Love
Robert Burns employs the theme of love in “A Red, Red Rose” and also in "Ae Fond Kiss". In “Red Rose”, the speaker first compares her love with the red rose and then with the melody. The poem represents the idea of love. Later, the reader can understand the deepness of the speaker’s affection with the claim that his love will last until the deep sea dry off and the rocks melt. In the end, the speaker and her lover split off, but he promises her love that he will be back soon even if he has to walk ten thousand miles. In "Ae Fond Kiss", the narrator is getting apart from her lover and wishing her for her future. This poem also describes love as deeper than anything else.
Regret
Regret is another important theme in "Ae Fond Kiss" as the narrator of the poem has loved her lover from the depth of her heart. However, regretting is negative in the most sense, but the author uses it positively. Here Burns is regretting not as he made a mistake by loving her but, he would not be feeling the pain of getting apart if he had not loved her. In other words, the narrator is saying that pain is inevitable in love.
Man and Nature
Being a poet of the Romantic era, Burns makes use of nature in prominent ways. The narrator describes the deepness of his love with the imagery of nature. To express the freshness of her love, he begins the poem with the comparison of her lover with the flower rose. Later, he declared that he will love her till the sea dry off, or the rock melts. These descriptions of natural elements in the poem help, the reader to understand the deepness of his love.
