The first-person narrator of the poem is a passionate individual facing a temporary physical separation from his romantic partner. He utilizes extreme exaggeration to communicate the depth of his feelings, insisting his devotion will outlast the drying of the oceans and the melting of rocks in the sun. Despite his impending departure, he firmly resolves to return to his partner regardless of the physical distance between them.

Referred to affectionately in the vernacular Scottish dialect as a "bonnie lass," she is the sole recipient of the speaker's profound affections. Her physical beauty directly inspires the extreme depth of the speaker's devotion. She is preparing to separate from the speaker for a short time, though she receives his promise that he will cross up to ten thousand miles to return to her.