by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation

Ye banks and braes
Language: Scottish (Scots)  after the Scottish (Scots) 
Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon, 
how can you bloom so fresh and fair? 
How can ye chaunt, ye little birds, 
and I'm so weary, full of care?  
Ye'll break my heart, ye warbling birds  
that wanton on the flow'ry thorn,  
ye mind me o' departed joys,  
departed, never to return.  

Oft hae I rov'd by bonnie Doon, 
to see the rose and woodbine twine. 
And ilka bird sang o' its love, 
and fondly sae did I o' mine.  
With lightsome heart I pu'd a rose 
fu' sweet upon its tree. 
But my false lover stole my rose, 
and ah! he left the thorn wi' me.

The text shown is a variant of another text. [ View differences ]
It is based on

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

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858) , "Am Ufer des Doon", page 191, poem No. 108, first published 1840 ENG FRE IRI SCO SCO ; composed by Robert Franz, Moritz Hauptmann, Hubert Ferdinand Kufferath.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Hans Gál (1890 - 1987) , "Du liebe Flur im Seengrund", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission FRE IRI SCO SCO ; composed by Hans Gál.
  • Also set in Scottish (Scots), [adaptation] ; composed by Amy Marcy Cheney Beach, Maurice Ravel.

Research team for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor] , Eva Fox-Gal

This text was added to the website: 2018-08-29
Line count: 16
Word count: 107