Highland Mary

Robert Burns

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1792

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Themes

The Passage of Time

An important theme in Burns’ “Highland Mary” is the inexorable nature of time, as well as the way people perceive time’s passing. While he was with Mary, Burns did not want time to pass, and experienced it as slow and languorous. He remembers Montgomery Castle as the place where summer the “langest tarry” (Line 6), and he speaks of the passing of time as “golden Hours” flying softly on “angel wings” (Line 13) over him and Mary. However, once he and Mary reluctantly “tore” themselves “asunder” (Line 20) and said their farewells, the once leisurely passing of time changed. An “untimely frost” (Line 21) set in and ended their long summer. Mary died unexpectedly, and Burns never had a chance to see her again. Her body lies “mouldering” (Line 29) and decomposing in the “cauld” (Line 23) ground, and Burns is left only with his memory of her. Written six years after Mary Campbell’s death, “Highland Mary” is explicitly written as Burns’s elegiac recollection of what was and what could have been. He laments the “vows” (Line 17) and plans for the future that were left incomplete. Ultimately, Burns could do nothing to stop the passing of time or the death that waits at its end.

Immortality

Connected to the poem’s focus on memory is the theme of immortality—Burns immortalizes the deceased Mary in several ways. Although she died tragically at only 23 years old, Burns promises, “But still within my bosom’s core / Shall live my Highland Mary” (Lines 31-32). Mary will not be forgotten in the “silent dust” (Line 29) of her grave but shall be preserved in Burns’ memory and heart, where she will forever be loved by him. Proof that Burns fulfilled his promise is the fact that he wrote “Highland Mary” even after Mary had been dead for six years.

Beyond preserving Mary in his heart and mind, Burns also immortalizes her with his poetry. In addition to “Highland Mary,” Burns also composed “To Mary in Heaven” after her death. Both poems keep Mary’s memory alive, not just for Burns, but also for his readers. In “To Mary in Heaven,” Burns affirms that “eternity will not efface” (Line 13) the “records” (Line 14) of Mary, nor will it erase her “image” (Line 15). If even for just a moment, Burns is able to bring her back to life with his words. As a poem that is studied two hundred years after its original publication, “Highland Mary” certainly accomplishes Burns’s goal. Mary Campbell’s “rosy lips” (Line 25) and her “heart that lo’ed [Burns] dearly” (Line 30) have been immortalized in Burns’ poetry and have been witnessed by countless readers across time.

Secrecy

There is a recurring theme of secrecy and seclusion in Burns’ depiction of his and Mary’s relationship. The two do not meet publicly in the presence of other people; they meet alone beside “banks and braes” (Line 1), or hillsides, and within the “woods” (Line 3) near Montgomery Castle. Burns describes how he “clasp’d” Mary to his “bosom” (Line 12) while “underneath” the “fragrant shade” (Line 11) of blossoming hawthorn and birch trees. The word “shade” implies that their actions are obscured from the light and, by extension, others’ view. Furthermore, Burns’s references to “lock’d” (Line 17) embraces, the lips he “aft” or often “kiss’d sae fondly” (Line 26), and his clasping of Mary to his bosom indicate that their relationship went beyond the acceptable boundaries of courtship in Burns’s time, when premarital sexual intimacy was considered sinful. Their intentions for the future and the many vows exchanged between them were thus a secret Mary carried to her early grave.

After Mary’s death, the secrecy of their relationship turns sour. Without Mary, only Burns knows of their vows and hidden intimacy. He will never again experience Mary’s secret, “sparkling glance” (Line 27) in his direction. It is now the earth and not Burns that “wraps” (Line 24) and embraces Mary’s body. No one else but Burns knows of their affair and what he lost, and only in Burns’s heart “shall live” (Line 32) Highland Mary. He alone preserves her memory. Unless Burns shares the details of their love affair in his poetry, it will remain secret, and Burns will continue to suffer from grief and isolation alone.