Robert Burns

Born in Alloway, Ayrshire, on January 25, 1759, he grew up in a farming family and drew deeply on rural life in Scotland. Writing in both Scots and English, he became famous for poems and songs that mixed wit, tenderness, political feeling, and a strong sense of common humanity.

His first major collection, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, appeared in 1786 and quickly brought him wide attention. Among his best-known works are To a Mouse, Tam o’ Shanter, and Auld Lang Syne, and his reputation as Scotland’s national poet has only grown since his death in Dumfries on July 21, 1796.

What keeps his work alive is how direct it feels: he could be funny, fierce, romantic, and plainspoken all at once. Even readers coming to him for the first time can hear a living voice behind the lines.