Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Let not Woman e'er complain

Robert Burns

“Let not Woman e'er complain” as printed in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 213 1887 · historical text
Public domainScottish songSong lyrics
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Poetical Works of Robert Burns, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Let not woman e'er complain

Of inconstancy in love;

Let not woman e'er complain,

Fickle man is apt to rove:

Verse 2

Look abroad through Nature's range,

Nature's mighty law is change;

Ladies, would it not be strange,

Man should then a monster prove?

Verse 3

Mark the winds, and mark the skies;

Ocean's ebb, and ocean's flow:

Sun and moon but set to rise,

Round and round the seasons go.

Verse 4

Why then ask of silly man,

To oppose great Nature's plan?

We'll be constant while we can—

You can be no more, you know.

Credits

Written by Robert Burns

Words by Robert Burns. Historical text published in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887), “Let not Woman e'er complain”

Every text in this 1887 collected edition is by Robert Burns (1759-1796), who died more than 230 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide; the edition carries a Wikisource PD-old determination and a pre-1931 United States publication.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-25. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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