O Poortith Cauld and Restless Love
written in 1793
O Poortith Cauld and Restless Love - meaning Summary
Love Constrained by Fortune
Burns laments the collision of love and poverty: he accepts hardship except for its threat to his relationship with Jeanie. The speaker mourns how Fate and social rank force love to depend on wealth, praising the beloved’s beauty while noting her Prudence and concern for status. He contrasts this constrained courtship with an idealized, unconcerned rustic love — "the wild-wood Indian" — who is free from the pressures of Wealth and State. The poem repeats a plaintive question about fortune’s power, underscoring resignation and longing.
Read Complete AnalysesO Poortith cauld, and restless love, Ye wrack my peace between ye; Yet poortith a' I could forgive An 'twere na for my Jeanie. O why should Fate sic pleasure have, Life's dearest bands untwining? Or why sae sweet a flower as love, Depend on Fortune's shining? This warld's wealth when I think on, Its pride, and a' the lave o't; My curse on silly coward man, That he should be the slave o't. O why should Fate sic pleasure have, Life's dearest bands untwining? O why sae sweet a flower as love, Depend on Fortune's shining? Her een sae bonie blue betray, How she repays my passion; But Prudence is her o'erword ay, She talks o' rank and fashion. O why should Fate sic pleasure have, Life's dearest bands untwining? Or why sae sweet a flower as love, Depend on Fortune's shining? O wha can prudence think upon, And sic a lassie by him: O wha can prudence think upon, And sae in love as I am? O why should Fate sic pleasure have, Life's dearest bands untwining? Or why sae sweet a flower as love, Depend on Fortune's shining? How blest the wild-wood Indian's fate, He wooes his simple Dearie: The silly bogles, Wealth and State, Did never make them eerie. O why should Fate sic pleasure have, Life's dearest bands untwining? Or why sae sweet a flower as love, Depend on Fortune's shining?
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