by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Auld Lang Syne
Language: Scottish (Scots)
Our translations: FRE
Should auld acquaintance be forgot And never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And [auld]1 lang syne! Chorus: For auld lang syne, my [jo]2, For auld lang syne, We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne. And surely ye'll be your pint stowp! And surely I'll be mine! And we'll tak a cup o'kindness yet, For auld lang syne. We twa hae run about the braes, And [pa'd]3 the gowans fine; But we've wander'd mony a weary [foot]4, Sin' auld lang syne. We taw hae paidl'd in the burn, Frae morning sun till dine; But seas between us braid hae roar'd, Sin auld lang syne. And there 's a hand, my trusty fiere! And gie 's a hand o' thine! And we'll take a right gude-willie-waught, For auld lang syne.
L. Beethoven sets stanzas 1, 3, 5
1 Beethoven: "days o' "
2 Beethoven (and some other versions of Burns): "dear"
3 Some other versions of Burns: "pou'd"
4 Some other versions of Burns: "fit"
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Auld lang syne" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Agathe Ursula Backer-Grøndahl (1847 - 1907), "Auld Lang Syne", op. 51 no. 10 (1902), published 1902 [ voice and piano ], from Tolv Folkeviser og Melodier fra fremmede Lande, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827), "Auld Lang Syne", WoO. 156 (12 Scottish Songs) no. 11, G. 227 no. 11, published 1818, stanzas 1,3,5 [ vocal trio, piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858) , "Die alte gute Zeit" [an adaptation] ; composed by Robert Schumann.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Dávno již"
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Mémoire du bon vieux temps", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Georg Pertz) , "Soll alte Freundschaft untergehen"
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (József Lévay) , "A régi múlt idő..."
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 25
Word count: 134