導(dǎo)論 Introduction

Robert Burns is arguably the world's best-loved poet and songwriter. With statues of the poet in cities and towns throughout Britain, in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and an annual international celebration of Burns' Night on his birthday, 25 January, his influence reaches far beyond his native Scotland. While it reached its zenith in the nineteenth century, as Burns' Clubs and other societies for Scottish expatriates spread, via emigration and settlement, throughout the British colonies and beyond, it still survives today. Most English-speakers may only know a verse or two of “Auld Lang Syne”, traditionally sung at midnight on New Year's Eve, and perhaps some of his second most famous song, “A Red, Red Rose”, but they still know Robert Burns' name and reputation. In Scotland itself, Burns is a vital part of the representation of Scottishness to the rest of the world. His birthplace and several other locations associated with his life and works are preserved as visitor centres and museums. His image adorns mugs, T-shirts, shortbread tins, and all the paraphernalia associated with “tartanry”, or a clichéd version of Scottishness. Yet his work also continues to be read, to be taught to schoolchildren and students, to attract academic study, and to influence contemporary poets, novelists, singers and songwriters. Indeed, in the twenty-first century, and in particular in relation to recent debates about Scottish independence and the September 2014 independence referendum, Robert Burns' place in Scotland and the wider world is very much a live and sometimes controversial issue.

Burns was born in 1759 in Alloway in Ayrshire, a coastal region in south-west Scotland, the eldest child of William Burns, gardener and tenant farmer, and his wife Agnes Broun; he died 37 years later in Dumfries, in the neighbouring region of Dumfries and Galloway. Other than short periods of travelling and visiting the city, his life was spent in what by our standards is a small geographical area, and he never left the borders of Scotland. He was emphatically and in his own estimation a local poet, writing in his commonplace book in August 1785 that despite the many attractions of Ayrshire:

We have never had one Scotch Poet of any eminence, to make the fertile banks of Irvine, the romantic woodlands and sequestered scenes on Aire. And the heathy, mountainous source and winding sweep of Doon, emulate Tay, Forth, Ettrick, and Tweed. This is a complaint I would gladly remedy, but, Alas! I am far unequal to the task, both in native genius and education.

Here we see Burns imagining what he was about to achieve, in his book of poems published a year later: putting Ayrshire definitively on the map as a subject for literature. When he wrote that he felt himself “unequal” to the task, this is in part false modesty. By this date his poetry was highly esteemed in local circles and he knew his own worth. He was, however, legitimately concerned about his lack of education compared to the poets he admired, such as the highly educated Londoner Alexander Pope, or the Scottish poet and his near-contemporary Robert Fergusson, who died in poverty but had been educated at the prestigious University of St Andrew. Burns' formal schooling, in contrast, had been extremely limited. As the eldest son of a tenant farmer, on farms that were scarcely profitable, he was helping out with hard manual labour in the field and on the farm from the age of 10. Throughout his life, even when literary success gave him other options, Burns worked extremely hard, was always short of money, and struggled to support his family. He understood the difficulty of combining poetry and labour in a way that few previous poets had.

The influential vision of Burns as a “Heaven-taught ploughman”, however, in the famous words of an early review, is more complicated than it might seem. In the late eighteenth century, ideas of “natural” genius and divinely inspired poetry were very fashionable, as what we now call the emergence of Romantic movement in English literature. Burns recognized that the “peasant poet” was a marketable category. By presenting himself as the untaught, rustic farmer, using homely Scots in his poetry and wearing his farmer's boots to exclusive Edinburgh gatherings, he ensured that he and his works seemed exotic and exciting to the higher-class literary readers whose patronage was necessary for success. In fact, Burns' class position was more ambiguous than it might seem. As a tenant farmer, like his father before him, he was not a landowner, but he was an employer of servants rather than a servant himself. He worked the land alongside men and boys whose wages he paid. And although his days were generally filled with hard work, he managed to find the leisure time for a considerable amount of reading and self-education. William Burns had actively promoted the education of his sons, in hiring a tutor, John Murdoch, who stayed in touch with the young Burns and helped to shape his literary tastes, in buying books—expensive luxury goods in this period—to school his sons himself, and in sending them for further instruction whenever they could be spared from farm work. By the time Burns was a teenager he had read erratically but widely and memorized substantial parts of his favourite authors, could write very well in standard English, knew enough French to read French literature, and had learnt practical skills such as surveying and mathematics. A poem such as “Elegy on the Death of Robert Ruisseaux”, for instance, indicates his literary sophistication. “Ruisseaux” is a double pun on his surname: it can be translated as “streams” (a “burn” in Scots is a small stream), but is also a reference to the French writer and philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, especially famous in this period for his theories about “natural” education. Burns can assume that the small circle of readers for this unpublished poem will understand and appreciate such references.

The young Burns, then, was a literary-minded and highly intelligent young man who enjoyed the company of his peers: men who were lawyers, teachers, clerks and farmers like himself. In 1777, when he was 18, his father moved the family to a farm at Lochlea, near Tarbolton. Here Burns came into contact with enough like-minded young men to form a debating (and drinking) society, the Bachelor's Club. Burns also joined the Freemasons, which gave him access to another all-male society involving men of varying social class. His father's legal and financial troubles in disputes with his landlord and his increasing ill health, however, made this a difficult period, and it seems that Burns went through a period of intense depression and self-doubt, probably related to anxiety about his future career, in the early 1780s.

In 1785, after the death of their father, Robert and his brother Gilbert rented and worked on the farm of Mossgiel, near Mauchline, a lively small town. In the succeeding two years, Burns experienced the most turbulent period of his life. His first child was born to a farm servant at Lochlea, Elizabeth Paton, in May 1785. By this time he met his future wife Jean Armour in Mauchline, and by early 1786 she was pregnant with twins and Burns was being pursued by the church authorities for fornication and by her angry father, opposed to his daughter's possible marriage to a young man with a very doubtful reputation. Disillusioned with Jean, Burns also became involved with “Highland Mary” (Margaret Campbell) in the spring of 1786. Throughout spring, summer, and autumn of that year, he seriously considered emigration to Jamaica (possibly with Campbell, who died unexpectedly in October 1786) to take up a post on the sugar plantations, repeatedly stating that he had booked passage on a ship, and then failing to take it up. It is not surprising that he was interested in fleeing his tangled affairs. His life, however, was about to change dramatically. For during the same brief period, from summer 1785 to summer 1786, he had written an astonishing series of poems in the Scots language, including many of his most admired works, and on 31 July 1786,Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect was published by a local printer at Kilmarnock.

