The Devil in “Address to De’il” is conveyed by Burn’s as a
evil powerful force that awaits its chance to infect us with wickedness,
therefore causing a person to chose a negative path. In many ways the devil in
reading has many similarities with the devil in Paradise lost by Milton. This is the devil that has great interest
in corrupting man causing suffering in order to get revenge on God. Burns at
times seems to think highly of the devil stating “Great is thy pow’r, an great
is thyfame; Far ken’d, an’ noticed is thy name”(99). His is recognizing his
fame, but in admiring type of way. It seems he is confused about his feelings
towards the devil, because he can be thought of as seeing the devil as two
beings; the devil as a being and as a religious figure. He also seems to think
that the devil can prevail in his revenge even having hope for the devil.
I can see how you saw the similarities with Paradise lost, the devil is portrayed as the obvious "evil" that has betrayed god and seeks his revenge towards him and the world. Yet Burns somewhat calls into question if the idea that we created of the devil is truly the form he takes. Perhaps he is not so evil as we think. I find burns take to be interesting since it does call into question if the devil is really the way ancient pictures portray him.
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