O This Is No My Ain Lassie
written in 1795
O This Is No My Ain Lassie - fact Summary
About Jean Armour
This short lyric presents the speaker distinguishing a beloved from other attractive women by the "kind love" visible in her eyes. Rather than praising outward beauty alone, the poem fixes on a personal, enacted affection that marks the true beloved. Repeated refrains emphasize recognition and certainty. The poem is believed to refer to Burns' wife, Jean Armour, linking its intimate observation of the beloved to the poet's own romantic life and affections in 1795.
Read Complete AnalysesO this is no my ain lassie, Fair tho' the lassie be: O weel ken I my ain lassie, Kind love is in her e'e. I see a form, I see a face, Ye weel may wi' the fairest place: It wants, to me, the witching grace, The kind love that's in her e'e. O this is no my ain lassie, Fair tho' the lassie be: Weel ken I my ain lassie, Kind love is in her e'e. She's bonie, blooming, straight and tall; And lang has had my heart in thrall; And ay it charms my very saul, The kind love that's in her e'e. O this is no my ain lassie, Fair tho' the lassie be: O weel ken I my ain lassie, Kind love is in her e'e. A thief sae pawkie is my Jean To steal a blink, by a' unseen; But gleg as light are lovers' een, When kind love is in the e'e. O this is no my ain lassie, Fair tho' the lassie be: O weel ken I my ain lassie, Kind love is in her e'e. It may escape the courtly sparks, It may escape the learned clerks; But weel the watching lover marks The kind love that's in her e'e.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.