Phillis the Fair
written in 1793
Phillis the Fair - context Summary
Composed in 1793
Written by Robert Burns in 1793, the poem presents a brief pastoral homage to a woman named Phillis. The speaker strolls through a sunny morning, linking Phillis’s beauty and freshness to larks, wildflowers, and rosebuds. The mood shifts in the final stanza when a hawk is trapped in a snare, prompting a guarded blessing: may Fortune protect Phillis from harm. Overall the poem frames admiration for the beloved through nature’s imagery and closes with a wish for her safety and fate to mirror that tenderness.
Read Complete AnalysesWhile larks with little wing Fann'd the pure air, Viewing the breathing spring, Forth I did fare: Gay the sun's golden eye Peep'd o'er the mountains high; Such thy morn! did I cry, Phillis the fair. In each bird's careless song, Glad, I did share; While yon wild flowers among Chance led me there: Sweet to the opening day, Rosebuds bent the dewy spray; Such thy bloom, did I say, Phillis the fair. Down in a shady walk, Doves cooing were; I mark'd the cruel hawk, Caught in a snare: So kind may Fortune be, Such make his destiny! He who would injure thee, Phillis the fair.
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