Sifflez sur ce qu'il en reste | Au début, quand Maggy me tenait à cœur

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by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

Translation © by Pierre Mathé

First when Maggy was my care

Language: Scottish (Scots)

Our translations: FRE

First when Maggy was my care,
Heaven, I thought, was in her air;
Now we're married, spier nae mair,
  [Whistle]¹ o'er the lave o't.
Meg was meek, and Meg was mild,
[Sweet and harmless as a child;]²
Wiser men than me's beguile'd,
  [Whistle]³ o'er the lave o't.

How we live, my Meg and me,
How we [love and how we 'gree]⁴
I care na by how few may see,
  Whistle o'er the lave o't.
Wha I wish were maggots' meat,
Dish'd up in her winding-sheet;
I could write, -- but Meg maun see't,
  Whistle o'er the lave o't.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• J. Haydn

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Haydn: "But whistle"
² in some editions of Burns: "Bonnie Meg was nature's child"
³ Haydn: "So whistle"
⁴ Haydn: "love, and how agree;"
Glossary

Spear = ask, enquire
Lave = rest, remainder
I care na by = I am indifferent
Maun = must

Text Authorship:

by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "First when Maggy was my care" [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 (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "Whistle o'er the lave o't", Hob. XXXIa:76bis, JHW. XXXII/3 no. 231. [voice and piano] [
text verified 1 time
]

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

FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , title 1: "Sifflez sur ce qu'il en reste", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani

This text was added to the website: 2009-07-15
Line count: 16
Word count: 101

Sifflez sur ce qu'il en reste

Language: French (Français) after the Scottish (Scots)

Au début, quand Maggy me tenait à cœur,
Je pensais qu'il y avait du ciel dans son air ;
Maintenant nous sommes mariés, n'en demandez pas plus,
  Mais sifflez sur ce qu'il en reste !
Meg était docile et Meg était tendre,
  [Douce et innocente somme un enfant]¹ :
Elle a trompé plus avisé que moi,
  [Sifflez]² sur ce qu'il en reste !

Comment nous vivons, ma Meg et moi,
Comment nous nous aimons et comment nous nous entendons,
Peu m'importe combien peu peuvent le voir,
  Sifflez sur ce qu'il en reste !
Qui  j'aimerais voir être la viande pleine d'asticots
Présentée dans son linceul,
Je pourrais l'écrire (mais Meg ne doit pas le voir),
  Sifflez sur ce qu'il en reste !

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ dans certaines editions de Burns: "La belle Meg avait la nature d'un enfant"
² Haydn : "Alors sifflez"

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), "First when Maggy was my care"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-11-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 118