The Gowden Locks of Anna by Robert Burns
The speaker celebrates a secret night of wine and intimacy with Anna, declaring that her golden locks, kisses, and embrace bring him greater happiness than manna brought to the hungry Jew in the wilderness. He rejects the riches and dominion of monarchs, preferring Anna’s “melting form” to the charms of an Empress or Sultana, and finds supreme rapture in giving and receiving love with her. He commands the sun, moon, and stars to hide so that night may cover his meeting with Anna, and wishes for an angel’s pen capable of recording his transports. Though Kirk and State may condemn such pleasures, he defies them and chooses Anna. She is the sunshine of his eye, indispensable to his life, and the first of his three wishes would be for her.
By Robert Burns · First published 1792 · Genre: Love Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Romantic Poetry · 311 words
First lines
Yestreen I had a pint o' wine, / A place where body saw na; / Yestreen lay on this breast o' mine / The gowden locks of Anna.
The hungry Jew in wilderness, / Rejoicing o'er his manna, / Was naething to my hinny bliss / Upon the lips of Anna.
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Genres
- Love Poetry — The poem is an ardent declaration of the speaker's desire, devotion, and sensual happiness with Anna.
- Lyric Poetry — It is a short, songlike first-person expression of intense private feeling, using regular stanzas, repetition, and musical Scots diction.
- Romantic Poetry — The work elevates individual emotion, passionate love, natural imagery, and the beloved's beauty above political power, social convention, and celestial grandeur.
- Erotic Poetry — Its language of physical embrace, kisses, 'melting form,' and reciprocal 'dying raptures' makes sensual desire central to the poem.
Tags
Scottish poetry · Scots language · love lyric · erotic poetry · secret tryst · romantic desire · sensuality · wine · golden hair · kisses · nighttime meeting · love and rapture
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The Gowden Locks of Anna is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1792 CE.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Burns
- Date: 1792 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Love Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Romantic Poetry, Erotic Poetry, Scots-language Poetry
- Length: 311 words
- Structure: 1 section, 9 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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