a body,
Need the warld ken?

THOUGHT CO