Blog Post #9

I think I like Burns's poetry. I especially liked the first bunch: "Mary Morison," "To a Mouse," and "Address to the Deil." I had already read "To a Mouse," but I liked it better this time since I know more about its Scottish context. "Address to the Deil" was interesting because it appears that Burns chose to see the Devil from the same perspective as Milton. It seems to end on a sympathetic note, suggesting that even the Devil deserves some pity. On the whole, I would rate his poems as very easy to read, and I think I may have understood some of them. It's very hard to get to the true meaning of poetry, and I'm sure I missed some of the fine points, but I enjoyed this. I didn't like "Holy Willie's Prayer" quite as much because it seems to be as much a prayer for revenge and the desired smiting of Hamilton as for praise and gratitude. The poem (or song?) from "Love and Liberty" was very confusing to me and I had no idea what Burns was trying to say. Also, "To a Haggis" was very foggy...I would hazard a guess that it has something to do with Scottish nationalism, but I'm not at all certain.