Poem of the Day: ‘Auld Lang Syne’

It’s New Year’s Day, so why not? Why not “Auld Lang Syne,” the New Year’s classic by Robert Burns (1759–1796)? Yes, it’s oversung. Yes, it’s as overfamiliar as “Jingle Bells.” Yes, it’s typically sung drunkenly on New Year’s Eve, with only the first verse and chorus known and the rest mumbled or hummed. But . . . it’s Burns, and traditional, and fun. So why not?

The poem was written in 1788, building on a 1711 ballad by James Watson, and Burns always intended it to be sung. By 1799 it had found the old tune to which it is always sung today. Along with “Epigram on Rough Roads” and “Winter: A Dirge,” previous Poems of the Day by Robert Burns here in The New York Sun, “Auld Lang Syne” mixes in Scottish dialect words, giving just enough English that the English reader can follow along.