Wunderlich

Robert Burns, a poor man, an educated man, and a ladies man, is representative of Scotland, much like whisky, haggis, bagpipes, and kilts. He lived a life shortened by rheumatic heart disease, 1759-1796, but his life journey through poverty, informal education, disappointed love, nationalism, and literary and financial success can be identified by all Scots and common men the world over. He has become almost a national symbol of all things Scottish. His life is like a love story with a happy ending.

The Poet, Robert Burns

Robert Burnss family raised seven children on sparse, rented farmland on the west coast of Scotland. The family cottage still stands as a proud tourist attraction. The family farm was not successful and the family moved from farm to farm. Life on the farm in western Scotland was harsh and Robert worked long hours with his father.

Burns father recognized the value of education and he managed to hire a local teacher to tutor Robert. He was an extremely bright student, mastering Shakespeare, current poets, French, Latin, philosophy, politics, geography, theology, and mathematics. His father read the Bible during the evenings around the cottage fireplace and Robert became an expert on the Bible and a devout Church member.

Robert Burns wrote his first poem at age 15. The poem was called Handsome Nell and was about his first love for a girl named Nellie Blair. Throughout his life, Burns was a charming and witty man, attracting the attention of numerous women. A dozen or more women can be identified as the inspiration for various poems. Burns wrote many famous love poems, including A Red, Red Rose and One Fond Kiss.

Heres an excerpt from Handsome Nell.

O once I loved a bonnie lass,
Aye, and I love her still;
And whilst that virtue warms my breast,
Ill love my handsome Nell.

Burns, in a later comment on this poem, stated that he had never had the least thought or inclination of turning poet till I got once heartily in love, and then rhyme and song were, in a manner, the spontaneous language of my heart.

The Turning Point

In 1786, at age 27, Robert Burns went through a major turning point in his life. He suffered a disappointing love affair with Jean Armour, who was pregnant with his twin sons. The local community and Armours father were outraged by the affair and her father rejected Burnss offer of marriage.

Dejected and depressed, Burns made plans to leave Scotland and sail to Jamaica in the West Indies. To finance the trip, Burns submitted a volume of his poetry for publication.

The publication of 612 copies in a simple, unbound volume was called Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, also sometimes known as The Kilmarnock Edition. The poems were well received in Edinburgh by socialites who were enchanted by the poems and amazed that a poor farmer could write so well.

So, instead of planning his escape to a new world, Burns planned a trip to Edinburgh. His confident manner, ingratiating style, and his obvious wit and intelligence brought Burns popularity and admiration. Soon, a second publication of his work was executed in Edinburgh.

The Growing Popularity

During his stay in Edinburgh, Robert Burns met printer James Johnson, who planned a project to print all of the folk songs in Scotland. This project enthralled Burns and embarked upon a journey throughout Scotland to collect as many folk songs as possible. Burns collected over 300 songs and wrote a few himself, including A Red, Red Rose.

One of the results of his travels throughout Scotland was that Robert Burns ingratiated himself to everyone he met and he rose to national prominence and popularity.

The collected songs were published by Johnson in six volumes and by George Thomson in a five volume set.

Another happy outcome of this turning point in Robert Burnss life is that he was able to return home and marry his beloved Jean Armour, now with the blessing of her family.

Robert Burns continued to collect and write songs for The Scots Musical Museum, an anthology of traditional Scottish lyrical poems, until his untimely death from rheumatic heart disease in 1796.

Within a few years of his death groups of Robert Burnss friends and fans gathered to promote his memory and to celebrate his life. By 1801, five years after his death, groups met on the anniversary of his death, but later they began to meet on the anniversary of his birth, January 25. Now there are many Burns clubs and societies who celebrate his memory with dinners, including haggis, and readings of his works.

The Poem, A Red, Red Rose

One of the most famous songs that Robert Burns wrote for this project and first published in 1794 was A Red, Red Rose. Burns wrote it as a traditional ballad, four verses of four lines each.

A Red, Red Rose begins with a quatrain containing two similes. Burns compares his love with a springtime blooming rose and then with a sweet melody. These are popular poetic images and this is the stanza most commonly quoted from the poem.

The second and third stanzas become increasingly complex, ending with the metaphor of the sands of life, or hourglass. One the one hand we are given the image of his love lasting until the seas run dry and the rocks melt with the sun, wonderfully poetic images. On the other hand Burns reminds us of the passage of time and the changes that result. That recalls the first stanza and its image of a red rose, newly sprung in June, which we know from experience will change and decay with time. These are complex and competing images, typical of the more mature Robert Burns.

The final stanza wraps up the poems complexity with a farewell and a promise of return.

A Red, Red Rose is written as a ballad with four stanzas of four lines each. Each stanza has alternating lines of four beats, or iambs, and three beats. The first and third lines have four iambs, consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, as in da-dah, da-dah, da-dah, da-dah. The second and fourth lines consist of three iambs. This form of verse is well adapted for singing or recitation and originated in the days when poetry existed in verbal rather than written form.

A Red, Red Rose
by Robert Burns

O my luve's like a red, red rose.
That's newly sprung in June;
O my luve's like a melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will love thee still, my Dear,
Till a'the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my Dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun:
I will luve thee still, my Dear,
While the sands o'life shall run.

