---
title: "Canst Thou Leave Me Thus, My Katie"
author: "Robert Burns"
form: "Song"
year: "1794"
tune: "Roy’s Wife"
location: "Dumfries"
source: "Project Gutenberg #1279 — Poems and Songs of Robert Burns"
source_url: "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1279/pg1279.txt"
canonical_url: "https://robert-burns.com/poems/canst-thou-leave-me-thus-my-katie/"
---

# Canst Thou Leave Me Thus, My Katie

## Song
*Chorus*  
Canst thou leave me thus, my Katie?  
Canst thou leave me thus, my Katie?  
Well thou know’st my aching heart,  
And canst thou leave me thus, for pity?

Is this thy plighted, fond regard,  
Thus cruelly to part, my Katie?  
Is this thy faithful swain’s reward—  
An aching, broken heart, my Katie!

*Chorus*  
Canst thou leave me thus, my Katie?  
Canst thou leave me thus, my Katie?  
Well thou know’st my aching heart,  
And canst thou leave me thus, for pity?

Farewell! and ne’er such sorrows tear  
That finkle heart of thine, my Katie!  
Thou maysn find those will love thee dear,  
But not a love like mine, my Katie,

*Chorus*  
Canst thou leave me thus, my Katie?  
Canst thou leave me thus, my Katie?  
Well thou know’st my aching heart,  
And canst thou leave me thus, for pity?

---

Source: [Project Gutenberg #1279 — Poems and Songs of Robert Burns](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1279/pg1279.txt)  
Canonical HTML: https://robert-burns.com/poems/canst-thou-leave-me-thus-my-katie/