by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation by Heinrich Julius Heintze (1811 - 1860)
O wert thou in the cauld blast
Language: Scottish (Scots)
Our translations: FRE
O wert thou in the cauld blast On yonder lea, on yonder lea, My plaidie to the angry airt, I'd shelter thee, I'd shelter thee. Or did Misfortune's bitter storms Around thee blaw, around thee blaw, Thy [bield]1 should be my bosom To share it a', to share it a'. Or were I in the wildest waste, Sae black and bare, sae black and bare, The desert were a Paradise If thou wert there, if thou wert there. Or were I monarch of the globe, Wi' thee to reign, wi' thee to reign, The brightest jewel in my crown Wad be my queen, wad be my queen.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with The Complete Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, edited by James Barke with an Introduction by John Cairney, Collins, Glasgow, 1995, Page 698.
1 note: in some editions, this is "shield"; "bield" means "shelter". Searching Google books, we can see that "bield" appears in more editions scanned than does "shield".Text Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Oh wert thou in the cauld blast" [author's text checked 2 times 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 Henry Hugo Pierson (1816 - 1873), as Henry Hugo Pearson, "Love", published 1842 [ voice and piano ], from 6 Lieder von Freiligrath nach R. Burns, no. 5, Leipzig, Kistner, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Francis George Scott (1880 - 1958), "O, wert thou in the cauld blast", published 1949 [ voice and piano ], from 35 Scottish Lyrics and other Poems, no. 15, Bayley & Ferguson for The Saltire Society, Glasgow, page 61 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876) , no title, appears in Gedichte, in Robert Burns. Elf Lieder [later 13 Lieder], no. 3 ; composed by Robert Franz, Adolf Jensen, Carl Kloberg, Heinrich August Marschner, Felix Mendelssohn, Henry Hugo Pierson, as Henry Hugo Pearson, Rudolf Schneider, Felix von Woyrsch.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by (Johann) Philipp Kaufmann (1802 - 1846) ; composed by Wilhelm Eckardt, Friedrich Wilhelm Jähns, Elise Schmezer.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858) ; composed by Moritz Hauptmann.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Heinrich Leuthold (1827 - 1879) , "O wenn um dich auf kahler Haid" ; composed by Wilhelm Reinhard Berger, Wilhelm Sturm.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Heinrich Julius Heintze (1811 - 1860) , "O wärst du auf dem Feld", appears in Lieder und Balladen des Schotten Robert Burns, first published 1840 ; composed by Johannes Dürrner.
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Samuil Yakovlevich Marschak (1887 - 1964) ; composed by Tikhon Nikolayevich Khrennikov, Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, Georgiy Vasil'yevich Sviridov.
- Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [an adaptation] ; composed by Hugo Alfvén.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "O, kdybys mraznou vichřicí…"
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (József Lévay) , "Oh, ha járnál ott a pusztán..."
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-19
Line count: 16
Word count: 108
O wärst du auf dem Feld
Language: German (Deutsch) after the Scottish (Scots)
O wärst du auf dem Feld im Sturm, Wenn kalt er strich', wenn kalt er strich', Mit meinem Mantel vor dem Sturm Beschirmt' ich dich, beschirmt' ich dich: Und wenn mit Ungewittern dir Das Unglück droht', das Unglück droht', Dann wär' mein Herz dein Zufluchtsort, Treu bis zum Tod, treu bis zum Tod. Und wär' ich in der wild'sten Öd', So schwarz und kahl, so schwarz und kahl, Die Wüste wär' ein Paradies Mit dir zumal, mit dir zumal. Und wär' ich Herr der Welt, und du Die Herrscherin, die Herrscherin, Der schönste Stein der Krone wär' Die Königin, die Königin.
Confirmed with Lieder und Balladen des Schotten Robert Burns. Übertragen von Heinrich Julius Heintze, Braunschweig, Verlag von George Westermann, 1840, page 248.
Text Authorship:
- by Heinrich Julius Heintze (1811 - 1860), "O wärst du auf dem Feld", appears in Lieder und Balladen des Schotten Robert Burns, first published 1840 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Oh wert thou in the cauld blast"
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Johannes Dürrner (1810 - 1859), "O wärst du auf dem Feld", op. 4 (6 Lieder von R. Burns) no. 3, published 1843 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2026-01-18
Line count: 16
Word count: 101