The poems and songs included inPoems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect are self-conscious, playful, political and very aware of their relationships to literary tradition. Burns chose to open the collection with “The Twa Dogs”, a dialect poem in which two animals reflect upon the habits of their respective masters, a working man and a member of the upper classes. As the first poem in the collection, it immediately highlights Burns' politics in his satirical take on upper-class attitudes and his defence of working men and women. Caesar, the higher-class dog, marvels that:

Lord man, our gentry care as little

For delvers, ditchers, an' sic cattle;

They gang as saucy by poor folk,

As I wad by a stinkan brock.

By comparing working men to “cattle”, and to a “stinkan brock” (a badger), Caesar highlights the unfeeling brutality of the upper classes to whom workers are no more than animals. This opening poem also highlights Burns' superb use of Scots. He was fluent in two languages, Scots dialect and standard English, switching with ease between the two to prove a point. In “The Twa Dogs”, for example, the lower-class Luath speaks in stronger dialect than his better-bred companion. By following this initial salvo with two poems celebrating Scotch whisky and lamenting English laws and taxes on it, and then by following this with a highly satirical account of a religious gathering in Ayrshire, “The Holy Fair”, Burns declared himself as an outspoken, liberal man of the world, and a Scotsman unafraid of criticizing the British government and the Church and determined to expose hypocrisy and tyranny wherever he found them.

When Caesar suggests that the gentry view the poor as cattle, the implication is that they are seen as naturally less intelligent and able than the upper classes. This is the attitude that Burns most strongly satirizes. His poems repeatedly make the case that oppression is man-made: social relations are constructed rather than being part of a natural order determined by God. This is also the theme of Burns' other characteristic deployments of creatures and flowers to satirize and comment on human attitudes, most notably in his famous “To a Mouse”, but also in “To a Louse, on Seeing One on a Lady's Bonnet at Church”, “To a Mountain-Daisy” and in one of his earliest poems, “Poor Mailie's Elegy”. Through his comments on small creatures and flowers usually ignored by the humans above them, Burns draws attention to differing kinds of inequality, and presents his readers with a new perspective on the world. Like the fashionable young woman in “To a Louse”, giving herself airs without realizing that a small verminous creature is making its way to the top of her best Sunday hat, Burns' readers need “to see oursels as others see us”, a power which his poetry helps to provide.

Above all,Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect is a collection about poetry itself, and about Burns' status as a labouring-class poet. In one of the most ambitious poems in the collection, “A Vision”, the scene opens with the poet, after a busy day in the fields, regretting his wasted time spent on poetry:

All in this mottie, misty clime,

I backward mus'd on wasted time,

How I had spent my youthfu' prime,

An' done nae-thing,

But stringing blethers up in rhyme

For fools to sing. (lines 19-24)

As he despairs, however, a woman enters, and Burns recognizes her as “some SCOTTISH MUSE”, in fact a Muse local to Ayrshire, Coila. In a characteristic move, rather than being awestruck by this visitation, Burns is struck instead by his visitor's attractive legs, “Sae straught, sae taper, tight and clean” (l.65). This “native Muse” lectures Burns on the Scottish literary tradition and on his future as a rustic, local bard, encouraging him to persevere despite his lowliness:

“Yet all beneath th'unrivall'd Rose,

The lowly Daisy sweetly blows;

Tho' large the forest's Monarch throws

His army shade,

Yet green the juicy Hawthorn grows,

A down the glade.” (lines 205-210)

Her words here repeat the standard eighteenth and nineteenth-century view of the labouring class poet, who should be modest, humble, and valuable within given limitations. But the readers, aware of Burns' lustful gaze at Coila earlier in the poem, might wonder about the extent to which he necessarily agrees with (or is paying attention to) this rousing speech. “The Vision” is both a bold claim for Burns' status as the anointed inheritor of a Scottish tradition—shown in the characteristic form of the traditional “habbie stanza” (with aaabab rhymes and two short lines on the b rhymes) here—and a slightly sardonic take on tradition. As in many of Burns' best poems, “The Vision” is simultaneously sincere and tongue-in-cheek.

Burns' collection was an instant success, and its reputation quickly spread beyond those who were already personally familiar with Burns and might have encountered his poems through local manuscript circulation. By November 1786 Burns was already planning a second, expanded edition, which was published in Edinburgh in spring 1787 with over 1300 individual subscribers. Plans of emigrating were shelved as Burns enjoyed his new-found literary reputation. He visited Edinburgh for the first time and attracted new, higher-class patrons, friends and acquaintances, including many of the best-known figures of his day. He toured parts of Scotland and began his famous correspondence with “Clarinda”, Mrs Agnes McLehose (typically of Burns, professing his undying love to a higher-class woman while also engaged in a sexual affair with her servant), and he renewed his involvement with Jean Armour (and others). In April 1788, shortly after Jean had given birth to a second set of short-lived twins fathered by Burns, he and Jean married. Seemingly ready to settle down, Burns moved his new family to a farm at Ellisland in Dumfriesshire and, helped by his patrons, began a new career as an Exciseman, a government employee collecting taxes on goods and policing smuggling along the coast.

Most importantly for Burns' later poetic career, it was during his visit to Edinburgh that Burns made the acquaintance of James Johnson, who solicited him to collect songs for his anthology, theScots Musical Museum. Burns had always been interested in Scottish song. His mother was a notable singer, and part of his attraction to his wife Jean was her sweet voice. Working as a collector and contributor for Johnson and then George Thomson, over 120 of his songs were published in theScots Musical Museum (issued 1787-1803) and in George Thomson'sSelect Collection of Original Scottish Airs (1793-1846). As was standard in this period, Burns did not simply record lyrics and tunes provided by others. He also improved existing songs and produced new lyrics for old tunes, shaping the tradition as much as preserving it, and contributing significantly to the popularity of Scottish song in this period. Most of the songs attributed to Burns are a hybrid combination of familiar tunes and lyrics, known through oral circulation, and new lyrics added by Burns himself. In many cases, moreover, Burns deliberately chose to represent a new song that he had composed himself as part of an older tradition.

The majority of Burns' songs deal with love and courtship, with relationships between men and women. Romantic love and sexual desire had loomed large in Burns' life and his poetry, and he celebrated both as natural impulses, irrespective of what the Church and state might say about them. Alongside his published songs run the more explicitly sexual versions of these songs and others, unpublished in Burns' lifetime but circulated among his male friends and drinking companions. Love and sex, in Burns' versions of Scottish folk songs, promise moments of profound happiness and a refuge and escape from the hardships of working life. In his famous song to the tune “Corn rigs are bonie”, the speaker spends one night with his lover in the cornfield, and concludes, looking back:

But a' the pleasures ere I saw

Tho' three times doubled fairly

That happy night was worth them a'

Amang the rigs o'barley.

