Song -- Farewell to Eliza | From thee, Eliza, I must go

by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

From thee, Eliza, I must go

Language: Scottish (Scots)

Available translation(s): FRE ITA

From thee, Eliza, I must go,
  And from my native shore;
The cruel fates between us throw
  A boundless ocean's roar:
But boundless oceans, roaring wide,
  Between my love and me,
They never, never can divide
  My heart and soul from thee.
 
Farewell, farewell, Eliza dear,
  The maid that I adore!
A boding voice is in mine ear,
  We part to meet no more!
But the latest throb that leaves my heart,
  While Death stands victor by, -- 
That throb, Eliza, is thy part,
  And thine that latest sigh!

About the headline (FAQ)

Tune -- "Gilderoy."

Authorship:

by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), title 1: "Song : From thee Eliza", title 2: "Song -- Farewell to Eliza ", written 1786 [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 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827), "From thee, Eliza, I must go", WoO 158c no. 5 (1818), from Six Songs of various Nationalities, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "Farewell to Eliza", op. 246 no. 1 (2002) [ chorus a cappella ], from Four Partsongs to Lyrics by Robert Burns, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "From thee, Eliza, I must go", JHW. XXXII/5 no. 385, Hob. XXXIa no. 217, one of the Scottish Songs for William Whyte arranged by Haydn [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in French (Français), a translation by Henri-François-Louis-Auguste Potez (b. 1863) ; composed by André Gédalge.
Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by (Johann) Philipp Kaufmann (1802 - 1846) , appears in Gedichte von Robert Burns, first published 1839 ; composed by Carl Ferdinand Konradin, Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, Joseph Rheinberger, Julius Weiss.

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

CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "S bohem, Elize"

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-14
Line count: 16
Word count: 88