by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation by Heinrich Julius Heintze (1811 - 1860)

The Tear‑Drop
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
Wae is my heart, and the tear's in my e'e;
Lang, lang has Joy been a stranger to me:
Forsaken and friendless, my burden I bear,
And the sweet voice o' Pity ne'er sounds in my ear.

Love thou hast pleasures, and deep hae I luv'd;
Love, thou hast sorrows, and sair hae I pruv'd;
But this bruised heart that now bleeds in my breast,
I can feel, by its throbbings, will soon be at rest.

Oh, if I were - where happy I hae been -
Down by yon stream, and yon bonnie castle-green;
For there he is wand'ring and musing on me,
Wha wad soon dry the tear-drop that clings to my e'e.

Note: Beethoven uses the second verse of this text between two verses by Anne Grant in the song "In vain to this desert my fate I deplore".

Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "The Tear-Drop", written 1794

Go to the general single-text view

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


Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2009-05-23
Line count: 12
Word count: 113

O schwer ist mein Herz und im Auge die Trän
 (Sung text for setting by F. Hiller)
 See original
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the Scottish (Scots) 
O schwer ist mein Herz und im Auge die Trän';
lang' hab' kein Freud' ich mehr geseh'n.
Verlassen, allein, seit mein Lieb ich verlor,
klingt nimmer des Mitleids Stimm' in mein Ohr.

O Lieb', du hast Freuden - wie hab' ich geliebt!
O Lieb', du hast Schmerzen - die schwer mich betrübt!
Doch dies wunde Herz, es verblutet nun wohl,
ich fühl's, dass bald es nicht schlagen mehr soll!

O wär' ich noch glücklich, wo sonst ich beglückt,
am Strom, wo manch Blümchen die Schlossau schmückt!
Dort wandelt und denket nun meiner der Mann,
der die Tränen im Auge mir trocknen nur kann!

Composition:

Text Authorship:

Based on:

See other settings of this text.


Researcher for this page: Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2020-06-17
Line count: 12
Word count: 102