Ô froide pauvreté | Ô froide pauvreté et amour impatient

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by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

Translation © by Pierre Mathé

O poortith cauld, and restless love

Language: Scottish (Scots)

Our translations: FIN FRE

O poortith cauld, and restless love,
  Ye wrack my peace between ye;
Yet poortith a' I could forgive
  An 'twere na for my Jeanie.

Chorus:
  O why should Fate sic pleasure have,
  Life's dearest bands untwining?
  Or why sae sweet a flower as love,
  Depend on Fortune's shining?

This warld's wealth when I think on,
  Its pride, and a' the lave o't;
My curse on silly coward man,
  That he should be the slave o't.

Her een sae bonie blue betray,
  How she repays my passion;
But Prudence is her o'erword ay,
  She talks o' rank and fashion.

O wha can prudence think upon,
  And sic a lassie by him:
O wha can prudence think upon,
  And sae in love as I am?

How blest the wild-wood Indian's fate,
  He wooes his simple Dearie:
The silly bogles, Wealth and State,
  Did never make them eerie.

About the headline (FAQ)

Tune: "Cauld kail in Aberdeen"

Text Authorship:

by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "O poortith cauld" [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 (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "O poortith cauld. I had a horse", JHW. XXXII/5 no. 414, Hob. XXXIa no. 17bis, one of the Scottish Songs for William Whyte arranged by Haydn [ sung text checked 1 time]
by Michael Tippett (1905 - 1998), "Poortith Cauld", 1956, published 1958 [chorus a cappella], from Four Songs from the British Isles, no. 3 [ sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Ô froide pauvreté", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 25
Word count: 145

Ô froide pauvreté

Language: French (Français) after the Scottish (Scots)

Ô froide pauvreté et amour impatient,
  À vous deux, vous anéantissez ma tranquillité !
Pourtant je pourrais tout pardonner à la pauvreté
  Si ce n'était pas pour ma Jeanie.

Refrain:
  Ô pourquoi le destin a-t-il un tel plaisir
  À défaire les plus chères attaches ?
  Ou pourquoi une fleur aussi douce que l'amour
  Dépend-elle de l'éclat de la fortune ?

Quand je pense à la richesse de ce monde,
  À sa fierté et à tout le reste,
Je maudis le stupide poltron
  Qui devrait en être l'esclave !

Ses yeux d'un si beau bleu trahissent
  De combien elle paie en retour ma passion ;
Mais prudence est toujours son maître mot :
  Elle parle de rang et de mode.

Oh qui peut penser à la prudence
  Avec une telle fille à ses côtés ?
Oh qui peut penser à la prudence
  Et être amoureux comme je suis ?

Il est béni, l'indien de la forêt vierge
  Il courtise sa simple bien-aimée :
Les hésitations, richesse et position stupides
  Ne l'ont jamais inquiété.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Scottish (Scots) to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Pierre Mathé, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "O poortith cauld"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-11-10
Line count: 25
Word count: 163