Songs and lyrics of Robert Burns

Chapter 72: I HAE A WIFE

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About This Book

A collected selection of the poet's songs and shorter lyrics presents his explorations of love, nature, rural Scottish life, patriotism, and social observation, often rendered in Scots dialect and intended for musical performance. The volume groups brief pieces alongside several longer poems, supplies a glossary of dialect terms and an index of first lines, and includes illustrative plates. Many lyrics evoke landscapes, domestic scenes, and communal gatherings, balancing tenderness and satire while varying tone from celebratory to elegiac. The arrangement favors lyrical vitality rather than strict chronology, offering readers both popular airs and more extended narrative poems within a single accessible anthology.

I HAE A WIFE

I hae a wife o’ my ain,

I’ll partake wi’ naebody;

I’ll tak cuckold frae nane,

I’ll gie cuckold to naebody.

I hae a penny to spend,

There—thanks to naebody;

I hae naething to lend,

I’ll borrow frae naebody.

I am naebody’s lord,

I’ll be slave to naebody;

I hae a guid braid sword,

I’ll tak dunts frae naebody.

I’ll be merry and free,

I’ll be sad for naebody;

Naebody cares for me,

I care for naebody.