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by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation © by Pierre Mathé

O how can I be blythe and glad
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
Our translations:  FRE
O how can I be blythe and glad,
    Or how can I gang brisk and braw,
When the bonie lad that I lo'e best
    Is o'er the hills and far awa ?

It's no the frosty winter wind,
    It's no the driving drift and snaw;
But aye the tear comes in my e'e,
    To think on him that's far awa.

My father pat me frae his door,
    My friends they hae disown'd me a';
But I hae ane will tak my part,
    The bonie lad that's far awa.

A pair o' glooves he bought to me,
    And silken snoods he gae me twa;
And I will wear them for his sake,
    The bonie lad that's far awa.

O, weary Winter soon will pass,
    And Spring will cleed the birken shaw;
And my young babie will be born,
    And he'll be hame that's far awa !

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 234.


Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "The Bonie Lad That's Far Awa", written 1788 [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 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827), "O how can I be blythe and glad", op. 108 (25 schottische Lieder mit Begleitung von Pianoforte, Violine und Violoncello) no. 14 (1815) [ voice, violin, violoncello, 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) , "Weit, weit!" [an adaptation] ; composed by Robert Schumann.
      • Go to the text.

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

  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Ten hodný hoch"
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le joli garçon qui est au loin", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Anonymous/Unidentified Artist) , "O wie kann ich wohl fröhlich sein"


Researcher for this page: Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2004-08-03
Line count: 20
Word count: 143

Le joli garçon qui est au loin
Language: French (Français)  after the Scottish (Scots) 
Ô comment puis-je être heureuse et gaie,
    Ou aller, vive et élégante
Quand le joli garçon que j'aime tant
    Est au-delà des collines et au loin ?

Ce n'est pas le vent glacé de l'hiver,
    Ce n'est pas la rafale battante ni la neige ;
Mais les larmes me montent toujours aux yeux
    À penser à celui qui est au loin.

Mon père m'a mise à la porte,
    Mes amis m'ont abandonnée ;
Mais j'en ai un qui prendra mon parti,
    Le joli garçon qui est au loin.

Il m'a acheté une paire de gants
    Et m'a donné deux rubans de soie ;
Et je vais les porter par amour pour lui,
    Pour le joli garçon qui est au loin.

Ô l'épuisant Hiver sera bientôt passé
    Et le Printemps habillera les bosquets de bouleaux ;
Et mon gentil petit bébé sera né,
    Et il sera à la maison, celui qui est au loin !

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. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "The Bonie Lad That's Far Awa", written 1788
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2014-07-14
Line count: 20
Word count: 148

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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