The Jolly Beggars : I Am a Bard of No Regard
written in 1786
The Jolly Beggars : I Am a Bard of No Regard - meaning Summary
Amused Acceptance of Love
Burns presents a roguish, self-aware narrator who treats love, sex, and poetic ambition with amused detachment. The speaker claims low social standing but enjoys roaming, courtship, and convivial pleasures. He acknowledges fleeting attachments and occasional disappointments but remains ready to celebrate and serve women, offering loyalty in a broadly genial, resigned way. The poem balances defiant pride and playful humility, turning personal experience into a comic, tolerant worldview that accepts impermanence while affirming sympathy and goodwill toward the beloved and human company in general.
Read Complete AnalysesI am a Bard of no regard, Wi' gentle folks an' a' that; But Homer like the glowran byke, Frae town to town I draw that. For a' that an' a' that, An' twice as muckle's a' that, I've lost but Ane, I've twa behin', I've Wife eneugh for a' that. I never drank the Muses' Stank, Castalia's burn an' a' that, But there it streams an' richly reams, My Helicon I ca' that. Great love I bear to all the Fair, Their humble slave an' a' that; But lordly will, I hold it still A mortal sin to thraw that. In raptures sweet this hour we meet, Wi' mutual love an' a' that; But for how lang the Flie may stang, Let Inclination law that. Their tricks an' craft hae put me daft, They've ta'en me in, an' a' that, But clear your decks an' here's the sex! I like the jads for a' that. For a' that an' a' that, An' twice as muckle's a' that, My dearest bluid to do them guid, They're welcome till 't for a' that.
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