by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation by L. G. Silbergleit
O were my Love yon lilac fair
Language: Scottish (Scots)
Our translations: SPA
O were my Love yon lilac fair, Wi' purple blossoms to the spring, And I a bird to shelter there, When wearied on my little wing; How I wad mourn when it was torn By autumn wild and winter rude! But I wad sing on wanton wing When youthfu' May its bloom renew'd. O gin my Love were yon red rose That grows upon the castle wa', And I mysel a drap o' dew, Into her bonnie breast to fa'; O there, beyond expression blest, I'd feast on beauty a' the night; Seal'd on her silk-saft faulds to rest, Till fley'd awa' by Phoebus' light.
A. Beach sets stanza 2, 1
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesText Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "O were my Love yon lilac fair" [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), "Oh were my love yon lilac fair", op. 43 (Five Burns Songs) no. 3, published 1899, stanza 2,1 [ soprano or tenor and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Frederick Brandeis (1835 - 1899), "O were my love yon lilac fair", op. 43 no. 1, published 1877 [ voice and piano ], from Four Songs, no. 1, New York: Martens Brothers, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Francis George Scott (1880 - 1958), "O were my love yon lilac fair", published 1922 [ male voice and piano ], from Scottish Lyrics, Book 2, no. 8, Bayley & Ferguson [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "O were my Love yon lilac fair", published 1889 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
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, Pierre Nau.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Adolf Wilhelm Ernst von Winterfeld (1824 - 1888) , "O, wär' mein Lieb die Fliederblüth'" ; composed by Otto Bach, Ernst Paul Flügel.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by L. G. Silbergleit , "O wär' mein Lieb" ; composed by Jan Karol Gall, Eugène Jámbor, Rudolf Krzyzanowski.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876) , no title [an adaptation] ; composed by Carl Banck, Frederick Brandeis, August Conradi, Wilhelm Heiser, Ludwig Hoffmann, Carl Hohfeld, Carl August Krebs, Arnold Krug, Anton Maier, C. Adolph Oberdörffer, Hans Michael Schletterer, Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by (Johann) Philipp Kaufmann (1802 - 1846) , no title, appears in Gedichte von Robert Burns, first published 1839 [an adaptation] ; composed by Franz Bendel, Alban Maria Johannes Berg, Wilhelm Mayer.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Johann Bernhard André.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Kéž byla bys ten vonný bez"
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Elisa Rapado) , copyright © 2020, (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: 16
Word count: 106
O wär' mein Lieb
Language: German (Deutsch) after the Scottish (Scots)
Our translations: ENG
O wär' mein Lieb Der Fliederbusch, Der drüben blüht so blau; Und ich ein Vogel, Flög ich husch, In seinen kühlen Thau. Ich säng' ihm Trost, Stünd er im Frost, Des grünen Laubes bar; Säng' wieder dann Hell himmelan Im frohen frühen Jahr. Und wär' mein Lieb Die rothe Ros' An jenem Wiesenrain; Und fiel ich doch In ihren Schoß Als Abendthau hinein. Wie hätt' ich da Die ganze Nacht In ihrem Duft geruht; Wie hätt' ich da Mich sanft verhaucht In früher Sonnengluth.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Robert Burns' Lieder und Balladen für deutsche Leser ausgewählt und frei bearbeitet von L.G. Silbergleit, Leipzig: Druck und Verlag von Philipp Reclam jun., [no year], page 96.
Text Authorship:
- by L. G. Silbergleit , "O wär' mein Lieb" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "O were my Love yon lilac fair"
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Jan Karol Gall (1856 - 1912), "O wär' mein Lieb der Fliederbusch", op. 6 (Drei Lieder für Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 2, published 1882 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Leuckart [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Eugène Jámbor (1853 - 1914), "O wär' mein Lieb der Fliederbusch", op. 21 no. 1, published 1890 [ voice and piano ], from Acht volksthümliche Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 1, Offenbach, André [sung text not yet checked]
- by Rudolf Krzyzanowski (1859 - 1911), "O wär' mein Lieb" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2010-04-03
Line count: 24
Word count: 92