by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation © by Pierre Mathé

She's fair and fause
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
Our translations:  FRE
She's fair and fause that causes my smart ;
I lo'ed her meikle and lang;
She's broken her vow, she's broken my heart ;
And I may e'en gae hang.
A coof cam in wi' routh o' gear,
And I ha'e tint my dearest dear;
But women is but warld's gear,
Sae let the bonny lass gang !

Wha'er ye be that woman love,
To this be never blind :
Nae ferlie 'tis tho' fickle she prove,
A woman has't by kind.
O woman, lovely woman fair!
An angel's form's fa'n to thy share;
'Twad been o'er meikle to gi'en thee mair,
I mean, an angel's mind.

Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 249.

GLOSSARY

Meikle = much
Coof = fool, simpleton
Routh = abundance
Gear = money, property
Tint = lost
Ferlie = wonder

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

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

  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , title 1: "Elle est belle et fausse", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani , Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2013-03-28
Line count: 16
Word count: 103

Elle est belle et fausse
Language: French (Français)  after the Scottish (Scots) 
Elle est belle et fausse, celle qui cause ma peine ;
Je l'ai beaucoup aimée, et longtemps ;
Elle a rompu son serment, elle a brisé mon cœur ;
Et je peux même aller me pendre.
Un niais est arrivé avec plein d'argent,
Et j'ai perdu celle qui m'était la plus chère ;
Mais dans ce mode les femme ne sont que frivolité,
Alors laissons aller la jolie fille !

Qui que vous soyez qui aimez une femme,
Ne soyez jamais aveugle à ceci :
Ce n'est pas merveille qu'elle se montre volage,
C'est dans la nature d'une femme.
Ô charmante femme, jolie femme !
On t'a donné en partage la forme d'un ange,
Ç'aurait été beaucoup trop de te donner davantage,
À savoir l'esprit d'un ange.

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.
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This text was added to the website: 2014-11-25
Line count: 16
Word count: 120