I Hae a Wife O My Ain

I Hae a Wife O My Ain - meaning Summary

Assertive Personal Independence

Burns' short lyric presents a speaker asserting rugged personal independence and refusal of social obligations. Using repeated declarations, the voice insists on private ownership of wife, money, honor, and moods, rejecting both dependence and intrusion. The poem mixes defiant pride with a touch of irony: the speaker proclaims freedom from cuckoldry, debt, servitude, and sympathy, while admitting solitude. Overall it reads as a compact statement of self-reliance and autonomy, both celebratory and lonely, foregrounding personal dignity over communal ties or public judgment.