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How lang and dreary is the night When I am frae my Dearie; I restless lie frae e'en to morn Though I were ne'er sae weary. Chorus. -- For oh, her lanely nights are lang! And oh, her dreams are eerie; And oh, her window'd heart is sair, That's absent frae her Dearie! When I think on the lightsome days I spent wi' thee, my Dearie; And now what seas between us roar, How can I be but eerie? For oh, &c. How slow ye move, ye heavy hours; The joyless day how dreary: It was na sae ye glinted by, When I was wi' my Dearie! For oh, &c.
A. Beach sets stanzas 1, 3-4
M. White sets stanzas 3, 4
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Burns, Robert. Poems and Songs. Vol. VI. The Harvard Classics. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909–14; Bartleby.com, 2001. www.bartleby.com/6/485.html.
Note: the Burns text appears in the White score as if it is a translation of the German text (or vice versa), but they are unrelated textually.
Glossary:
Eerie = affected with fear or dread
Glinted = passed quickly like a transient gleam
Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Song -- How lang and dreary is the night" [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 Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867 - 1944), "Dearie", op. 43 (Five Burns Songs) no. 1, published c1899, stanzas 1,3-4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Benjamin Burrows (1891 - 1966), "How long and dreary", 1927, published 1929 [ voice and piano or string quartet ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "Cauld kail in Aberdeen", Hob. XXXIa:55bis, JHW. XXXII/3 no. 226 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "How lang and dreary is the night", published 1885, stanzas 3,4 [ voice and piano ], from Album of German Songs (later published as Sixteen German Songs), no. 15, London: Stanley Lucas, Weber & Col.; also reprinted by Recital Publications (Texas) in 1995  [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Henri-François-Louis-Auguste Potez (1863 - c1946) ; composed by André Gédalge.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Ignaz Brüll.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Jak dlouhá, smutná je ta noc"
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Comme la nuit est longue et maussade", 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: 18
Word count: 109
Comme la nuit est longue et maussade, Quand je suis séparée de mon chéri ! Sans repos, je suis allongée du soir au matin Et je n'ai jamais été aussi fatiguée. Refrain. Ô pour elle les nuits sont longues et solitaires ! Ô, ses rêves sont épouvantables, Ô, son cœur veuf est affligé, Elle est séparée de son chéri ! Quand je pense aux jours lumineux¹ Que j'ai passés avec toi, mon chéri, Et maintenant qu'entre nous rugissent² des mers³, Comment ne puis-je être épouvantée ? Comme vous avancez lentement, heures pesantes ! Comme ce triste jour est maussade !⁴ Ce n'est pas ainsi que vous brilliez, Quand j'étais avec mon chéri !
A. Beach a mis en musique les strophes 1-3 (sans refrain)
M. White a mis en musique les strophes 2-3
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), "Song -- How lang and dreary is the night"
This text was added to the website: 2014-08-04
Line count: 17
Word count: 113