As is characteristic of Burns' songs, this combines pleasure in a familiar pastoral scene (the field after harvest) with the joys of love. While many of Burns' poems beautifully lament the sorrows of love, such as “Ye banks and braes of bonnie Doon” and “Ae fond kiss”, they unite in this celebration of love and sexuality as the best that life has to offer.

Burns knew, however, that in the highly religious and largely conservative society of late eighteenth-century Scotland, such celebrations came with a price. He also knew that the price was often paid by women. In his own romantic entanglements and especially in his poems and letters, Burns represented himself as a “rake”, charming and attractive, but unlikely to keep his promises to women and extremely unlikely to remain faithful to one. In “The Rantin' Dog, the Daddie O't”, for instance, a female speaker seems to wish for “Rob”, the “rantin' dog” of the poem, to acknowledge himself as the father of her child:

O wha my babie-clouts will buy?

O wha will tent me when I cry?

Wha will kiss me where I lie?

The rantin' dog, the daddie o't.

The poem moves from a need for financial support (to buy clothes for the baby) to a desire for emotional support. What it does not express, however, is any regret for a presumably illegitimate pregnancy, even though sex outside marriage was considered a sin by the Church and could easily lead (as it had in Jean Armour's case) to estrangement from family and community. In a period in which women, by any measure, suffered from acute legal and social discrimination in relation to questions of sexuality, marriage and childbearing, it is interesting that Burns' lyrics spoken from a female perspective tend to show women as knowing and active participants in the business of love. The speaker of “I'm O'er Young to Marry Yet” presents herself as too young and naive for sex, “And lying in a man's bed, / I'm fley'd it make me eerie, Sir.” The listener assumes that the young girl is resisting the advances of a more experienced man. But in the final stanza, she suggests “But if ye come this gate again, / I'll aulder be gin simmer, Sir,” showing that her position is carefully calculated and, in part, conscious flirtation. Burns' women are not shy about their desires. In one of his most famous lyrics, “O Whistle An' I'll Come To Ye, My Lad”, the female speaker is determined and proactive, boldly inviting her lover to visit her and directing a clandestine courtship:

But warily tent when ye come to court e,

And come nae unless the back-yett be a-jee;

Syne up the back-stile, and let naebody see,

And come as ye were na comin' to me.

Women generally emerge well as the speakers (or singers) of Burns' songs: they are faithful, loyal, and determined, as well as being desirable, and their voices are highly valued.

If love is the main subject of Burns' songs, it is important to note that love and politics often go together, as female speakers celebrate Jacobite heroes in “Charlie is my Darling” and elsewhere. The Jacobite movement, which sought to return the Catholic Stuart kings (particularly the “Young Pretender”, Charles James Stuart) to the throne, and lost decisively in the disastrous battle of Culloden in 1745, was predominately a Scottish movement and had been particularly strongly supported by the Highlands. By the 1790s, nostalgia for the Jacobite cause could supply a means to indicate dissatisfaction with the current political establishment and an attitude generally supportive of revolutionary change. In presenting songs he had written or substantively altered as traditional Jacobite songs, anonymously authored, Burns could express political sentiments that would have been seen as dangerously radical if they related to present-day events. The poems “Highland Laddie” and “Highland Harry”, for instance, both present female speakers whose Highland lovers are fighting or about to fight for the Jacobite cause, “for freedom and my King.” In “Highland Harry”, the speaker concludes:

O, were some villains hangit high,

And ilka body had their ain,

Then I might see the joyfu' sight,

My Highland Harry back again!

Printed in 1790, in a revolutionary period when the British government was deeply paranoid about events in France, the wish that “ilka body had their ain” sounds suspiciously like a plea for equal rights. Burns' Jacobite songs are ambiguous about whether the villainy described is safely located in the past. They are also radical to some degree simply in their sympathetic portrayal of Highlanders, who had been subject to deeply negative stereotyping in the late nineteenth century; one of Burns' unpublished poems, “Epistle to the President of the Highland Society”, was a fierce defence of the Highlanders' rights.

These song collections increasingly occupied Burns' poetic impulse in his years in Dumfries, though he also produced enough new poems and original songs for a revised 2 volume edition ofPoems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, in 1793. The late 1780s and 1790s, as Burns coped with a rapidly growing family (four legitimate and at least two illegitimate children), an unprofitable farm, and a demanding new job, were difficult but exciting times. Burns eagerly followed news about the French Revolution of 1789 and its consequences. Given that he worked in a government position, he had to be careful about expressing political opinions, but his broad sympathy for the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity shine through in letters and writings from this period. In the early 1790s, he was confident enough of his rising career in the Excise to give up farming and move to the town of Dumfries. As he progressed in the Excise, however, his health declined. During 1795 he fell seriously ill, never fully recovering, and in July 1796 he died, probably of rheumatic fever.

Burns' life was relatively short. It was, however, packed with drama in his many friendships and courtships, and lived in the knowledge that the last decades of the eighteenth century were exciting and turbulent times in Europe, America and the wider world. Far from being a remote or isolated region, Burns' part of Scotland was linked through trade and commerce to the wider world and heavily invested in international affairs. Better than any other writer of his period, Burns represents this negotiation between a local and global Scotland, between seemingly petty provincial matters and wider literary, philosophical and political concerns, between old and new.

Both poems and songs display his great gift at moving seamlessly between satire and sincerity, cynicism and heartfelt emotion, trenchant social commentary and idealism. In the brilliant combinations of lyric and tune in his songs, and the use of memorable and familiar verse forms in his poems, many of his poems and songs quickly became staples of the Scottish literary and folksong tradition. From the moment of his death, Burns became a canonical writer, and biographical and literary interest in his life and works only continued to grow in the succeeding century.

Burns' use of Scots, and indeed, his involvement in collecting and preserving the musical traditions of Scotland, indicated his national loyalty. By choosing particular kinds of language, rather than the standard English of some of his other poems and songs, he could declare his pride in Scottish identity and promote the language spoken by working people. Poems such as the famous “Scots Wha Hae” have been widely adopted, after Burns' death, as the ultimate statements of Scottish nationalism. This misrepresents the case: nationalism in the twentieth and twenty-first century sense was not available to Burns. Love and respect for his native land, for its natural beauty, its history and culture, are, however, characteristic of all his poems. He never allows the reader or listener to forget that he is a distinctively Scottish poet. Yet while his songs speak of and about Scotland, usually in Scots, their themes of love and loss, of memory and nostalgia, give them a wider appeal. It is to be hoped that the extensive translations presented here, many for the first time in Chinese, will broaden this appeal still more, and find a new and expanded audience for Burns' songs in China.

