Fragment - Why, Why Tell Thy Lover

Fragment - Why, Why Tell Thy Lover - meaning Summary

Love's Cruel Awakening

Burns' short fragment addresses a woman (Chloris) and questions why she would strip her lover of his illusions. The speaker objects to exposing the beloved to harsh truth that destroys pleasure and hope, preferring the rapture of imagined love to the pain of waking. The poem contrasts dreamlike fancy with cruel reality, portraying self-deception as a sustaining, even compassionate, state for the lover. It registers sympathy for the lover’s emotional vulnerability and criticizes any action that purposefully extinguishes tender illusions.