My Father was a Farmer by Robert Burns
The speaker recalls being raised by his farmer father on the Carrick border, taught to live with decency, order, courage, and an honest heart rather than money. He enters the world hoping not merely for riches but for a better and more distinguished condition, trusting that his talents and education may improve his prospects. Yet every attempt to win Fortune’s favour fails: enemies overpower him, friends abandon him, and hope repeatedly ends in disappointment. Worn down by these frustrations, he abandons ambitious schemes and resolves to enjoy the present, since the past has been bad and the future is unknown. With no helper, patron, or prospect, he supports himself through hard agricultural labour, ploughing, sowing, reaping, and mowing, as his father trained him to do. He accepts an obscure and poor life, intending to avoid unnecessary pain and to live as well as he can each day without anxiety for tomorrow. Although Fortune continues to oppose him and he can earn only his daily bread, he remains cheerful because daily bread is enough for his needs. Small earnings are often lost through accident, mistake, neglect, or his own good-natured folly, but he vows never to become melancholy. He ends by addressing those who pursue wealth and power, declaring that their search for happiness leads them farther from it, and that he would prefer a cheerful, honest-hearted clown to anyone possessed of vast riches or public adoration.
By Robert Burns · First published 1790 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Song, Scottish Folk Poetry · 671 words
First lines
Tune-"The weaver and his shuttle, O."
My father was a farmer upon the Carrick border, O, / And carefully he bred me in decency and order, O; / He bade me act a manly part, though I had ne'er a farthing, O; / For without an honest manly heart, no man was worth regarding, O.
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a first-person, stanzaic poem expressing the speaker's personal experience, values, disappointments, and resilient outlook.
- Song — It is explicitly written to the tune of "The weaver and his shuttle, O" and uses recurring "O" refrains characteristic of a singable traditional song.
- Scottish Folk Poetry — Its musical form, Scots-inflected diction, rural setting on the Carrick border, and focus on ordinary working life align it with Scottish folk-song traditions.
- Pastoral Poetry — Farming labour—ploughing, sowing, reaping, and mowing—is central to the speaker's upbringing and identity, presenting rural life as a source of dignity.
Tags
Scottish pastoral song · 18th-century Scotland · Carrick · rural poverty · farmer's son · agricultural labour · ploughing and reaping · fatherly instruction · honesty · manly virtue · self-reliance · social ambition
What this Textopian page supports
My Father was a Farmer is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1790 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Burns
- Date: 1790 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Song, Scottish Folk Poetry, Pastoral Poetry, Working-Class Literature
- Length: 671 words
- Structure: 1 section, 10 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)
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- Work identity for My Father was a Farmer by Robert Burns
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