Professor Kirstie Blair

University of Stirling

October 2015

Selected bibliography

Burns, R. (1985).The Letters of Robert Burns. J. De Lancey Ferguson & G. Ross Roy (eds.), 2nd edn, 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Burns, R. (2014). Selected Poems and Songs. In Robert P. Irvine. (ed.).Oxford World's Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Carruthers, G. (2006).Robert Burns. Writers and Their Work. Tavistock: Northcote House.

Crawford, R. (ed.). (1997).Robert Burns and Cultural Authority. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Crawford, R. (2009).The Bard: Robert Burns, A Biography. London: Jonathan Cape.

Simpson, K. (ed.). (1997).Love and Liberty: Robert Burns, a Bicentenary Celebration. East Linton: Tuckwell Press.

羅伯特·彭斯是世界上無(wú)可爭(zhēng)議的最受讀者喜愛(ài)的詩(shī)人和歌詞作家。彭斯的雕像遍布英國(guó)的城市和鄉(xiāng)村，在美國(guó)、加拿大、澳大利亞、新西蘭也塑有彭斯的雕像；一年一度的彭斯之夜在每年的1月25日，即彭斯誕辰日當(dāng)天舉辦，而其影響力遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超出詩(shī)人的家鄉(xiāng)蘇格蘭。彭斯俱樂(lè)部，還有其他一些蘇格蘭社會(huì)團(tuán)體（蘇格蘭僑民通過(guò)移民定居將此類(lèi)社交團(tuán)體傳入幾乎整個(gè)英國(guó)殖民地地區(qū)），雖達(dá)到頂峰時(shí)期是在19世紀(jì)，但至今仍舊存在。大多數(shù)英語(yǔ)國(guó)家的人即使只了解一兩首像《過(guò)去的好時(shí)光》（通常在圣誕夜演唱），或《一朵紅紅的玫瑰》這樣耳熟能詳?shù)母枨麄內(nèi)匀恢懒_伯特·彭斯和他的盛譽(yù)。在蘇格蘭，對(duì)全世界而言，彭斯本身就是代表蘇格蘭身份的至關(guān)重要的一部分。詩(shī)人出生地和其他幾個(gè)與詩(shī)人生活或作品創(chuàng)作相關(guān)的場(chǎng)所都留存下來(lái)，現(xiàn)作為游客中心和博物館供游人參觀。和印有“格子花呢”的所有物品一樣，印有彭斯像的裝飾杯、T恤、酥餅罐，都成為蘇格蘭的傳統(tǒng)標(biāo)志。直到現(xiàn)在，他的作品仍舊被人們傳頌，作為教材入選中小學(xué)課本，吸引學(xué)術(shù)界紛紛對(duì)其進(jìn)行研究，影響了眾多當(dāng)代詩(shī)人、小說(shuō)家、歌手和詞曲作家。事實(shí)上，在21世紀(jì)，尤其是最近有關(guān)蘇格蘭獨(dú)立的爭(zhēng)論和2014年9月獨(dú)立公投事件上，羅伯特·彭斯在蘇格蘭以及全世界的地位問(wèn)題成為很熱門(mén)甚至是有爭(zhēng)議的話(huà)題。

1795年，彭斯出生于艾爾郡的阿洛韋，位于蘇格蘭西南部的沿海地區(qū)。彭斯是家中長(zhǎng)子。他的父親威廉·彭斯是一名園藝工、佃農(nóng)。他的母親是艾格尼絲·布龍。37年后彭斯在鄰近敦夫里斯郡和加洛韋的地方去世。除了短暫的旅行和游歷城市外，他的生活在我們看來(lái)就是圍繞在一個(gè)小的區(qū)域內(nèi)，從未離開(kāi)過(guò)蘇格蘭。彭斯認(rèn)為并且強(qiáng)調(diào)自己就是一名本土詩(shī)人，在1785年8月他的一本摘錄簿中，他寫(xiě)道，盡管艾爾郡有許多景點(diǎn)：

我們從未有過(guò)一名卓越的蘇格蘭詩(shī)人來(lái)描寫(xiě)歐文河兩岸肥沃的土壤、浪漫的林地和幽靜的亞耳河。健美的高山和蜿蜒的杜恩河足以和泰河、福思河和埃特里克的粗花呢相媲美。若這是一種疾病，我愿意來(lái)治療它。但是，唉！我真是難以勝任這工作。我不是什么天才，也沒(méi)受過(guò)良好的教育。

在這里我們看到彭斯想象他即將實(shí)現(xiàn)自己的夢(mèng)想，他的詩(shī)集一年之后將出版：艾爾郡定會(huì)成為一個(gè)文學(xué)的主題。他說(shuō)他覺(jué)得自己“難以勝任”這項(xiàng)任務(wù)，這未免有些過(guò)于謙虛了。當(dāng)時(shí)彭斯的詩(shī)歌在當(dāng)?shù)厝酥泻苁茏放酰钪约旱膬r(jià)值。然而，與彭斯自己崇拜的那些受過(guò)高等教育的詩(shī)人相比，彭斯的擔(dān)憂(yōu)也有情可原，如倫敦詩(shī)人亞歷山大·蒲柏，或者是同代人蘇格蘭詩(shī)人羅伯特·弗格森，后者雖一直在貧困中掙扎，卻在著名的圣安德魯大學(xué)接受過(guò)教育。相比之下，彭斯在正規(guī)學(xué)校受到的教育微乎其微。彭斯家的農(nóng)場(chǎng)幾乎掙不到什么錢(qián)，作為一個(gè)佃農(nóng)的長(zhǎng)子，他從10歲開(kāi)始就在農(nóng)場(chǎng)勞作以補(bǔ)貼家用。雖然文學(xué)上的成就給了彭斯除務(wù)農(nóng)外的其他選擇，但詩(shī)人總是缺錢(qián)并要供養(yǎng)家庭，他不得不十分努力地工作。他深知一邊作詩(shī)一邊務(wù)農(nóng)的艱難，而之前幾乎沒(méi)有詩(shī)人像他這樣。

