In Westen | Im Westen | Ich schau' über Forth hinüber nach Nord

by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

Translation by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858)

Out over the Forth

Language: Scottish (Scots)

Out over the Forth, I look to the north;
But what is the north and its Highlands to me? 
The south nor the east gie ease to my breast,
The far foreign land, or the wide rolling sea. 

But I look to the west when I gae to my rest,
That happy my dreams and my slumbers may be;
For far in the west lives he I love best,
The man that is dear to my babie and me.

Text Authorship:

by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Out over the Forth" [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 Humphrey Procter-Gregg (1895 - 1980), "Out over the Forth" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "Out over the Forth", 1885, published 1886 [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs by Robert Burns, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858) , "In Westen" ; composed by Ivar Hallström, Heinrich August Marschner, Robert Schumann.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-19
Line count: 8
Word count: 79

Ich schau' über Forth hinüber nach Nord

Language: German (Deutsch) after the Scottish (Scots)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FRE

   Ich schau' über Forth hinüber nach Nord:
Was helfen mir Nord und Hochlands Schnee?
Was Osten und Süd, wo die Sonne glüht,
Das ferne Land und die wilde See?
 
   Aus Westen winkt, wo die Sonne sinkt,
Was mich im Schlummer und Traume beglückt;
Im Westen wohnt, der mir Liebe lohnt,
Mich und mein Kindlein an's Herz gedrückt!

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Robert Burns’ Gedichte deutsch von W. Gerhard, Leipzig: Verlag von Joh. Ambr. Barth, 1840, page 125

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858), "In Westen" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Out over the Forth"
- 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 Ivar Hallström (1826 - 1901), "Im Westen" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Heinrich August Marschner (1795 - 1861), "Ich schau' über Forth ", op. 107 no. 1, published 1841 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], from Robert Burns Lieder für Tenor oder Sopran, no. 1, Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Im Westen", op. 25 no. 23 (1840), published 1840 [ voice and piano ], from Myrten, no. 23, Leipzig, Kistner [sung text checked 1 time]

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

Research team for this page: Pilar Lirio , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-19
Line count: 8
Word count: 58