“Celebrating the beauty of Scotland, the power of nature, and the poetry of Robert Burns. Happy Burns Night,” they captioned the Reel, which featured aerial footage of Scotland against lines from Burns’s famous poem, Sketch New Year’s Day. To Mrs Dunlop. While the Reel appears professionally produced, the caption is signed with the couple’s initials, W & C, denoting that it comes personally from them.
What makes the note all the more significant is that it’s Princess Catherine’s first public message in nearly two weeks (11 days, to be exact), following her visit to The Royal Marsden Hospital in London, and even more so, the meaning of the poem itself—particularly in light of the year she’s had. Specifically, the royal couple shared the following lines:
“The voice of Nature
loudly cries,
And many a message
from the skies,
That something in us
never dies.”
On the surface, that’s a nice message on its own, but let’s dig a little deeper, shall we?
As the title suggests, Burns shared the poem in a letter to his friend Mrs. Dunlop, where he ruminates on the passing of a new year. At first, the poem seems as if Burns is working through an existential crisis: “why regard the passing year? … A few days may—a few years must—Repose us in the silent dust.”
He wrestles with the idea that a new year reminds us that this moment is all we have, but quickly banishes those discouraging thoughts with the very lines William and Kate shared.
In experiencing the profound beauty of nature, he finds strength, and he rallies for us all to “live as those who never die.” Make the most of today, the poem urges, while keeping in mind the larger picture of eternity. The lines immediately following the snippet the Prince and Princess of Wales posted underscore that amid the uncertainty of life “hang matters of eternal weight.”
Our “future life in worlds unknown / must take its hue from this alone”—as in, the actions you take right now. Here. Today.
Wow. Can we just take a moment to process that? It’s an especially powerful message coming after Kate’s last personally signed post, in which she announced that her cancer is in remission, after nearly a year of treatment.
“It is a relief to now be in remission and I remain focused on recovery. As anyone who has experienced a cancer diagnosis will know, it takes time to adjust to a new normal,” she wrote, adding: “I am, however, looking forward to a fulfilling year ahead. There is much to look forward to. Thank you to everyone for your continued support.”
Her message strikes the same encouraging, hopeful tone as Burns’s poem. It’s also a prime example of exactly what Prince William meant in his birthday message to his wife.
“The strength you’ve shown over the last year has been remarkable. George, Charlotte, Louis and I are so proud of you,” he captioned an Instagram post on Jan. 9.
Selecting that poem from Scotland’s bard feels so aligned with the strength and grace Kate has shown over the years. It’s a rallying cry to all of us: Life may be fleeting, but how you choose to spend today matters.