然而，在有關(guān)彭斯的早期著名評(píng)論中將其打造成頗有影響力的“天賦異稟的農(nóng)夫”形象，還是頗費(fèi)心思的。在18世紀(jì)末，“自然”天才和那些由靈感而發(fā)創(chuàng)作的詩(shī)歌很受歡迎，我們稱(chēng)之為英國(guó)浪漫主義運(yùn)動(dòng)開(kāi)始出現(xiàn)。彭斯意識(shí)到“農(nóng)民詩(shī)人”將會(huì)很有市場(chǎng)。他將自己塑造成一個(gè)未接受過(guò)正規(guī)教育的淳樸農(nóng)民形象，在其詩(shī)歌中使用蘇格蘭方言，穿具有愛(ài)丁堡特色的農(nóng)靴。他深信，彭斯其人和其詩(shī)歌的獨(dú)具特色，一定會(huì)吸引上層的讀者，而他們的資助對(duì)于彭斯的成功十分必要。實(shí)際上，彭斯的階級(jí)地位很模糊。和他父親一樣，雖是佃農(nóng)，沒(méi)有土地，卻雇傭著幾個(gè)傭人。雖然彭斯和其他人一樣在田里勞作，他卻是雇主，支付給傭人工資。盡管每日都要辛苦工作，他仍然能找出空暇時(shí)間大量閱讀和自學(xué)充電。威廉·彭斯積極鼓勵(lì)兒子接受教育，他聘請(qǐng)了一位家庭教師——約翰·默多克，默多克一直和年輕的彭斯有聯(lián)系，也為塑造彭斯的文學(xué)品味起了重要作用。威廉·彭斯還購(gòu)買(mǎi)了很多書(shū)籍——這在當(dāng)時(shí)是十分昂貴的奢侈品——用來(lái)教他的兒子們，除農(nóng)忙時(shí)間外，還把他們送出去學(xué)習(xí)。在彭斯十幾歲的時(shí)候，雖只是在閑暇時(shí)讀書(shū)學(xué)習(xí)，其閱讀卻十分廣泛，能背誦很多他喜歡的作者的代表作品，能書(shū)寫(xiě)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的英語(yǔ)，會(huì)法語(yǔ)并能讀懂法國(guó)的文學(xué)作品，還學(xué)到了一些實(shí)用技能，如測(cè)量學(xué)和數(shù)學(xué)。例如，在彭斯的《羅伯特·盧梭挽歌》這首詩(shī)中，他的文學(xué)功底可見(jiàn)一斑。“Ruisseaux”一詞作為姓氏一語(yǔ)雙關(guān)：可以翻譯成“溪流”（“burn”在蘇格蘭語(yǔ)中就是小溪流的意思），也可指法國(guó)作家、哲學(xué)家讓-雅克·盧梭，盧梭的“自然”教育理論在當(dāng)時(shí)十分有名。彭斯認(rèn)為這首詩(shī)未發(fā)表前只有一小部分讀者可以理解欣賞其所蘊(yùn)含的寓意。

年輕時(shí)的彭斯很有文學(xué)頭腦并且十分聰明，他喜歡和同齡的男青年在一起，比如律師、教師、職員還有和他一樣的農(nóng)民。1777年，彭斯18歲，父親將家搬到了洛河里（Lochlea）的農(nóng)場(chǎng)，位于塔博爾頓附近。在這里彭斯結(jié)識(shí)了很多志同道合的年輕人，他們一起創(chuàng)辦了辯論（飲酒）社團(tuán)——單身俱樂(lè)部。彭斯還加入了共濟(jì)會(huì)，這使他有機(jī)會(huì)接觸到另外一個(gè)男性社團(tuán)——這里的年輕人來(lái)自社會(huì)的各個(gè)階層。然而，18世紀(jì)80年代早期可謂是彭斯的困難時(shí)期。他父親與出租給他們土地的人產(chǎn)生法律和財(cái)務(wù)糾紛，他自己身體也每況愈下。這一切讓彭斯經(jīng)歷著抑郁和自我懷疑，他甚至一度對(duì)自己的將來(lái)感到焦慮。

1785年，彭斯的父親威廉·彭斯去世。于是彭斯和他的弟弟吉爾伯特搬到莫斯吉爾農(nóng)場(chǎng)并在那里勞動(dòng)，附近是莫克林，一個(gè)熱鬧的小鎮(zhèn)。在隨后的兩年中，彭斯經(jīng)歷了他一生中最動(dòng)蕩的時(shí)期。1785年5月，彭斯的第一個(gè)孩子（由其傭人伊麗莎白·佩頓所生）在洛河里農(nóng)場(chǎng)出生。而與此同時(shí)，他遇到了未來(lái)的妻子琴·阿莫爾（Jean Armour）。1786年年初，琴懷了孕并且懷的是一對(duì)雙胞胎，而彭斯卻以淫亂的名義遭到教會(huì)和琴的父親強(qiáng)烈譴責(zé)，琴的父親也極力反對(duì)女兒嫁給一個(gè)名譽(yù)不清不白的人。自知與琴的感情無(wú)望，1786年春，彭斯選擇和“高原瑪麗”（坎貝爾·瑪格麗特）在一起。當(dāng)年的春季到秋季，彭斯曾十分慎重地打算移民到牙買(mǎi)加（很可能打算與坎貝爾一同移民，然而在1786年10月坎貝爾突然去世），去當(dāng)?shù)匾粋€(gè)糖種植園就職。彭斯曾反復(fù)說(shuō)過(guò)自己已經(jīng)預(yù)訂了一艘船，最后卻沒(méi)有去。彭斯想擺脫這糾纏混亂的感情生活，故他有移民的打算也并不奇怪。然而，他的生活在那時(shí)發(fā)生了極大的轉(zhuǎn)變。從1785年夏天到1786年夏天這一較短的時(shí)期內(nèi)，彭斯用蘇格蘭方言寫(xiě)出了一系列令人驚嘆的詩(shī)歌，包括許多極富欣賞性的作品。1786年7月31日，彭斯的《蘇格蘭方言詩(shī)集》在基爾馬諾克由一個(gè)當(dāng)?shù)赜∷⑸坛霭妗?/p>

《蘇格蘭方言詩(shī)集》中的詩(shī)和歌都是詩(shī)人真實(shí)感情的流露，詼諧幽默，有自己的政治立場(chǎng)并延續(xù)了文學(xué)傳統(tǒng)。彭斯將《兩只狗》選作開(kāi)篇詩(shī)歌。這首蘇格蘭方言詩(shī)描寫(xiě)了兩只狗分別對(duì)自己主人——一個(gè)勞動(dòng)人民和一個(gè)貴族成員——行為習(xí)慣的反思。作為詩(shī)集的開(kāi)篇之作，它顯然表達(dá)了彭斯的政治立場(chǎng)，即對(duì)上流社會(huì)的諷刺和對(duì)勞動(dòng)人民的辯護(hù)。凱撒，一條生活在上流社會(huì)的狗，贊嘆道：

