Poems and Songs of Robert Burns

Chapter 511: Canst Thou Leave Me Thus, My Katie

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About This Book

The collection assembles lyrical songs, narrative poems, satirical pieces, epistles, epitaphs, and fragments that shift between convivial drinking verses, tender laments, and comic storytelling. Many lyrics were shaped to traditional airs and preserve vernacular speech, while longer works portray rural labor, domestic scenes, and compassionate encounters with animals. Satire targets religious hypocrisy and social pretension, and several poems take a direct, personal tone of moral reflection or affectionate address. The selections alternate moods and forms, emphasizing melodic phrasing and a versatile technical range.

Canst Thou Leave Me Thus, My Katie

Tune—“Roy’s Wife.”

Chorus—Canst thou leave me thus, my Katie? Canst thou leave me thus, my Katie? Well thou know’st my aching heart, And canst thou leave me thus, for pity? Is this thy plighted, fond regard, Thus cruelly to part, my Katie? Is this thy faithful swain’s reward— An aching, broken heart, my Katie! Canst thou leave me, &c. Farewell! and ne’er such sorrows tear That finkle heart of thine, my Katie! Thou maysn find those will love thee dear, But not a love like mine, my Katie, Canst thou leave me, &c.