Willie Fisher, “Holy Willie’s Prayer”
Willie was an elder in church of the hypocritical variety. The poem is constructed as Willie’s prayer which in turn is an attempt to wash away his sins in the holy water of justification. For instance, though he had sex with Lizzie’s daughter three times, he declares himself innocent of one of these moral failings on the account of being drunk, insisting that were he not so, he would have remained a loyal servant of God and stayed away. Willie’s prayer not only reveals him to be a hypocritical church-going member of community, but a man who doubles the insult by not even being conscious of his hypocrisy.
Tam, “Tam O’Shanter”
Tam is a farmer with a propensity for getting drunk and abusing his wife throughout neglect. The subject of this poem is one particular night of drunken revelry for Tam when he comes across a sight never seen before: witches dancing with the devil by the pale moonlight inside a church. The climax occurs when Tam makes the mistake of making his presence known after getting all hot and bothered by the witch wearing a particularly short skirt.
The Mouse, “To a Mouse”
The speaker of the poem has turned up a mouse nest with a plow, leaving the little rodent in a state of panic. Guilt drives the speaker to more closely examine the difference between man and mouse, leading to an apology on the behalf of mankind for his dominion over the creatures of the earth. Ultimately, the mouse is awarded victory by the man by virtue of its living in an eternal presence whereas man is cursed with a memory of all things, good and bad.
John Anderson, “John Anderson, My Jo”
Anderson was a real-life friend of Burns, a carpenter by trade. One of his construction jobs, legend has it, was building the coffin which Burns was buried in. The poem is basically a celebration of friendship with the speaker remarking on the fact that they have been friends from the time John had a full head of black hair to his present state of baldness.
The Devil, “Address to the Devil”
The portrayal of the devil here is parodic, satiric, and ironic. The prince of darkness is disrespected right from the opening lines which poke fun at the nature of the trouble people have merely identifying evil by name:
"O thou! whatever title suit thee,—
Auld Hornie, Satan, Nick, or Clootie!"
Adding injury to insults, the narrative progressively pushes the devil farther and farther away from a fearsome power to the point of questioning his very existence and then, perhaps the ultimate blow, even hinting that it’s not too late and he is not too strong to actually repent of his sins.