天啊，老爺們才不關(guān)心

這些掘土挖溝的畜生，

看見(jiàn)了啐一口抬頭走過(guò)，

就跟我瞅見(jiàn)路邊的蝸牛田螺。

通過(guò)將勞動(dòng)人民比作“畜生”“蝸牛、田螺”，凱撒展示了貴族社會(huì)對(duì)普通民眾的殘酷、冷漠和無(wú)情，視之為動(dòng)物草芥。彭斯精通兩種語(yǔ)言，能在蘇格蘭方言和標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語(yǔ)之間自如轉(zhuǎn)換來(lái)證明點(diǎn)什么。比如，在《兩只狗》中，相比出身貴族的“凱撒”，窮人家的狗“樂(lè)斯”說(shuō)的是蘇格蘭方言。隨后的兩首詩(shī)，一首慶祝蘇格蘭的威士忌節(jié)；另一首感嘆英國(guó)的法律和稅收制度。下面一首是諷刺詩(shī)《神圣的集市》，用來(lái)諷刺艾爾郡的宗教集會(huì)。彭斯稱(chēng)自己是世上敢說(shuō)敢當(dāng)?shù)摹⒅甭侍故幍淖杂扇恕Ｋ粦峙掠?guó)政府和教會(huì)，決心披露他們的虛偽和暴政。

凱撒說(shuō)那些貴族名流視窮人為“畜生”時(shí)，這意味著那些貴族認(rèn)為窮人天生愚笨。對(duì)這種觀點(diǎn)，彭斯進(jìn)行了強(qiáng)烈的諷刺和反對(duì)。他在詩(shī)中反復(fù)強(qiáng)調(diào)，壓迫是人為的：社會(huì)關(guān)系的構(gòu)建應(yīng)遵循上帝造物的自然秩序。彭斯的憫物詩(shī)中也常出現(xiàn)類(lèi)似的主題，用來(lái)諷刺人的態(tài)度，如他著名的《致老鼠》，再如《致虱子，在教堂里看到一位女士帽子上的一個(gè)虱子有感》和《致山菊花》，以及彭斯早期作品《可憐梅莉的挽歌》。通過(guò)對(duì)人們常常忽視的小生物的描寫(xiě)，彭斯關(guān)注到了物種的不平等性，從而帶給讀者一個(gè)觀察世界的新視角。正如在《致虱子》中，時(shí)髦女郎絲毫沒(méi)注意到有一只小虱子正在往自己的禮拜日帽子頂部爬去。彭斯想讓讀者們“像旁人那樣將自己看清”。他的詩(shī)正是賦予了這樣的力量。

總之，《蘇格蘭方言詩(shī)集》就是為了作詩(shī)而作的詩(shī)集，也凸顯了彭斯作為勞動(dòng)階級(jí)詩(shī)人的地位。詩(shī)集中最能表達(dá)出彭斯雄心壯志的其中一首就是《幻象》，在田里忙碌了一天之后，詩(shī)人后悔將時(shí)間都花在作詩(shī)上：

潮濕、薄霧的氣候籠罩著一切，

我必須回憶虛度的時(shí)光，

我是怎樣耗費(fèi)美好的青春，

什么也不想做，

只想把胡謅串成清脆的韻律，

讓愚人們歌唱。（第19行到24行）

正當(dāng)彭斯絕望之時(shí)，一位女性出現(xiàn)，彭斯將她稱(chēng)為“蘇格蘭的繆斯”，一個(gè)屬于艾爾郡的本地繆斯柯依拉。彭斯對(duì)她的到訪并未感到意外，倒是被柯依拉秀美的雙腿吸引，“多么纖直、多么協(xié)調(diào)、緊致和清爽”。這位“本地的繆斯”給彭斯講蘇格蘭的文學(xué)傳統(tǒng)，設(shè)計(jì)他的未來(lái)使他成為一名純樸的本地吟游詩(shī)人，并鼓勵(lì)他即使身份低微也要堅(jiān)持不懈：

“但，在你無(wú)與倫比的玫瑰叢下，

謙卑的雛菊散發(fā)出陣陣清香；

雖然森林的統(tǒng)治者

在暗中壯大他的部隊(duì)，

但綠色多汁的山楂樹(shù)

在沼澤地中郁郁蔥蔥地生長(zhǎng)。”（第205行到210行）

她一遍遍地重復(fù)著18、19世紀(jì)對(duì)勞動(dòng)階級(jí)詩(shī)人的看法，認(rèn)為詩(shī)人應(yīng)當(dāng)謙虛、謙遜、有一定價(jià)值。但在詩(shī)中，讀者卻發(fā)現(xiàn)彭斯在凝視柯依拉時(shí)充滿(mǎn)欲望的眼神，或許懷疑彭斯是否真的同意（或真的認(rèn)真聽(tīng)了）她這激情的演說(shuō)。《幻象》一詩(shī)是彭斯作為蘇格蘭傳統(tǒng)的繼承人對(duì)其定位的大膽宣揚(yáng)——可以從詩(shī)歌的形式特點(diǎn)，即從傳統(tǒng)“哈比詩(shī)節(jié)（habbie stanza）”看出，前6行依照aaabab押韻，最后2行較短，押b韻——一首基于蘇格蘭傳統(tǒng)的輕諷刺詩(shī)。就像彭斯其他許多優(yōu)秀的作品一樣，《幻象》一詩(shī)既情感真摯又有半開(kāi)玩笑的成分。

彭斯的詩(shī)集迅速獲得了成功。很快彭斯變得十分有名，其聲譽(yù)迅速蔓延，名聲遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超出熟悉彭斯或當(dāng)?shù)刈x過(guò)他書(shū)稿的那些人。到1786年11月，彭斯計(jì)劃補(bǔ)充再版。1787年春，愛(ài)丁堡再版，僅訂戶(hù)購(gòu)書(shū)就有1300本。彭斯將他移民的計(jì)劃擱置，享受著文學(xué)聲譽(yù)帶給他的新的快樂(lè)。他第一次去了愛(ài)丁堡，吸引了不少上層社會(huì)的資助者，并結(jié)識(shí)了很多朋友，包括一些當(dāng)時(shí)的名人。他游覽了蘇格蘭的幾個(gè)地方，并和“克拉琳達(dá)”——艾格尼絲·麥克爾霍斯夫人（這是彭斯一貫的行為，信誓旦旦地對(duì)一個(gè)貴族女性表達(dá)愛(ài)意的同時(shí)還和她的仆人有染）在一起，還與舊愛(ài)琴·阿莫爾（還有幾位女性）復(fù)合。1788年4月，在琴生下彭斯的一對(duì)雙胞胎（后夭折）不久后，兩人結(jié)婚。看起來(lái)彭斯要決心定居下來(lái)，他將家搬到了敦弗里斯郡位于埃利斯蘭的一座農(nóng)場(chǎng)，并在資助者的出資下，做了一名政府的收稅員，負(fù)責(zé)征收商品稅和收繳沿岸走私商品。

