---
title: "Poem on Sensibility"
author: "Robert Burns"
form: "Poem"
year: "1791"
location: "Ellisland"
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/poem-on-sensibility/"
---

# Poem on Sensibility

## Poem
Sensibility, how charming,  
Dearest Nancy, thou canst tell;  
But distress, with horrors arming,  
Thou alas! hast known too well!

Fairest flower, behold the lily  
Blooming in the sunny ray:  
Let the blast sweep o’er the valley,  
See it prostrate in the clay.

Hear the wood lark charm the forest,  
Telling o’er his little joys;  
But alas! a prey the surest  
To each pirate of the skies.

Dearly bought the hidden treasure  
Finer feelings can bestow:  
Chords that vibrate sweetest pleasure  
Thrill the deepest notes of woe.

---

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/poem-on-sensibility/