O wert thou in the cauld blast
On yonder lea, on yonder lea,
My plaidie to the angry airt,
I'd shelter thee, I'd shelter thee.
Or did Misfortune's bitter storms
Around thee blaw, around thee blaw,
Thy [bield]1 should be my bosom
To share it a', to share it a'.

Or were I in the wildest waste,
Sae black and bare, sae black and bare,
The desert were a Paradise
If thou wert there, if thou wert there.
Or were I monarch of the globe,
Wi' thee to reign, wi' thee to reign,
The brightest jewel in my crown
Wad be my queen, wad be my queen.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with The Complete Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, edited by James Barke with an Introduction by John Cairney, Collins, Glasgow, 1995, Page 698.

¹ note: in some editions, this is "shield"; "bield" means "shelter". Searching Google books, we can see that "bield" appears in more editions scanned than does "shield".

Text Authorship:

• by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Oh wert thou in the cauld blast"

See other settings of this text.

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

• CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "O, kdybys mraznou vichřicí…"
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (József Lévay) , "Oh, ha járnál ott a pusztán..."

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-19
Line count: 16
Word count: 108

Wärst du auf öder Haid' allein,
In Sturm und Wind, in Sturm und Wind,
Mein Mantel müsst' dein Obdach sein,
Mein süßes Kind, mein süßes Kind!
Wenn dich des Schicksals Sturm erfasst
Mit bitter'm Schmerz, mit bitter'm Schmerz,
An meiner Brust hier find'st du Rast,
Komm an mein Herz, komm an mein Herz!

Wär' ich im schwarzen Burverließ,
In Wüstenei'n, in Wüstenei'n,
Die Wüste wär' ein Paradies,
Könnt'st du, mein Lieb, nur bei mir sein.
Und wär' die weite Welt mein Thron,
Mit dir, süß Liebchen, teilt' ich ihn;
Es wär' die Perl' in meiner Kron'
Die Königin, die Königin.