by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

Language: Scottish (Scots) 
Our translations:  FRE
How lang and dreary is the night
 When I am frae my Dearie;
I restless lie frae e'en to morn
 Though I were ne'er sae weary.

Chorus. -- For oh, her lanely nights are lang!
 And oh, her dreams are eerie;
And oh, her window'd heart is sair,
 That's absent frae her Dearie!

When I think on the lightsome days
 I spent wi' thee, my Dearie;
And now what seas between us roar,
 How can I be but eerie?
       For oh, &c.

How slow ye move, ye heavy hours;
 The joyless day how dreary:
It was na sae ye glinted by,
 When I was wi' my Dearie!
       For oh, &c.

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 (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "Cauld kail in Aberdeen", Hob. XXXIa:55bis, JHW. XXXII/3 no. 226 [ voice and piano ]

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