Robert Burns Flashcards
showy; ostentatious
tinsel
persons of high rank or office
dignities
John Steinbeck adopted this phrase for the title of his 1937 novella
o’ mice an’ men
a nobleman, ranking above a count and below a duke
marquis
to conceal; to shrud; to hide
obscure
means “old times” or “days gone by”; a Scots poem set to the tune of a traditional folk song. Following “Happy Birthday,” it is the second most popular song in the world.
“Auld Lang Syne”
archaic word for travel
fare
often
aft
Scottish word for go; proceed
gang
apart
asunder
four-line stanzas with alternating iambic tetrameter (lines 1 and 3) and iambic trimeter (lines 2 and 4), and with second and fourth lines rhyming: ABCB
ballad meter
“And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught.”
And we will take a goodwill draught (of ale)
bear the gree
take the prize
deliberate exaggeration used for effect; usually accomplished through comparisons such as similes, metaphors, etc.
hyperbole
“We twa hae run about the braes
And pu’d the gowans fine”
“We two have run about the hills
And pulled the fine daisies”
His love is like a red rose that is newly sprung in June. His love is like a melody that is sweetly played in tune!
the similes the speaker uses in the first stanza.
“Now green’s the sod, and cauld’s the clay
That wraps my …”
Highland Mary
stealing an ear of corn
the mouse’s crime
where the last bittersweet meeting between the two lovers takes place
near the castle o’ Montgomery in the summer
the speaker traveling ten thousand miles to see her again
hyperbole
“fell Death’s untimely frost,
That nipt my Flower sae early!”
figurative language in “Highland Mary”
why he’s apologetic to the mouse
He has destroyed his home.
usually sung in pubs and bars
“Auld Lang Syne”
why the mouse is more fortunate than he
She only has to worry about her instinct and present situation
how long will the speaker love his bonnie lass
“Till a’ the seas gang dry”; “And the rocks melt wi’ the sun.”
who the speaker is probably addressing in the poem
an old childhood friend
“Should auld acquaintance be forgot?”
We should not forget old friends!
“A Man’s a Man for a’ That”
The poor man should not hang his head because he is poor. If he has character, dignity, honesty, goodness, and an independent mind, he is better than the ostentatious man of wealth and position.
“While the sands o’ life shall run”
metaphor in “A Red, Red Rose”
“bonnie”
Scottish word meaning “pretty, attractive”
