Works John Barbour (poet)

1 works

1.1 brus
1.2 stewartis oryginalle
1.3 buik of alexander
1.4 legends of saints

works
the brus


an 18thc edition of brus in national museum of scotland



the sentiment underlying poem.

the brus, barbour s major surviving work, long narrative poem written while member of king s household in 1370s. subject ultimate success of prosecution of first war of scottish independence. principal focus robert bruce , sir james douglas, second half of poem features actions of robert ii s stewart forebears in conflict.

barbour s purpose in poem partly historical , partly patriotic. celebrates bruce (robert i) , douglas throughout flowers of scottish chivalry. poem opens description of state of scotland @ death of alexander iii (1286) , concludes (more or less) death of douglas , burial of bruce s heart (1332). central episode battle of bannockburn.

patriotic sentiment is, expressed in more general terms found in later scottish literature. in poem, robert s character hero of chivalric type common in contemporary romance, freedom noble thing sought , won @ costs, , opponents of such freedom shown in dark colours history , poetic propriety require, there none of complacency of merely provincial habit of mind.

barbour s style in poem vigorous, line fluid , quick, , there passages of high merit. quoted part book 1, lines 225-228:

a! fredome noble thing!
fredome mayss man haiff liking;
fredome solace man giffis:
he levys @ ess frely levys!

stewartis oryginalle

one of barbour s known lost work stewartis oryginalle described having traced genealogy of stewarts. stewart name replaced of bruce in scottish royal line when robert ii acceded throne after death of david ii, uncle.

robert ii barbour s royal patron. not known how work came lost.

buik of alexander

attempts have been made name barbour author of buik of alexander, scots translation of roman d alexandre , other associated pieces. translation borrows brus. survives , known unique edition printed in edinburgh, c. 1580, alexander arbuthnot.

legends of saints

another possible work added barbour s canon discovery in library of university of cambridge, henry bradshaw, of long scots poem of on 33,000 lines, dealing legends of saints, told in legenda aurea , other legendaries. general likeness of poem barbour s accepted work in verse-length, dialect , style, , facts lives of english saints excluded , of st. machar (the patron saint of aberdeen) , st. ninian inserted, make ascription plausible. later criticism, though divided, has tended in contrary direction, , has based strongest negative judgment on consideration of rhymes, assonance , vocabulary.