在彭斯創(chuàng)作生涯的后期，一個(gè)很重要的事件就是他結(jié)識(shí)了詹姆斯·約翰遜。約翰遜邀請(qǐng)彭斯為其《蘇格蘭音樂(lè)博覽》收集歌曲。彭斯對(duì)蘇格蘭歌曲很有興趣。他的母親是一位著名歌手，而妻子琴之所以能吸引彭斯也是因?yàn)樗鹈赖纳ひ簟Ｅ硭瓜群鬄榧s翰遜和喬治·湯姆森收集歌曲，超過(guò)120首歌曲發(fā)表在《蘇格蘭音樂(lè)博覽》（1787年至1803年發(fā)行）和喬治·湯姆森的《蘇格蘭原創(chuàng)曲調(diào)精選集》（1793年至1846年發(fā)行）。彭斯并非只是簡(jiǎn)單地記錄歌詞和曲調(diào)。為保證歌曲標(biāo)準(zhǔn)地道，他對(duì)已有的歌曲做了改編，為舊的曲調(diào)填寫(xiě)新詞，塑造并保留傳統(tǒng)，對(duì)當(dāng)時(shí)蘇格蘭歌曲的普及做出了極大貢獻(xiàn)。大部分歌曲都是彭斯將人們口口相傳的曲調(diào)配上自己作的新詞。此外，彭斯有意將自己創(chuàng)作的新曲當(dāng)成古老的傳統(tǒng)歌曲。

彭斯的絕大部分歌曲都是有關(guān)愛(ài)情、求愛(ài)或是男女關(guān)系的。浪漫的愛(ài)情和性愛(ài)的欲望充斥在彭斯的生活和他的詩(shī)歌中。彭斯大膽地表達(dá)著他天性的沖動(dòng)，絲毫不顧忌政府和教會(huì)或許對(duì)此有微詞。彭斯這些歌曲發(fā)表后，這些歌曲的語(yǔ)言直白的低俗版本雖在彭斯在世時(shí)沒(méi)有出版，卻在彭斯的男性朋友和酒友間傳播開(kāi)來(lái)。在彭斯版的蘇格蘭歌謠中，愛(ài)和性是極大的快樂(lè)，是對(duì)繁重工作的暫時(shí)逃離。在他著名的歌曲《麥壟很可愛(ài)》中，詩(shī)人和他所愛(ài)的人在麥田共度良宵，后詩(shī)人回顧說(shuō)：

我經(jīng)歷過(guò)所有快樂(lè)，

加在一起幾倍還多，

但那一夜勝過(guò)這一切，

麥壟之間多么親熱。

將熟悉的田園風(fēng)光（收獲后的田地）和愛(ài)情的喜悅相結(jié)合是彭斯詩(shī)歌的一大特色。彭斯的另一些詩(shī)歌是感懷愛(ài)情的憂(yōu)傷，如在《美麗的杜恩河岸和山坡》和《愛(ài)之吻》中，宣揚(yáng)愛(ài)和性，將其視為生活所賜的最美時(shí)刻。

然而，彭斯知道，在18世紀(jì)末宗教盛行和十分保守的蘇格蘭，這樣的大膽示愛(ài)是要付出代價(jià)的。他也深知，這代價(jià)往往由女性來(lái)承擔(dān)。在詩(shī)人自己的感情糾葛中，尤其在他的詩(shī)歌和信件中，彭斯將自己稱(chēng)為“放蕩的男人”，迷人、有魅力，但卻不能信守諾言，更不可能只忠于一個(gè)女性。例如，在《孩子他爹，你這高嗓門(mén)的老東西》中，女主人公希望“羅布”——“咆哮的老狗”承認(rèn)自己是孩子的父親：

呵，誰(shuí)給我的孩子買(mǎi)衣服？

呵，我哭泣時(shí)誰(shuí)哄我不哭？

我躺著時(shí)誰(shuí)來(lái)親吻我？

孩子他爹，你這高嗓門(mén)的老東西！

這首詩(shī)從需要財(cái)物幫助（給寶寶買(mǎi)衣服）到渴望情感關(guān)懷。然而，即使是婚外性行為被教堂認(rèn)為是罪惡的，彭斯也沒(méi)有在詩(shī)歌中表達(dá)對(duì)于使女人未婚先孕的悔恨。婚外性行為極易導(dǎo)致女性（琴·阿莫爾就是一例）被家庭和社會(huì)疏遠(yuǎn)。當(dāng)時(shí)的女性，無(wú)論從任何角度上說(shuō)，只要是與性、婚姻和生育相關(guān)，都遭到了法律和社會(huì)的嚴(yán)重歧視。有趣的是，在彭斯的詩(shī)歌中，他從女性的角度出發(fā)，試圖表明女性在愛(ài)情行為中是知情者并且積極參與。在《我還不到出嫁的年齡》一詩(shī)中，女主人公說(shuō)自己太年輕天真，不敢做荒唐事，“躺在男人的床上，/ 讓我心生恐懼，先生”。讀者會(huì)認(rèn)為這個(gè)年輕的女孩是在拒絕一個(gè)經(jīng)驗(yàn)豐富的男人的親昵行為。但在最后一節(jié)中，她卻暗示“先生，等你夏天再過(guò)我家門(mén)，/ 我長(zhǎng)大一歲成大人”，這說(shuō)明她對(duì)自己的狀況是了解的，或者說(shuō)這就是一種故意的調(diào)情。彭斯筆下的女性從不畏懼表達(dá)自己愛(ài)的欲望。在他著名的《哥吹口哨妹就來(lái)》一詩(shī)中，這位女性意志堅(jiān)決，積極主動(dòng)，大膽邀請(qǐng)意中人去她的住所，并指導(dǎo)小伙子私自幽會(huì)：

你要求愛(ài)得悄悄來(lái)，

后門(mén)不開(kāi)可別來(lái)，

后院上樓莫讓人見(jiàn)，

見(jiàn)了裝作不是為我來(lái)！

彭斯詩(shī)歌中的女性通常是作為說(shuō)話(huà)者（或歌唱者）出現(xiàn)的：她們忠實(shí)、忠誠(chéng)、意志堅(jiān)定，同時(shí)又可愛(ài)，有話(huà)語(yǔ)權(quán)。

