by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
O how can I be blythe and glad
Language: Scottish (Scots)
Available translation(s): FRE
O how can I be blythe and glad, Or how can I gang brisk and braw, When the bonie lad that I lo'e best Is o'er the hills and far awa ? It's no the frosty winter wind, It's no the driving drift and snaw; But aye the tear comes in my e'e, To think on him that's far awa. My father pat me frae his door, My friends they hae disown'd me a'; But I hae ane will tak my part, The bonie lad that's far awa. A pair o' glooves he bought to me, And silken snoods he gae me twa; And I will wear them for his sake, The bonie lad that's far awa. O, weary Winter soon will pass, And Spring will cleed the birken shaw; And my young babie will be born, And he'll be hame that's far awa !
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 234.
Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "The Bonie Lad That's Far Awa", written 1788 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827), "O how can I be blythe and glad", op. 108 (25 schottische Lieder mit Begleitung von Pianoforte, Violine und Violoncello) no. 14 (1815) [ voice, violin, violoncello, piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858) , "Weit, weit!" [an adaptation] ; composed by Robert Schumann.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Ten hodný hoch"
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le joli garçon qui est au loin", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Anonymous/Unidentified Artist) , "O wie kann ich wohl fröhlich sein"
Researcher for this page: Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2004-08-03
Line count: 20
Word count: 145