O wär' mein Lieb' jen' Röslein roth Dort an dem alten Burgverließ, und o wär ich ein Tröpflein Thau, und fiel ihm die Brüst so süß! O Wonnemeer, in dem ich schwelg', An seinem Reiz ich selig hing, Die ganze Nacht in seinem Kelch Bis ich im Morgenstrahl verging.
Note: due to a similarity in first lines, this text is often erroneously indicated to be a (very loose) translation of Burns' poem O my Luve's like a red, red rose, but this is in fact a translation of the second stanza of "Oh were my love yon lilac fair". For some reason, Kaufmann does not appear to have translated the first stanza; also he divided the stanza he translated into two four-line stanzas. Further confusing matters, Bendel's setting of this text is subtitled "Ungarisch" (according to Hofmeister), which would normally indicate that the text is a translation from the Hungarian.
Composition:
- Set to music by Alban Maria Johannes Berg (1885 - 1935), "O wär mein Lieb' jen' Röslein Rot", alternate title: "Wär ich ein Tröpflein Thau", 1906 [ voice and piano ], from Jugendlieder, Vol. II (1904-08), no. 51
Text Authorship:
- by (Johann) Philipp Kaufmann (1802 - 1846), no title, appears in Gedichte von Robert Burns, first published 1839 [an adaptation]
Based on:
- a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "O were my Love yon lilac fair"
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Manuel Capdevila i Font) , "Oh, si el meu amor fos aquella petita rosa vermella", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-06-04
Line count: 8
Word count: 49