Powers celestial, whose protection Ever guards the virtuos fair, While in distant climes I wander, Let my Mary be your care: Let her form sae fair and faultless, Fair and fautless as your own: Let my Mary’s kindred spirit Draw your choicest influence down. Make the gales you waft around her, Soft and peaceful as her breast; Breathing in the breeze that fans her, Soothe her bosom into rest: Guardian angels, O protect her, When in distant lands I roam; To realms unknown while fate exiles me, Make her bosom still my home.
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Prayer for Mary" [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):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by L. G. Silbergleit ; composed by Carl Goldmark.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by (Johann) Philipp Kaufmann (1802 - 1846) , no title, appears in Gedichte von Robert Burns ; composed by W. Cramer, Ferdinand Gumbert, Joseph Rheinberger, Alexander Winterberger.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Heinrich Julius Heintze (1811 - 1860) , "Mary", appears in Lieder und Balladen des Schotten Robert Burns ; composed by Johannes Dürrner.
Researcher for this page: Rudi Spring
This text was added to the website: 2014-09-26
Line count: 16
Word count: 93
Himmlische Mächte! deren Auge Über frommen Mädchen wacht, Wenn in fernem Land ich weile, Habt auf meine Mary Acht! Ihre Schönheit, rein und edel, Euer reines, edles Bild, Meiner Mary Engelsgüte Werb' ihr Euern Schirm und Schild! Still und friedlich macht die Lüfte Um sie her, wie ihre Brust; Durch den Hauch, der sie umsäuselt, Weht ins Herz ihr Ruh' und Lust! O beschützet sie, Ihr Engel! Und wenn mich das Schicksal bannt Fremde Reiche zu durchschweifen, Sei ihr Herz mein Vaterland!
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Lieder und Balladen des Schotten Robert Burns. Übertragen von Heinrich Julius Heintze, Braunschweig, Verlag von George Westermann, 1840, page 57.
Note: in many older editions, the spelling of the capitalized word "über" becomes "Ueber", but this is often due to the printing process and not to rules of orthography; so since the lower-case version is not "ueber", we use "Über".
Text Authorship:
- by Heinrich Julius Heintze (1811 - 1860), "Mary", appears in Lieder und Balladen des Schotten Robert Burns [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Prayer for Mary"
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), "Himmlische Mächte", op. 5 (6 Lieder von R. Burns) no. 4, published 1844 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Klemm [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2026-01-18
Line count: 16
Word count: 82