The Deuks Dang O'er My Daddie
written in 1792
The Deuks Dang O'er My Daddie - meaning Summary
Aging, Desire, and Distance
Burns presents a speaker who laments the decline of sexual and domestic warmth in a long relationship. Using Scots speech, the narrator recounts nights of disappointment: her partner once lively now merely paddles about, leaving her unsatisfied. She contrasts past intimacy — being cared for and cuddled — with current distance and a sense of loss. The poem reads as a candid, wry reflection on aging, changing desire, and marital promise unmet, rooted in everyday domestic detail rather than moralizing or dramatic complaint.
Read Complete AnalysesThe bairns gat out wi' an unco shout, The deuks dang o'er my daddie, O, The fien-ma-care, quo' the feirrie auld wife, He was but a paidlin body, O. He paidles out, an' he paidles in, An' he paidles late and early, O; This seven lang year I hae lien by his side, An he is but a fusionless carlie, O. O had your tongue, my feirrie auld wife, O had your tongue, now Nansie, O: I've seen the day, and sae hae ye, Ye wad na ben sae donsie, O. I've seen the day ye butter'd my brose, And cuddl'd me late and early, O; But downa do's come o'er me now, And, Oh, I find it sairly, O!
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