by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

My Heart's in the Highlands
 (Sung text for setting by D. Arditti)
 See original
Language: English 
My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here:
My heart's in the Highlands, a chasing the deer;
A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe --
My heart's in the Highlands wherever I go.
Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,
The birthplace of valour, the country of worth;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.
 
Farewell to the mountains high covered with snow;
Farewell to the straths and green valleys below;
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods;
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.
My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands a chasing the deer;
A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe --
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.

Composition:

    Set to music by David Arditti (b. 1964), "My Heart's in the Highlands", op. 1 no. 1, first performed 1994, from Burns Songs, no. 1

Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "My heart's in the Highlands"

See other settings of this text.

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

  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Mé srdce je v horách"
  • POL Polish (Polski) (Jan Kasprowicz) , "Me serce jest w górach", Warsaw, first published 1907


Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 135