by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

Thou gloomy December
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
Available translation(s): FRE
Ance mair I hail thee, thou gloomy December!
    Ance mair I hail thee wi' sorrow and care !
Sad was the parting thou makes me remember,
    Parting wi' Nancy, O, ne'er to meet mair !"

Fond lovers parting is sweet painful pleasure,
    Hope beaming mild on the soft parting hour;
But the dire feeling, O farewell for ever !
    Anguish unmingled and agony pure !

Wild as the winter now tearing the forest,
    Till the last leaf o' the summer is flown,
Such is the tempest has shaken my bosom,
    Till my last hope and last comfort is gone !

Still as I hail thee, thou gloomy December,
    Still shall I hail thee wi' sorrow and care;
For sad was the parting thou makes me remember,
    Parting wi' Nancy, O, ne'er to meet mair !

Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 263.


Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

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Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in English, [adaptation] ; composed by Ludwig van Beethoven.

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

  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Encore une fois je te salue", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2014-07-26
Line count: 16
Word count: 135