Robert Burns asked, “Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot?”
Robert Burns, widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, lived during the Scottish Enlightenment; the Enlightenment impacted the whole world with its ideas. In fact, Edinburgh was referred to as a “hotbed of genius”. Burns was one of those great thinkers filled with ideas.
Burns wrote 550 poems during his lifetime, which was cut short at the age of 37. He set many of his poems to well-known tunes. However, he never claimed many poems that were written substantially by him. The poem Auld Lang Syne, for which he is best known around the world, he claimed he heard “from an old man singing”.
In the Scots language, auld lang syne means “old long since”. In our rush for the new and different, the latest and greatest, Lloyd Newell of Music & the Spoken Word asks whether the ‘old long since’ will be forgotten”. He reminds us that we need the memories of friendships, relationships, and days gone by “to ground us in the present and help us move confidently into the future.”
As you begin a new year, remember to treasure the “old long since”.
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