Sensibility And Subversiveness In Robert Burns's ＂The Twa Dogs, A Tale＂

Abstract

Robert Burns (1759-1796), the national poet of Scotland, is also known as ＂the ploughman poet＂, ＂the people's poet＂, ＂a man for all seasons＂, and ＂the natural＂ poet. Many of his works, especially his best poems such as the satires and epistles, are written in the tradition of the Scottish vernacular, on nature, love, patriotism, and peasant life, with rich social, political, and literary flavors. This paper discusses the sensibility and subversiveness of Robert Burns's － ＂The Twa Dogs＂, A Tale, a poem representative of his egalitarian sympathy toward the lower classes and the suffering poor, and his democratic ideals and hostility toward the aristocracy, social class divisions, and human inequality in general.