Altho' He Has Left Me

Altho' He Has Left Me - meaning Summary

Loyalty Over Material Gain

Burns' short lyric presents a speaker who refuses to resent a lover who left for money. The speaker says she does not envy his gains and would prefer to carry her sorrow rather than betray her own sense of faithfulness. The poem contrasts materialism and moral integrity, choosing personal fidelity over wealth. Its direct, vernacular voice—rendered in Burns's Scots—gives the declaration warmth and immediacy. The lines offer a proud, stoic response to abandonment and a concise moral stance rather than a narrative development.