Halloween (poem)
"Halloween" is a poem written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1785.[1] First published in 1786, the poem is included in the Kilmarnock Edition. It is one of Burns' longer poems, with twenty-eight stanzas, and employs a mixture of Scots and English.[2][3]
Background
[edit]The poet John Mayne from Dumfries, "a comparatively obscure follower of the Scottish Muses," wrote a poem about Halloween in 1780.[4] Having twelve stanzas, the poem makes note of pranks at Halloween; "What fearfu' pranks ensue!", as well as the supernatural associated with the night, "Bogies" (ghosts).[4][5] The poem appeared in Ruddimans Weekly Magazine, November 1780, published by Walter Ruddiman in Edinburgh.[4] That the Ayrshire poet Burns actually saw and was influenced by Mayne's composition is apparent, as he appears to communicate with Mayne's work, and also echoes some of his imagery.[4][6] According to Burns, Halloween is "thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings are all abroad on their baneful midnight errands".[7]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Is thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings are abroad on their baneful midnight errands; particularly those aerial people, the fairies, are said on that night to hold a grand anniversary,.—R.B.
- ^ Certain little, romantic, rocky, green hills, in the neighbourhood of the ancient seat of the Earls of Cassilis.—R.B.
- ^ A noted cavern near Colean house, called the Cove of Colean; which, as well as Cassilis Downans, is famed, in country story, for being a favorite haunt of fairies.—R.B.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Alexander Smith (1868). Poems, Songs and Letters, being the complete works of Robert Burns. Edited from the best printed and manuscript authorities, with glossarial index and a biographical memoir by Alexander Smith. (The Globe edition.). Macmillan & Company. pp. 44–7.
- ^ Robert Burns, Alexander Smith Poems, songs, and letters: being the complete works of Robert Burns, edited from the best printed and manuscript authorities with glossarial index and a biographical memoir Macmillan and co., 1868
- ^ BBC - Robert Burns - Halloween BBC
- ^ a b c d Robert Chambers The life and works of Robert Burns, Volume 1 Lippincott, Grambo & co., 1854
- ^ Ulster Scots - Words and Phrases:"Bogie" BBC Retrieved December 16, 2010
- ^ Thomas Crawford Burns: a study of the poems and songs Stanford University Press, 1960
- ^ Charles Knight (1833) The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Volume 1 p.342. Retrieved January 14, 2011
External links
[edit]
The full text of Halloween at Wikisource- Poems And Songs Of Robert Burns by Robert Burns
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