World TraditionsNo. 6337 · The 2026 edition
Halloween (poem)
Get into the spooky spirit with a classic Halloween poem that captures the eerie magic of the night.
Our own summary of the original — the full post and photos live at en.wikipedia.org.
This poem evokes the haunting atmosphere of Halloween, with imagery of ghosts, goblins, and the thrill of the unknown. It celebrates the tradition of trick-or-treating and the playful fear that comes with the holiday, all wrapped in rhythmic verses perfect for reading aloud.
About this
This Wikipedia article covers "Halloween", a 1785 poem by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. It summarises the poem's background and its likely debt to an earlier Halloween poem by John Mayne, offers a short analysis of Burns' style and subject matter, and notes the work's structural characteristics. The article also links to related Burns and Halloween topics.
The list
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01
Halloween 1785
Poem by Robert Burns; longer work mixing Scots with English; 28 stanzas; in Kilmarnock volume.
Facts from the original
- "Halloween" is a poem written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1785.
- It was first published in 1786 and is included in the Kilmarnock volume.
- It is one of Burns' longer poems and employs a mixture of Scots and English.
- John Mayne of Dumfries, South West Scotland, a comparatively obscure follower of the Scottish Muses, had attempted a poem on Halloween in 1780.
- Mayne's poem has twelve stanzas and notes Halloween pranks ("What fearfu' pranks ensue!") as well as the supernatural associated with the night, such as "Bogies" (ghosts).
- Mayne's poem appeared in Ruddimans Weekly Magazine, November 1780, published by Walter Ruddiman in Edinburgh.
- Burns appears to have seen and been influenced by Mayne's composition, communicating with his work and echoing some of his imagery.
- According to Burns, Halloween is "thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings are all abroad on their baneful midnight errands".
- The poem's analysis holds that Burns' poetry revolves around country and town life, the life he knew, and that by using Scots alongside English, and by the power of his expression in both, Burns gives an account of the charms of the West of Scotland.
- The poem has 28 stanzas.
- A poem recited by Scots at Halloween.
