Deluded Swain, The Pleasure

by Robert Burns — a poem card from Justes Mots

A satirical warning to young men against romantic delusion, dismissing women as fickle and unreliable. Burns uses this poem to mock courtly love conventions and offer cynical advice to pursue fellowship and drink instead. Suitable for readers who appreciate 18th-century Scottish wit and social commentary.

Tune—“The Collier’s Dochter.”

Deluded swain, the pleasure
The fickle Fair can give thee,
Is but a fairy treasure,
Thy hopes will soon deceive thee:
The billows on the ocean,
The breezes idly roaming,…

Themes: love · new-baby · wedding · friendship