My Peggy's Face
written in 1787
My Peggy's Face - meaning Summary
Love Values Lasting Virtues
The poem praises Peggy as the speaker's ideal partner, contrasting transient physical beauty with enduring moral qualities. Burns admires her looks but emphasizes that qualities like kindness, pity, noble purpose and a disarming gentleness are the true, immortal charms. The speaker accepts that youthful beauty will fade, yet finds consolation and deeper love in Peggy’s heart and mind. The poem is commonly read as addressed to Jean Armour, Burns’s wife, and presents a simple, heartfelt argument that inner virtues outshine appearance.
Read Complete AnalysesMy Peggy's face, my Peggy's form, The frost of hermit age might warm; My Peggy's worth, my Peggy's mind, Might charm the first of human kind. I love my Peggy's angel air, Her face so truly heav'nly fair, Her native grace so void of art, But I adore my Peggy's heart. The lily's hue, the rose's die, The kindling lustre of an eye; Who but owns their magic sway, Who but knows they all decay! The tender thrill, the pitying tear, The generous purpose nobly dear, The gentle look that Rage disarms, These are all Immortal charms.
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