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O, wär' mein Lieb' die rote Ros',
Die auf des Schlosses Mauer glüht!
O, wär' ich selbst der Tropfen Thau,
Den man im Kelch der Rose sieht!
...
O, wär' mein Lieb ein Holderstrauch,
Wie der, voll Blumen jeder Ast!
O, wär' ich selbst ein Vögelein!
Auf seinen Zweigen hielt' ich Rast.
Wie wollt' ich trauern, säh' ich ihn
Entblättern durch des Herbstes Wehn;
Wie singen, sähe schmuck und grün
Ich wieder ihn im Lenze stehn!
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1,3-4 of the original text.
Note: Freiligrath has divided his translation into four stanzas, where Burns' original is usually published in two. He has also rearranged the stanzas, so Burns' stanza 1 corresponds to stanzas 3 and 4 of Freiligrath.
Composition:
- Set to music by Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek (1774 - 1850), "Mein Lieb", op. 92 (Drei Gesänge) no. 2, stanzas 1,3-4 [ voice and piano ]
Text Authorship:
- by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876), no title [an adaptation]
Based on:
- a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "O were my Love yon lilac fair"
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website: 2011-04-07
Line count: 16
Word count: 104
Oh, si mon amour était la rose rouge,
Qui brille sur le mur du château !
Oh, si j'étais la goutte de rosée
Que l'on voit dans la corolle de la rose !
...
Oh, si mon amour était un lilas
Dont chaque branche serait pleine de fleurs violettes.
Et si j'étais un petit oiseau,
Sur ses branches je ferais une pause.
Comme j'étais triste quand j'ai vu
Ses feuilles arrachées par le souffle de l'automne,
Comme j'ai chanté, quand en fleurs et vert je l'ai vu
À nouveau se tenir au printemps.
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Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1,3-4 of the original text.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to French (Français) copyright © 2015 by Guy Laffaille, (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.
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876), no title [an adaptation]
Based on:
- a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "O were my Love yon lilac fair"
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This text was added to the website: 2015-07-27
Line count: 16
Word count: 120