Robert Burns

Though Fickle Fortune Has Deceived Me

Though Fickle Fortune Has Deceived Me - meaning Summary

Resilience Despite Betrayed Fortune

The poem presents a speaker who recounts being betrayed by fortune—losing love, friends, and wealth—yet insisting on inner resilience. He vows to behave prudently but also to accept unavoidable bad luck without bitterness. The closing lines frame misfortune as something to be met with courage and steady resolve rather than despair. Overall the poem emphasizes self-reliance and a dignified, stoic response to loss, suggesting moral strength and constancy as the true possessions that survive external reversals.

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Though fickle Fortune has deceiv'd me, She promis'd fair and perform'd but ill; Of mistress, friends, and wealth bereav'd me, Yet I bear a heart shall support me still. I'll act with prudence as far's I'm able, But if success I must never find, Then come Misfortune, I bid thee welcome, I'll meet thee with an undaunted mind.

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