Oh, si mon amour était la rose rouge

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by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876)

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

O wär' mein Lieb' die rote Ros'

(Sung text for setting by A. Maier)

See original

Language: German (Deutsch) after the Scottish (Scots)

Our translations: ENG FRE

O, wär' mein Lieb' die rote Ros',
Die auf des Schlosses Mauern glüht!
O, wär' ich selbst der Tropfen Thau,
Den man im Kelch der Rose sieht!

An ihrem Busen immerdar
Läg' ich, und schwelgt' in trunkner Lust;
Bis Morgens, wenn der Tag erwacht,
Läg' ich an ihrer süßen Brust.

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 des Novembers Wehn;
Wie singen, sähe blüh'nd und grün
Ich wieder ihn im Lenze stehn!

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:

Anton Maier

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"
- Go to the text page.

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

(Sung text translation for setting by A. Maier)

See original

Language: French (Français) after the German (Deutsch)

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 !

Si sur son sein la nuit entière
Je me posais et faisais silence enivré par le plaisir
Jusqu'au matin, où le jour s'éveillerait,
Si je me posais sur son sein.

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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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. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876), no title [an adaptation]
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "O were my Love yon lilac fair"
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2015-07-27
Line count: 16
Word count: 120