Halloween Poem was written by Scottish pride Robert Burns in 1785.
Background
The poem appeared in the Kilmarnock Edition in 1786. With twenty-eight stanzas, it is one of Burns’ longest works and combines Scots and English. In 1780, the Dumfries-born poet John Mayne, a relatively unknown disciple of the Scottish Muses, sought to write a poem on Halloween.
The poem has twelve stanzas that mention Halloween pranks- “What fearfu’ pranks ensue!” as well as the night-time paranormal, “Bogies” (ghosts).
An Edinburgh-based publisher called Walter Ruddiman published the poem in a weekly magazine in the November of 1780. Burns’ apparent communication with Mayne’s work and utilization of some of his imageries suggests that the Ayrshire poet was aware of and affected by the composition.
According to Burns’ “Halloween” is believed to be a night when witches, devils, and other trouble-making entities are all abroad on their baneful nocturnal missions.
Halloween Poem Context
The Scottish poet and singer Robert Burns is known as the “Bard of Scotland”. Among his numerous poems and songs, including Address to a Haggis, Auld Lang Syne, A Red, Red Rose, Tam O Shanter, and most significantly for this came “Halloween” which has been penned in 1785. Early on Burns developed a keen interest in folktales and folklore, which had a significant impact on his writing. Written in both English and Scotts, “Halloween” came to be known as one of Burns’ longest poems at 252 lines.
The poem explores both everyday folk customs and rural life such as cutting an apple and winnowing corn and the paranormal which are the presence of witches and fairies.
He was influenced by Robert Fergusson’s Hallow-Fair; John Mayne’s ballad on Halloween and common Scottish folklore that said witches and other troublemakers would be out and about on Halloween. He switches between the voices of twenty different narrators in Halloween, and he includes footnotes with explanations to guide readers through this poem of enjoyment and camaraderie. Here are the opening and closing verses.
The first examines Halloween night when fairies play on the rocky green hills of the former seat of the Earls of Cassills; the last recalls the fun of celebrating the holiday, if you know to truly enjoy it, with strunt whiskey, cooked oats with butter instead of milk, to party merrily until dawn.
Halloween Poem Analysis
Halloween by Robert Burns was in many respects a sidelong look at the customs, superstitions, and traditions of Ayrshire boy and farmer’s son in a Christian community in rural Scotland in 1785.
“Some merry friendly country folks
Together they convene,
To burn their nits and pon their stocks,
And haud their Halloween.”
A lot of revelations can be done about a person by examining the sort of life a person had in their lives. And his poem demonstrated that the little animals had no regard for social standing. Each nit has the name of a young man or woman, and nits that burn together foretell their continued union. The courtship will likely be intense and end in failure if the nits start and jump from one another.
“The auld guidwife’s weel-hoordit nits
And round and round divided,
And many lads’ and lasses’ fates,
Are that night decided.”
But the pulling of the kale is the earliest Halloween ceremony. Partners going hands-in-hand should go with their eyes closed and pull the first kail they come in contact with. It does not matter if it is large or small, or straight or crooked, but it will presage their future husband or wife. It is customary that the runts of kail crop shall be placed on the top of the door
And the visitors will be given the privilege of placing them, thus implying whose runt is in question and who will meet their match.
“Then first foremost through the kail,
Their stocks maun a’ be saught ance,
They stuck their een, and graip and wale,
For muckle anes and straight anes,
Poor hav’rel Will fell aff the drift,
And wander’d through the bow-kail,
And pou’t for want o’ better shift,
A runt was like a sow-tail,
Sae bow’t that night.”
Of course, you can learn a lot from the corn or oats of a man or maid. They can choose one of three, and each will reveal the nature of courtship and whether the maid must continue to be made or unmade.
“The lasses staw frae among them a
to pou their stalks of corn”
The hempseed magic is an invocation that manifests the future love interest physically or in the mind.
“Hempseed, I saw thee, hempseed, I saw thee; and him (or her), that is to be my true love, come after me and pou thee”.
This is done by stitching hempseed and harrowing it behind you. The spell’s creator will spot their true love by looking over their left shoulder.
“He got hempseed I mind it weel,
And he made unco’ light o’t;
But many a day was by himself,
He was sae sairly frighted,
That very night.”
“Then up get fetchin’ Jamie Fleck
And he swore by his conscience
That he could saw hemp seek a peek
For it was a’ but nonsense”
“…He roared a horrid murder-shout
In dreadfu’ desperation
And young and auld came runnin’ out
To hear the sad narration:
He swore ‘twas hilchin Jean McCraw
Or crouchie Merran Humphie”
Similar to how winnowing corn can indicate future events. One person must perform this charm. In order to avoid being trapped inside the barn with evil spirits that could harm you, open to cabinet doors and remove them from the hinges if at all possible. Take a wecht, the device for winnowing maize, and perform the ceremony of tossing the grain into the air and allowing the wind to pass through it.
The action has to be repeated three times and on the third time, an apparition will pass the barn through one door and enter through the other. The third time, a phantom will exit the barn through one door and enter through the other. The individual casting the charm will be able to predict his or her future fortunes in life from its appearance or retinue.
