Robert Burns and Rabindranath Tagore, are national bards of their respective nations, Scotland and India, respectively. It is true that they lived on two different continents, separated by time and space, yet there are links between them that this talk focuses on to show how modern they were, implying the progressive and inclusive nature of their outlook and approach, which accounts for their relevance today.

This lecture assesses their national significance, their legacy, their internationalism and their continuing universal appeal through the skein of poetry.

The talk is entitled, ‘‘The Golden Thread of Poetry: Robert Burns and Rabindranath Tagore, the National Bards of Scotland and India’, and presented by Dr Bashabi Fraser, CBE, Professor Emerita of English & Creative Writing Director, Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies (ScoTs) for the Robert Burns World Federation on 14 April 2022, chaired by Marc Sherland.