And fare thee weel my only Luve!
And fare thee weel a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' it were ten thousand mile!

*****************************

Garry Gamber is a public school teacher and entrepreneur. He writes articles about real estate, health and nutrition, and internet dating services. He is the owner of http://www.Anchorage-Homes.com and http://www.TheDatingAdvisor.com.

When it comes to relationships, most men have a tendency to lose interest awfully quick. Some may start to drift and invest most of their time in other activities (anything that doesnt include you) and sometimes a man will stick around. Youll get to be with him, just minus the spontaneous hugs and kisses. A lot of men view commitment to one woman as dreadful: seeing the same, old girl doing the same, dull, unexciting things. Why not hit him with some new and innovative gestures?

1.Fine, fine like a bottle of wine.

Is it your beloveds birthday? If he enjoys a nice drink every now and then, present him with a bottle of what he likes (Hennessey, Remy Martin, Bacardi, Merlot.) A beverage he and his friends can get toasted off of when they celebrate.

2.The Love Letter.

Express your appreciation for him in a sweet poem or letter. Mention all the little, wonderful things about him that attracts you. Let him know the appealing things about him that he may not have noticed himself. Dont forget to spray it with an intoxicating fragrance.

3.Music makes you lose control.

Burn a CD with all his favorite slow jams on it. Or put him up on certain songs or even a different genre of music that he wouldnt have otherwise listened to. Hell think of you every time he hears it.

4.Hey, Baby, whats your sign?

Hit the bookstore or go online and print out a full and thorough description of his and your zodiac signs. Converse about the traits he has in common with his sign. See if the stars declare that you two are compatible.

5.Make it a Blockbuster night.

Have an all-night-long-movie fest! Sit through all the boring, gory, action-packed movies he loves to watch. Rent a documentary on his favorite actor or sports player.

6.Extreme make-over.

Help him to chill out and relax. Give him a facial. Pluck his brows. Give him a manicure. All your girly beauty secretsgive him the whole treatment. Make him feel like a king!

7.Microsoft PowerPoint.

Make your man a cute little slide show. Design each slide with sweet, endearing words; short little poems; and pictures. You can even add music to it, have it play your favorite song while he views it.

8.Its in the game.

Grab some beers and pick up the other Play Station 2 controller. Let him teach you to play one of his video games that you previously had no interest in.

9.Back to school.

Colleges offer a lot of Continuing Education courses. Sign the two of you up for a single-session lecture at your nearest institution. Creative Writing, Public Speaking, Acting, CPR, etc. Theres an array of interesting classes to choose from and it wont kill your funds.

10.Cook for him!

Swing by the Supermarket and get the ingredients to his favorite meal. Not sure how to make what he likes most? Stick to a dish everybody loves to eat: Lasagna. Spaghetti. Baked Ziti. Hell love it, regardless!

These 10 tips may be simple, but the trick is to develop an element of surprise. Dont mention anything, just bust out with it! The mystery behind the gesture is what intrigues him. Experiment with these ideas and come up with some of your own. The key is to have fun and use your imagination to keep him digging on you. True, a relationship requires a lot of maintenance; however, youve got to keep it fresh and sexy. Be unpredictable and exciting!

As Darius Lovehall states in the movie Love Jones, when couples say that the romance is gone, thats not the case its because theyve exhausted the possibilities.

Shakirah Brown is a Freelance Writer. Her services include Writing, Editing, Proofreading, among many others. For more information, please send an e-mail to Shakirah_Brown@comcast.net

When we men start buying skin care products, we dont look too much in the components and nature of the product in front of us. We just tend glaze over the counter and read general features, such as anti-aging, no more wrinkles, bye bye greasy skin. However there is one of these features that we should be more aware of: organic product.

Organic skin care or natural skin care, refers to the use of all-natural ingredients to take care of our skin. These products are generally made of more than one type of herbs and seeds, that combined are able to bring the same results as a chemical based products. Organic lifestyles and the rediscovery of ancient herbs are making organic skin care increasingly popular in men skin care products, and put chemical based products under the spotlight.

Chemical skin care became popular thanks to its sometimes incredible results in correcting skin problems. And that was the reason they had a higher price too. But as years had passed, medical investigations had shown that some of these components are not safe. Components such as Aliminum, Propulene Glycol and Imidazolidinyl urea, have been proved to be harmful to people. Their effects include links with breast cancer, contact dermatitis, ototoxicity, kidney damage and more. Most of the products with these components have been banned, but there are some that not, even with all the research to back that up. There may be also other components not YET found harmful.

As men we are in contact with a lot of these chemicals, but not as much as a woman. An average woman uses 12 beauty products a day, this adds up 168 chemicals!

However, with all that, we shouldnt rely so blindly in Organic skin care. Organic products are notoriously under-regulated and some of these so called All-natural products use chemicals, and chemical processes to blend the components. Of course not too many people speak loudly about these, and you come to discover the effects by yourself.

The best advice to take is this: Know what you are using. You have to be informed, because it is your skin what we are talking about here. You may think that as a man your skin is tougher, but that is not true. Facial skin is more sensitive in men due to constant bad shaving habits. Do a search on Internet for the ingredients on the product youre about to buy and if possible ask a doctor for advice.

Paolo Basauri, is an expert author who writes for Organic Skin Care for men A site specialized in men skin care information & tips.