The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1900-01-25
Robert Burns.

Il
To-day-January 26th- 10 the
anniversary Of Robert Burns.
The simple recurrence OF this
name, which will make q Scotch.
man smile 10 the third and fourth
generation, suggests that this is
the 18th of January. Exactly al
years ago tonight, while storm
was sweeping over Ayrshire and
tearing away the matched roof
from the scence Of the ssCotter's
Saturday night, THE rattle, the
shrek and howl of the wind with
out, suggestive of such q night as
Tam O'Shanter went abroad
in the greatest natural heart
poet of all ages was born. Not
an uniting prelude to the shad-
owed, troubled and stormy life of
Robert Burns, q name which is
more than any other, that of Scot
land condensed in q personality.
Carlyle, another Scotchman, "a
sort of DR.. johnson, Diogonese
and jeremiah all rolled into one)
says that genius is an immense
capacity for taking on trouble
Burns never wrote q tragedy, but
lived one. Lowland Scotland, as
q distinct nationality, came in
with two warriors and went out
with two bards. William Wallace
and Robert Bruce made the his
tory, Walter Scott and Robert
Burns told the story and sung the
song. And we verify believe,
since sappho loved and sung,
there has been no such national
lyrist as Burns.
Genius, as If it were a divinity,
ever teaches humility. Locke in
Punishment, wrote his illustrious
essay in a Dutch garrett. Milton
in darkness, and with dangers
compassed round sang his immor-
tai song and found fit audiences
but few. Cervantes, q manned
prisoner, on . bed Of straw wrote
his immortal satire. Dante wan
ders in exile, while Murillo, the
Spanish Raphael, dies in poor
hospital ct Seville. $ Pilgrims
Progress is dreamed in Bedford
| jail, the Deserted Village, in a
London garrett, while Stratford-
on-Avon still owns the humble
homo of the prince Of poets
Genius, finding q poor prentice
boy at the bench and whispering
from the clouds her secret, wrote
the name of Franklin in letters oil
light, giving him TO realize the
fable of Prometheus, which now
binds continents together and en-
ables hemispheres and the isles Of
the sea to whisper to each othe,
every hour Of the day.
i In fancy we are in
ssThe town 81 Ayr, which mono surpasses
For honest men and bonny lasses,''
and stand in the old tavern where
Tam and 6outer Johnnie sssat bous.
ing at the nappy and getting for
and uncou happy and stroll
across the fields he plowed, where
dreamy fancies like cloud cities
hung abouthi where the aurora
light of first love- was gliding
. his horizon, with the music Of song
on his path he walked in glory and
in joy behind his pillow, we fee
the magic of his power and re-
: member his own utterance of him,
self: !" The poetic genius of m,
country found me as Elijah founs
Elisha, at the pillow, and threw he
inspiring mantle over me. Sh'
bade me sing the loves, the joys
the rural scenes and pleasures o
my native soil in my nativ'
tongue" He found that tongu.
. dialect and elevated it to q Ian.
guage. How many Of his line
have become proverbs, with AT
tic point and Spartan brevity, ,
such
) 20 wad some power the giftie gle rs
TO SEQ ourselves % ithers go u.s."