Where are the Joys I have Met? by Robert Burns
The speaker mourns vanished joy and peace, although roses and humming bees show that summer remains at its height. Naming Jenny as the cause of this anguish, the speaker rejects comfort from time or hope and resolves to seek enjoyment in sorrow.
By Robert Burns · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Melancholic Poetry · 233 words
First lines
Tune-"Saw ye my father."
Where are the joys I have met in the morning, / That danc'd to the lark's early song? / Where is the peace that awaited my wand'ring, / At evening the wild-woods among?
No more a winding the course of yon river, / And marking sweet flowerets so fair, / No more I trace the light footsteps of Pleasure, / But Sorrow and sad-sighing Care.
Is it that Summer's forsaken our valleys, / And grim, surly Winter is near? / No, no, the bees humming round the gay roses / Proclaim it the pride of the year.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Five rhymed stanzas express a speaker's personal anguish, with a specified tune for singing.
- Melancholic Poetry — Lost pleasure gives way to sorrow, and the speaker declares that neither time nor hope can bring relief.
Tags
lost happiness · love · sorrow · despair · song
What this Textopian page supports
Where are the Joys I have Met? is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated Date unknown.
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: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Melancholic Poetry
- Length: 233 words
- Structure: 1 section, 6 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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