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by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation by L. G. Silbergleit

O stay, sweet warbling woodlark, stay
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
O stay, sweet warbling woodlark, stay,
Nor quit me for the trembling spray,
A hapless lover courts thy lay,
  Thy soothing, fond complaining.
Again, again that tender part,
That I may catch thy melting art;
For surely that wad touch her heart
  Wha kills me wi' disdaining.

Say, was thy little mate unkind,
And heard thee as the careless wind?
Oh, nocht but love and sorrow join'd,
  Sic notes o' woe could wauken!
Thou tells o' never-ending care;
O' speechless grief, and dark despair:
For pity's sake, sweet bird, nae mair!
  Or my poor heart is broken.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with The Complete Works of Robert Burns, Volume VI, Philadelphia, Gebbie & Co., 1886, page 88. Tune: "Loch Erroch Side"; sent to George Thomson in 1798.


Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Address to the woodlark", written 1795

Go to the general single-text view

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

  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Slavíku"


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2017-04-16
Line count: 16
Word count: 97

An eine Nachtigall
 (Sung text for setting by E. Alnæs)
 Matches original text
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the Scottish (Scots) 
O, singe weiter deinen Sang.
Ich säh' dich Vöglein gern noch lang
Auf jenem schwanken Zweige.
O jenen Schlag nur noch einmal,
O lehre den mich, Nachtigall', 
Damit der Holden ich gefall,
Ihr Sinn sich zu mir neige.

Sag, war dein Liebchen lieblos auch?
War ihre Flamme eitel Rauch,
Entlocket doch solch süßen Hauch 
Nur tiefer Liebe Schmerz.
Du sprichst von Tagen freudeleer,
Verzweiflungsvoll und kummerschwer.
Erbarmen, Vöglein, sing' nicht mehr, 
Sonst bricht mein armes Herz.

Composition:

    Set to music by Eyvind Alnæs (1872 - 1932), "An eine Nachtigall", op. 6 (Fünf Gesänge für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte = Fem Sange til Texter for en Mellemstemme) no. 2, published 1897 [ voice and piano ], Christiania, Warmuth

Text Authorship:

  • by L. G. Silbergleit , "An eine Nachtigall"

Based on:

  • a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Address to the woodlark", written 1795
    • Go to the text page.

See other settings of this text.


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2017-04-16
Line count: 15
Word count: 76

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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