“Meg fain wad to the barn hae gaen,
To win three wechts of naething;
But for to meet the deil her lane,
She puts but little faith in
… A ratton rustled up the wa’,
And she cried Lord preserve her!
And ran through midden hole and a’,
And prayed with zeal and fervour,
Fu’ fast that night.”
A similar spell included stacking crops and shaping them in a specific way so that, in the final effort, the invoker would once more catch his future partner yoked to him in his arms.
“They hoy’t out Will, wi’ sair advice;
The hecht him some fine braw ane;
He chance’d the stack he faddom’t thrice,
Was timmer-propt for thrawin’ ”
The components of fire and water are used in other spells. A south-flowing creek is where “the wanton widow Leezie” is seen dipping her left shirt sleeve. That evening, she dries the damp sleeve over the fire. Midnight will bring the appearance of her future sweetheart or object of want, which will turn the sleeve to dry the other side of the garment.
“She through the whinns and by the cairns,
And owre the hill gaed scrievin,
Where three lairds land meet at burn,
To dip her left sark sleeve in
Was bent that night”
Burns makes fun of poor auld Uncle John in a couple of stanzas. Poor old Uncle John, who is probably around thirty years old, gets the last laugh, I suppose. Three buckets, which stand for three potential outcomes, are used to create a charm. He or she is escorted to the hearth while wearing a blindfold, and after that, they intended to dip their hands into one of the buckets that are set out in front of them.
If he chooses clean water, then his bride ought to be a virgin when they get married. She is probably a widow because the water is dirty. He will stay single if he dips his hand into the empty bucket.
“In order, on the clean hearth-stane,
The luggies three are arranged
And every time great care is ta’en
To see them duly changed:
And Uncle John, wha wedlock’s joys
Sin’ Mar’s year did desire
Because he gat the toom’s dish thrice
He heaved them on the fire
In wrath that night”
For farmers and Christians, Halloween was a bit of fun so they took it seriously, and by looking over the left of their shoulders, they waited for the devil to appear. The rituals included casting spells, summoning ghosts, and making future predictions.
Halloween Poem Theme
It barely discusses the paranormal but quickly celebrates the average person along with the straightforward country lifestyle such as the activities like harvesting apples and removing the chaff from the wheat. It is complicated poetry that switches between the actions of numerous individuals. But the beginning and the end are simple enough to understand.
Burns makes a lighthearted suggestion about the otherworldly in just one verse. He starts, “On that night when the fairies illuminate”. He skillfully creates the atmosphere for both a conventionally terrifying one like this
“Beneath the moon’s pale beams”
and a cheerful fantastical adventure “as the faeries set off “to the sport that night”, one that swiftly transforms from the fantastical to the ordinary.
It appears that the general people enjoy playing upbeat sports and singing happy music. Robert Burns adds fine food and drink to the celebration-more for the men and women and less for the faeries in the poem. “Buttered scones” that “set all their lips a “stirring” are served as the poem’s desert.
There isn’t any mourning for the deceased or overt religiosity present here. The event is a celebration of life, and not of death, party nor of pleading, fun nor of fear, and lastly, not gravestones but hormones.
“An’ mony lads an’ lasses’ fates
are there that night decided”
Simply enjoying life for the sake of enjoying life’s wealth along with its earthly pleasures is the satisfaction that comes with being a human for that woman or common man.
Is it possible to make a direct connection between current Halloween customs and the poem? The answer is no.
The holiday was shaped by the influence of the other British Isles as well as the distinctively Catholic contributions made by immigrants to America in the 19th century. As we know it that the mix of components that make up Halloween are costumes, sweets, and dreaded movies.
The first author in literary history to create a work of considerable worth that takes All Hallow’s Eve and explores that unique celebration area between the supernatural and natural worlds can be credited as a Scots poet. In essence, the poem is a real Halloween party.
FAQs
What do you say on Robert Burns Day?
Although there isn’t any official Burns Night greeting, it is customary for people to wish each other “Slainte Mhath (Good Health!) and has the pronunciation “slanj-uh va”.
Who is a famous Halloween poet?
Some of the famous Halloween poets include the rhyming tales by Christina Rossetti, Edgar Allan Poe and Thomas Moore are excellent for sending shivers down campers’ spines. Some of the poetry’s most notorious witches include Sexton’s “Lonely thing, twelve feet, out of mind” and Shakespeare’s singing charmers.
Can a poem be scary?
The spooky poetry demonstrates that poetry need not be childish and may be applied in a variety of contexts, just like any other creative medium. The employment of poetry in this instance results in the creation of ominous, unsettling tales, and situations, none of which are in the least bit enjoyable.
What is a gothic poem?
Any poem with ominous, frightful overtones is broadly referred to as “gothic poetry”.
Who are the gothic poets?
Christina Rossetti and Edgar Allen Poe are the two poets who are considered to be gothic. Gothic poetry is frequently used by poets to portray intense emotional pains, inner conflicts, unrequited love, or the desire to live a non-conventional life.
Who wrote the poem the apparition?
John Donne’s poem “The Apparition” is one of those lyrics that exhibit the poet’s sardonic, angry and vicious tone. He was heartbroken since his beloved had scornfully rejected his advances on the grounds of her virginity.