Musing on the roaring ocean, Which divides my love and me, [Wearying]1 heaven in warm devotion For his weal where'er he be: Hope and Fear's alternate billow Yielding late to Nature's law, [Whispering]2 spirits round my pillow, Talk of him that 's far awa. Ye whom sorrow never wounded, Ye who never shed a tear, Care-untroubled, joy-surrounded, Gaudy day to you is dear. Gentle night, do thou befriend me! Downy sleep, the curtain draw! Spirits kind, again attend me, Talk of him that 's far awa!
Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 211.
1 Bennett: "Wearing" (typo?)2 Bennett: "Whisp'ring"
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Musing on the Roaring Ocean"
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Sníc u moře bouřlivého"
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Songeant à l'océan mugissant", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Georg Pertz) , "Am Strande"
Researcher for this page: Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-02
Line count: 16
Word count: 88
Traurig schau' ich von der Klippe Auf die Flut, die uns getrennt, Und mit Inbrunst fleht die Lippe: Schone seiner, Element! Furcht ist meiner Seele Meister, Ach! und Hoffnung schwindet schier; Nur im Traume bringen Geister Vom Geliebten Kunde mir. Die ihr, fröhliche Genossen, Gold'ner Tag', in Lust und Scherz, Kummerthränen nie vergossen, Ach, ihr kennt nicht meinen Schmerz! Sei mir mild, o nächt'ge Stunde! Auf das Auge senke Ruh! Holde Geister, flüstert Kunde Vom Geliebten dann mir zu.
Note for stanza 3, line 2, word 6: in the Breitkopf & Härtel edition of Clara Schumann’s songs published in the early 1990s, there is a typo here ("Schmerz" instead of "Scherz").
Composition:
- Set to music by Clara Schumann (1819 - 1896), "Am Strande", 1840, published 1841 [ voice and piano ]
Text Authorship:
- by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858), "Sehnsucht am Strande"
Based on:
- a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Musing on the Roaring Ocean"
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Aïda Raurell) , "A la riba", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (David Kenneth Smith) , no title, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Aïda Raurell) , "En la orilla", copyright © 2009, (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: 2003-11-02
Line count: 16
Word count: 83