Raedwulf,

The merely was mine, included as in all the posts above only Burns poetry is referred to, the point I attempted to make was that he did much, much more.

Shakespeare was very pro-establishment, he had to be if he wanted to make a living in Elizabeth's England. He accepted rewards from the establishment of the day and at one time was Controller of the Navy (The standard MOD arrow mark of today dates back to Shakespeare's time in office and is in actual fact a spearhead). Shakespeare wrote for financial reward - his first and foremost consideration.

Burns on the other hand was fairly radical for his times. He had "been there and done that" and he lashed into the corruption in office and of power and position continually. This was in Pitt's time, the French Revolution and at the start of the French Revolutionary War. Have a look at Burns "Scots Wha Hae" written as a protest at the kangaroo trial put on for Thomas Muir in 1793 (Good song about this trial by Dick Gaughan), Burns had to, initially, publish the work anon, as he could very well have found himself on the same ship down to Australia as Muir, Palmer and their associates. In 1792 Burns was investigated as his loyalty was under question. Burns wrote, collected songs, stories and music for the love of it - and therein lies the difference in greatness between the two.

While Shakespeare may be more quoted, I would venture the opinion that Burn's works are better known. English is not a language that is widely spoken in Russia, ask a Russian who was schooled during the days of the USSR to say something in English 7 out of 10 will give you a quotation from Burns, from the other three you might get Shakespeare.