Burns: Dialect as a Crutch for Oversimplicity?

After reading Robert Burns’ glowing introduction, I was eager to turn the page and delve into the “divinity” that is his work. Though too simple and “sing-songy” to impress me through craft, I did enjoy Burns’ poems, namely “Robert Bruce’s March to Bannockburn.” The premise of the poem is nothing novel—a leader rallies his troops through appeals to patriotism and love of liberty. Nonetheless, I finished the poem feeling surprisingly involved with Robert Bruce’s mission. Burns achieves this sense of camaraderie in his reader through the strength of his speaker’s voice and diction.

Beginning with diction, Bruce’s incorporation and sometimes juxtaposition of powerful words such as gory, victorie, chains, slaverie, traitor, coward, oppression, and Usurper allows him to appeal to his reader’s pathos. Patriotism is easily stirred by the image of “sons in servile chains.” Burns’ command of this tactic is unique; however, I cannot help but deny him credit for the formulation of such convincing voice from the speaker. Although it is his mastery and tactful employment of Scottish dialect that allows the reader to feel so included in the scheme, it is still only the device itself—not something that Burns creates and polishes on his own. Overall, the most successful aspect of this poem is the voice—Scottish dialect NOT invented by Burns.