如果說(shuō)愛(ài)情是彭斯詩(shī)歌的主題，值得注意的是，愛(ài)情和政治往往密不可分，像一些諸如《查理我親愛(ài)的》中，女性稱(chēng)贊雅各賓式的英雄。雅各賓運(yùn)動(dòng)試圖恢復(fù)天主教斯圖亞特國(guó)王（尤其是幼僭王，查理·詹姆士·斯圖亞特）的統(tǒng)治，但在1745年卡洛登決定性戰(zhàn)役中慘敗。這主要是一場(chǎng)蘇格蘭人的運(yùn)動(dòng)，尤其受到了高地人民的大力支持。到18世紀(jì)90年代，人們開(kāi)始懷念雅各賓時(shí)期的統(tǒng)治，對(duì)當(dāng)時(shí)政治制度表示不滿(mǎn)，支持發(fā)生革命。彭斯創(chuàng)作并改編了一些傳統(tǒng)的雅各賓歌曲，匿名發(fā)表。彭斯可以表達(dá)自己的政治觀點(diǎn)，但詩(shī)歌中若描寫(xiě)當(dāng)前的政治事件，就會(huì)被認(rèn)為是激進(jìn)分子，這很危險(xiǎn)。例如《高原少年》和《高原哈利》中的女性，她們愛(ài)的高地人都為雅各賓的事業(yè)而奮斗，“為了自由和我們的國(guó)王”。在《高原哈利》中，女主人公總結(jié)道：

但愿那些壞蛋被吊死，

每人都有自己的身體。

那時(shí)我見(jiàn)美景樂(lè)開(kāi)懷，

我的高原哈利又回來(lái)。

本詩(shī)出版于1790年，在那個(gè)革命時(shí)期，英國(guó)政府對(duì)發(fā)生在法國(guó)的大革命事件極其擔(dān)憂(yōu)，而“每人都有自己的身體”很像是對(duì)權(quán)利平等的祈愿。彭斯的雅各賓詩(shī)歌主題都較為模糊，其中的惡性事件都發(fā)生在過(guò)去。從某種程度上說(shuō)，這些詩(shī)也比較激進(jìn)，表達(dá)了對(duì)高地人的同情，他們?cè)?9世紀(jì)末被深深地認(rèn)為具有負(fù)面的刻板形象。在彭斯一首未發(fā)表的詩(shī)中，《寫(xiě)給高地政府領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人的書(shū)信》就極力為蘇格蘭人的權(quán)利辯護(hù)。

在敦夫里斯郡時(shí)，彭斯花費(fèi)越來(lái)越多的時(shí)間熱衷于搜集這些歌曲，不過(guò)，他也寫(xiě)了足夠的新詩(shī)和一些原創(chuàng)歌曲，用于他的《蘇格蘭方言詩(shī)集》（2卷），這本書(shū)于1793年再版。18世紀(jì)80年代到90年代，對(duì)于彭斯而言生活困難但也有令人激動(dòng)的時(shí)刻：他要養(yǎng)活成員逐漸增多的家庭（四個(gè)婚生子女，至少兩個(gè)非婚生子女），農(nóng)場(chǎng)幾乎賺不到錢(qián)，稅務(wù)官這份新工作極為艱辛。彭斯熱切地關(guān)注1789年的法國(guó)大革命和它后續(xù)的影響。彭斯在政府部門(mén)任職，表達(dá)自己政治觀點(diǎn)時(shí)他很謹(jǐn)慎，但他在此時(shí)期的書(shū)信和作品中沒(méi)少表達(dá)他對(duì)自由、平等、博愛(ài)思想的贊同。18世紀(jì)90年代早期，他對(duì)自己稅收官的職位頗有信心，于是不再經(jīng)營(yíng)農(nóng)場(chǎng)，搬到敦夫里斯郡居住。他事業(yè)逐步順利，但他的健康狀況卻每況愈下。1795年間，彭斯病了，病得很重，再?zèng)]能康復(fù)，他于1796年逝世，可能死于風(fēng)濕熱。

彭斯的一生很短暫。然而，他的生活中充滿(mǎn)戲劇性的友情和愛(ài)情。他洞悉對(duì)于18世紀(jì)末的歐洲、美洲乃至全世界而言既動(dòng)蕩不安又振奮人心這一事實(shí)。蘇格蘭不再是一個(gè)遙遠(yuǎn)和閉塞的地區(qū)：彭斯所在的蘇格蘭通過(guò)貿(mào)易和商業(yè)往來(lái)和外界緊密相連，對(duì)國(guó)際事務(wù)極為關(guān)切。彭斯比同時(shí)期其他作家做得更出色的是，他是蘇格蘭當(dāng)?shù)睾屯饨缏?lián)系的紐帶，他將小小的地區(qū)事件和更廣泛的文學(xué)、哲學(xué)、政治事件聯(lián)系起來(lái)，將傳統(tǒng)和現(xiàn)代結(jié)合起來(lái)。

彭斯的詩(shī)歌展示了他的創(chuàng)作天賦，他將諷刺與真誠(chéng)、玩世不恭與真摯情感、犀利的社會(huì)評(píng)論與理想主義完美地結(jié)合起來(lái)。他寫(xiě)的歌曲中詞和曲配合絕妙，他的詩(shī)采用的是易于記憶且人們熟悉的形式。他的很多詩(shī)和歌很快就成了蘇格蘭文學(xué)和民歌傳統(tǒng)的典范。從他去世之時(shí)起，彭斯已成為一名經(jīng)典作家，為他寫(xiě)的傳記、記錄他生平和作品的文學(xué)著作在他死后的下一個(gè)世紀(jì)越來(lái)越多。

事實(shí)上，彭斯使用蘇格蘭語(yǔ)、收集蘇格蘭民歌、保留蘇格蘭音樂(lè)傳統(tǒng)，正是表明他對(duì)國(guó)家的忠誠(chéng)和愛(ài)國(guó)之情。通過(guò)選用傳統(tǒng)方言而不是標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的英語(yǔ)創(chuàng)作詩(shī)歌，彭斯宣揚(yáng)了自己對(duì)蘇格蘭身份的自豪，并將勞動(dòng)人民的語(yǔ)言廣泛傳播。彭斯逝世后，像著名的《蘇格蘭人》等詩(shī)已被廣泛認(rèn)為是蘇格蘭民族主義代表之作。但這是一個(gè)錯(cuò)誤呈現(xiàn)：20世紀(jì)和21世紀(jì)的民族主義這種概念對(duì)彭斯并不適用。彭斯熱愛(ài)并崇敬他的家鄉(xiāng)、家鄉(xiāng)的美景、歷史和文化，這正是他全部詩(shī)歌的特征所在。他從不會(huì)讓讀者或聽(tīng)眾忘記他是一個(gè)典型的蘇格蘭詩(shī)人。彭斯的詩(shī)用方言傳唱著蘇格蘭，他的愛(ài)情與悵然、記憶與懷舊的主題使得詩(shī)歌具有廣泛的吸引力。將彭斯詩(shī)歌譯成中文，其中許多詩(shī)尚屬首次漢譯，真心希望彭斯吸引力能繼續(xù)擴(kuò)大，在中國(guó)獲得更多新的讀者和聽(tīng)眾。

克斯蒂·布萊爾教授

斯特靈大學(xué)

2015年10月

（李圣軒 李正栓 漢譯）