Lyric Poem · War & Remembrance

I hae a Wife o’ my Ain

by Robert Burns

I HAE a wife of my ain,

I’ll partake wi’ naebody;

I’ll take 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 gude 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.

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“I hae a Wife o’ my Ain” by Robert Burns — quilloak.com/poems/i-hae-a-wife-o-my-ain

Quick facts

Poem: I hae a Wife o’ my Ain
Poet: Robert Burns
Length: 16 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: War & Remembrance

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape: 16 lines · 4 quatrains
Line length: Lines run 6-7 syllables (median 7). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.

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Text, source & rights

A traceable edition

Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.

Author record: Robert Burns1759–1796
Source record: PoetryDBI hae a Wife o’ my Ain by robert-burns, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 9d491a9837f9ec00…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem War & Remembrance

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