LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,133)
  • Text Authors (19,544)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,114)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation by Josef Václav Sládek (1845 - 1912)

Comin thro' the rye
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
Our translations:  FRE
O, Jenny's a' weet, poor body,
Jenny's seldom dry:
She draigl't a' her petticoatie,
Comin thro' the rye!
Chorus:
  Comin thro' the rye, poor body,
  Comin thro' the rye,
  She draigl't a' her petticoatie,
  Comin thro' the rye!

Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro' the rye,
Gin a body kiss a body,
Need a body cry?
  (chorus)

Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro' the glen
Gin a body kiss a body,
Need the warl' ken?
  (chorus)

Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro' the grain;
Gin a body kiss a body,
The thing's a body's ain.
  (chorus)

Glossary

    weet – wet
    draigl't – draggled
    gin – if, should
    cry – call out [for help]
    warl – world
    ken – know
    ain – own

Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Comin thro' the rye" [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 Cyril Meir Scott (1879 - 1970), "Comin thro' the rye", published 1922 [ voice and piano ], London: Elkin [sung text not yet checked]

Set in a modified version by Helen Hopekirk.

    • Go to the text. [ view differences ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in English, a translation ; composed by Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich.
      • Go to the text.
  • Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Samuil Yakovlevich Marschak (1887 - 1964) , no title [an adaptation] ; composed by Vladislav Igorevich Kazenin, Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich.
      • Go to the text.
  • Also set in Swiss German (Schwizerdütsch), a translation by August Corrodi (1826 - 1885) ; composed by Friedrich Niggli.
      • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]

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

  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Jak šla žitem"
  • FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Valter Juva) , "Tullut läpi viljan", written 1918
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "En venant à travers le seigle", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2019-03-08
Line count: 24
Word count: 102

Jak šla žitem
Language: Czech (Čeština)  after the Scottish (Scots) 
Jak šla žitem Jenny malá,
   jak šla přes tu mez,
sukničku si urousala
   ubožátko dnes.

Ubožátko, Jenny malá,
   často jako dnes
sukničku si urousala,
   jak šla přes tu mez.

Někoho-li potká někdo,
   jak jde žitem kdes,
někoho-li zhubičkuje,
   nač by někdo hles'?

Někoho-li potká někdo,
   jak jde skrze les,
někoho-li zhubičkuje,
   má to zvědět ves?

Ubožátko, Jenny malá,
   často jako dnes
sukničku si urousala,
   jak šla přes tu mez.

Confirmed with BURNS, Robert. Výbor z písní a ballad, translated by Josef Václav Sládek, Praha: J. Otto, 1892.


Text Authorship:

  • by Josef Václav Sládek (1845 - 1912), "Jak šla žitem" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Comin thro' the rye"
    • 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):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2019-08-12
Line count: 20
Word count: 69

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris