Burns and Byron in Love

The lecturer will make the argument that Byron has a legitimate claim to being considered a star of the Scottish literary firmament.

The argument that Byron has a legitimate clain to being considered a star of the Scottish, rather than the English, literary firmament is due in one aspect to his admiration of Burns, who was in various ways influential over his writing. Notoriously, Burns and Byron share a disregard for the moral law. This antinomianism got them into very considerable trouble in their own times. The lecture will argue that the flak that both poets tooks from their contemporary and near-contemporary readers raises uncomfortable isisues that refuse to go away. Recent criticism has tried to paper over some of the cracks, but how successfully? Through an analysis of two of their most popular and enduring lyric poems, the lecturer will consider what it might mean to read the two poets 'ethically'.

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