PREFACE. The Poetic life of Robert Burns belongs to the whole world, for his nature was as boundless and brilliant as the stars and the sorrow and disappointment that filled his earthly career find a forgiving sympathy in the hearts of mankind. I take the liberty of translating the vernacular of the Celtic dialect found in the poems of the Bard into plain English, which has never before been done, and endeavor to retain his intention and sense, at the technical expense of the rhyme. This contribution to literature is a rambling, truthful, eloquent lecture upon the salient points in the personal and poetical life of Burns. J. A. J. |