---
title: "Fragment on Sensibility"
author: "Robert Burns"
form: "Poem"
year: "1786"
location: "Mossgiel"
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/fragment-on-sensibility/"
---

# Fragment on Sensibility

## Poem
Rusticity’s ungainly form  
May cloud the highest mind;  
But when the heart is nobly warm,  
The good excuse will find.

Propriety’s cold, cautious rules  
Warm fervour may o’erlook:  
But spare poor sensibility  
Th’ ungentle, harsh rebuke.

---

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/fragment-on-sensibility/