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Description: | On a weary winter's evening, Burns looks back on a life wasted, including by his 'blethers ...... in rhyme', but just as he is about to abandon poetry forever, a Scottish Muse comes to him, providing visions of Scotland and its heroes, inspiring him to carry on.
Burns worked hard and long throughout his life, producing his huge output of poems and songs between farming and later excise duties. 'The Vision' clearly evokes this contrast between the hardship of his life and the breadth of his inspiration.
Burns continues his roll call of the noble families of Ayrshire, many of whom were well known to him - the Montgomeries of Coilsfield march past, with, here, an additional verse on Hugh Montgomerie. The 'aged Judge' is Sir Thomas Miller of Barskimming, Lord Justice Clerk. The poem continues with verses found only in this manuscript, referring to Auchinleck, home of Alexander Boswell and the home of the Whitefords, Ballochmyle. Continuing the same theme, the final two pages of Duan first are missing, containing nine verses, seven of which do not exist in any other manuscript. | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0 | Publisher: | Burns Monument Trust | Temporal: | 1786-01-01 - 1786-12-31 | Source: | Burns Scotland | Identifier: | The Stair Manuscript, a collection of 8 | Go to resource |
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