Deluded Swain, the Pleasure by Robert Burns
A speaker warns a besotted swain that a fickle woman's pleasures will deceive him, comparing women's inconstancy to waves, breezes, and clouds. The speaker urges him to stop admiring a woman's looks and instead drink claret with an honest man before going to bed.
By Robert Burns · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Satirical Poetry · 151 words
First lines
Tune-"The Collier's Dochter."
Deluded swain, the pleasure / The fickle Fair can give thee, / Is but a fairy treasure, / Thy hopes will soon deceive thee: / The billows on the ocean, / The breezes idly roaming, / The cloud's uncertain motion, / They are but types of Woman.
O art thou not asham'd / To doat upon a feature? / If Man thou wouldst be nam'd, / Despise the silly creature. / Go, find an honest fellow, / Good claret set before thee, / Hold on till thou art mellow, / And then to bed in glory!
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Two rhymed stanzas address a lovelorn swain directly, with a specified tune for singing.
- Satirical Poetry — The speaker mocks the swain's infatuation, disparages women, and proposes drinking with a man as the alternative.
Tags
infatuation · fickleness · misogyny · wine · male companionship
What this Textopian page supports
Deluded Swain, the Pleasure is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Burns
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Satirical Poetry
- Length: 151 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
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