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Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 175, 23 January 1912, Page 4

THE IMMORTAL PLOUGHMAN. It is peculiarly appropriate that the incomparable songs of Scotland's greatest poet, Robert .Burns, should appeal profoundly to his countrymen who are Jsur from Ayr, for Burns , spoke to Scotsmen of all kinds, of all pjaces, and of all times., .While Scots of every class clan regards Burns. as their particular voice, the people of the' Empire, whether dying Work as a great Imperial asset. In a country which as yet haa no great voice of its own, and in which the very nature of the people's occupation incites admiration for the "ploughman poet," there is, we beiieve, a truer knowledge of Burns' work and a deeper appreciation of it than is given to the work of any other poet. While Burns was easily the greatest of Scottish vernacular poets and a supreme artist of words, his greatest effects were in the simplicity of his appeal and the "humanness" of his message. The value of a poet's,work lies largely in its general acceptance by others as a form for tlie expression of hope, sentiment, friendship, love. British people do not, for instance, wind up a fraternal gathering with "Auld Lang Syne because itis Scotch,' but because Burns, with masterly simplicity, supplied a song whose appeal is equally felt by all who hear it or sing it. Wherever you find Scotsmen, you will find men who feel it a personal honor to have been countrymen of Burns', and although there could be no forgetting of the singer's songs, even if 'Scotsmen failed to keep his memory green, by doing so they keep in existence wherever they may be the traditions of Old Scotia. The work of Burns is not only an inspiration to his countrymen, but an excuse for them to foregather in concord and amity—an influence that reaches to the four corners of the earth. There is to be a Burns dinner in Stratford on Thursday night, and it is just likely a Scottish Society will be formed during the evening. We hope such a society may be formed, for although New Zealanders are engaged in the making of a nation, the histoiy and traditions of the countries from which the peoples spring are the finest bases on which to build such a nation. The Scotsman is less concerned with what Robert Burns was than with the songs he sung and the messages he left to posterity. It is impossible that these messages could be so potent had Burns' early struggles been fewer and his struggles less poignant. It is remarkable that the majority of Scottish eminents have achieved the heights »y persistently ignoring tribulation and in fighting it. It seems almost essential for the development of genius that its possessor should strive against almost intolerable handicaps. We know that although Burns was "a noted philanderer." it is because of this lie sung some of the sweetest love songs the world has heard. We know that because of his forced and humble association with Nature in the fields lie wrote of the things he saw and felt and heard with a beauty, accuracy and melody incomparable. We know that he fought th« things that were paltry and mean, and although he was himself not always blameless, and that he wielded an enormous influence for good in his many attacks on the pinchbeck piety which was his special detestation and which even to the present day is a piety of words, not deeds. Burns was as much a flagellant to the unworthy as lie was a lover of the sweet and beautiful. It cannot be doubted that the great poets, the masters of heart expression, the men who write the songs, lovingly carolled generation after generation by the peo

pie, wield larger influences than men of any other type. It is true that the most dour might be influenced for good by the work of Burns while still deploring his. physical sinfulness, but it is also true that those who have occupied the top seats on "high Olympus" have rarely been "saints," nor could they have attained eminence and saintn ness as well. Burns breathed into the poetry of Scotland a spirit of tenderness and purity, vigor and freshness never excelled in the lyrical poetry ot any country. It is fitting that he who was so broadly democratic, so impatient of littleness, so impressed with genuine worth, should be admired in a country, where men must strive, as lie strove. Burns called for universal brotherhood, and brotherhood is the basis of the societies which honor his name. Then let lis pray that come it may, As come it will for a' that—That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth May bear the gree and a' that. For a' that, and a' that, It's coming yet for a' that, That man to man, the warld o'er, Shall brothers be for a' that!