The Complete Poems and Songs of Robert Burns

This is a lovely volume. The dust cover design echoed on the gloss boards beneath. The pages thin but need to be to contain so many words! This mans collection of works is immense! Not only immense, but each a rare treat. I bought this only out of interest. I was curious as to what made this man such a Sottish icon. I did not have to read but a few verses to find the answer. Written in the Scottish dialect, and from a different era, many a word and phrase is lost on first reading, but somehow the meaning of the phrase still comes across. For those needing to fully understand each word, there is a concise glossary, although you will find yourself stopping every other line! Sometimes it is better to enjoy the musical flow of the words rather than their exact meaning, but the choose is there. One of the main things I found out about Burns on reading his works, and I was surprised by it, is that he had a wicked, wry and often naughty sense of humour! The man has had me in tears of laughter! He has also made me homesick for a time and place long gone, and I'm not even Scottish!

A really nice book. It includes well known and not so well known works of Robert Burns. The songs are just the words, no music as such is included..

At £4.79, exceptional value for money! It's not quite complete, because it contains only bowdlerised versions of the bawdier works. I appreciate that some people might prefer that, but the title is slightly misleading.

Although the old Scottish language makes it a difficult read at times, I find that in the main, the reading of the poetry of Robert Burns is very interesting and sometimes even moving. I have always wanted to read the poetry of Burns and I am continuing to do so.

This book is fantastic, the poets full works and very interesting story of his life