O wär' mein Lieb
   Der Fliederbusch,
Der drüben blüht so blau;
   Und ich ein Vogel,
   Flög ich [husch]1,
In [seinen]2 kühlen Thau.

   Ich säng' ihm Trost,
   Stünd er im Frost,
Des grünen Laubes bar;
   [Säng' wieder dann
   Hell himmelan]3
Im frohen frühen Jahr.

   Und wär' mein Lieb
   Die rothe Ros'
[An]4 jenem Wiesenrain;
   Und fiel ich doch
   [In ihren Schoß 
Als Abendthau]5 hinein.

   Wie hätt' ich da
   Die ganze Nacht
In ihrem Duft geruht;
   Wie hätt' ich [da
   Mich]6 sanft verhaucht
In früher Sonnengluth.

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View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Robert Burns' Lieder und Balladen für deutsche Leser ausgewählt und frei bearbeitet von L.G. Silbergleit, Leipzig: Druck und Verlag von Philipp Reclam jun., [no year], page 96.

¹ omitted by Gall
² Gall: "ihren"
³ Gall: "Dann säng ich / Wieder himmelan"
⁴ Krzyzanowski: "Auf"
⁵ Krzyzanowski: "Als Abendthau / Ihr in den Schoß"
⁶ Gall: "mich / So"

Authorship

• by L. G. Silbergleit , "O wär' mein Lieb" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on

• a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "O were my Love yon lilac fair"
  • Go to the text page.

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

• by Jan Karol Gall (1856 - 1912), "O wär' mein Lieb der Fliederbusch", op. 6 (Drei Lieder für Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 2, published 1882 [voice and piano], Leipzig, Leuckart [ sung text checked 1 time]
• by Eugène Jámbor (1853 - 1914), "O wär' mein Lieb der Fliederbusch", op. 21 no. 1, published 1890 [voice and piano], from Acht volksthümliche Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 1, Offenbach, André [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Rudolf Krzyzanowski (1859 - 1911), "O wär' mein Lieb" [voice and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]

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

• ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2010-04-03
Line count: 24
Word count: 85

   Oh were my love
   The lilac bush,
That yonder blooms so blue;
   And I a bird,
   I would [quickly]1 fly
Into her cool dew.

   I would sing her comfort,
   If she stood in the frost,
Denuded of her green leaves;
   Then brightly toward heaven
   I would sing again
In the joyful springtime of the year.

   And were my love
   The red rose
[Along]2 that meadow’s marge;
   And if I could only fall
   Into her calyx
As the evening dew.

   How I would then have
   Rested the entire night
In her scent;
   How I would there
   Have gently breathed my last
In the early glow of the sun.