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How long and dreary is the night
When I am frae my Dearie;
I restless lie frae e'en tae morn
Though I were ne'er sae weary.
...
When I think on the lightsome days
I spent wi' thee, my Dearie;
And now what lands between us lie,
How can I be but eerie?
For oh, &c.
How slow ye move, ye heavy hours;
As ye were wae and weary
It was na sae ye glinted by,
When I was wi' my Dearie!
For oh, &c.
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1,3-4 of the original text.
Note: the Burns text appears in the White score as if it is a translation of this German text (or vice versa), but although they are both set to the same music, they are unrelated textually.
Glossary:
Eerie = affected with fear or dread
Window'd = widowed
Glinted = passed quickly like a transient gleam
Composition:
- Set to music by Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867 - 1944), "Dearie", op. 43 (Five Burns Songs) no. 1, published c1899, stanzas 1,3-4
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Song -- How lang and dreary is the night"
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Jak dlouhá, smutná je ta noc"
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Comme la nuit est longue et maussade", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 118
Comme la nuit est longue et maussade,
Quand je suis séparée de mon chéri !
Sans repos, je suis allongée du soir au matin
Et je n'ai jamais été aussi fatiguée.
...
Quand je pense aux jours lumineux¹
Que j'ai passés avec toi, mon chéri,
Et maintenant qu'entre nous rugissent² des mers³,
Comment ne puis-je être épouvantée ?
Comme vous avancez lentement, heures pesantes !
Comme ce triste jour est maussade !⁴
Ce n'est pas ainsi que vous brilliez,
Quand j'étais avec mon chéri !
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1,3-4 of the original text.
A. Beach a mis en musique les strophes 1-3 (sans refrain)M. White a mis en musique les strophes 2-3
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Scottish (Scots) to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Pierre Mathé, (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 Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Song -- How lang and dreary is the night"
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This text was added to the website: 2014-08-04
Line count: 17
Word count: 107