Lyric Poem · Friendship
Love in the Guise of Friendship
by Robert Burns
YOUR friendship much can make me blest,
O why that bliss destroy!
Why urge the only, one request
You know I will deny!
Your thought, if Love must harbour there,
Conceal it in that thought;
Nor cause me from my bosom tear
The very friend I sought.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“Love in the Guise of Friendship” by Robert Burns — quilloak.com/poems/love-in-the-guise-of-friendship
Quick facts
- Poem
- Love in the Guise of Friendship
- Poet
- Robert Burns
- Length
- 8 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem, Short Poems
- Themes
- Friendship, Love, Sad, Short
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
- 8 lines · 2 quatrains
- Line length
- Common metre. Alternating eight- and six-syllable lines — the hymn stanza (8.6.8.6), the most-used quatrain in English verse.
Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a lyric poem, or run your own draft through the form checker to see the same measurements on your lines. How we measure · Report a mistake
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
- PoetryDBLove in the Guise of Friendship 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 bd95f25e7971b7c3…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
Keep reading
Roses Are Red (A Toast to My Worst Best Friend)
The QuillOak Editors
4 lines · roses are red
Doctor's Orders, Friend's Addendum
The QuillOak Editors
8 lines · lyric
Get Well Soon (Selfish Reasons)
The QuillOak Editors
8 lines · lyric