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 – ownText 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.
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation ; composed by Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich.
- 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.
- 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.]
- 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
Chorus. O Jenny is all wet, poor body, Jenny is seldom dry: She draggled all her petticoats, Coming through the rye! Coming through the rye, poor body, Coming through the rye, She draggled all her petticoats, Coming through the rye! Should a body meet a body Coming through the rye, Should a body kiss a body, Need a body cry? Should a body meet a body Coming through the glen, Should a body kiss a body, Need the world know? Should a body meet a body Coming through the grain, Should a body kiss a body, The thing is a body's own.
The text shown is a variant of another text. [ View differences ]
It is based on
- a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Comin thro' the rye"
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906 - 1975), "Coming through the rye", 1943, first performed 1944 [ voice(s) and orchestra ], from Eight British and American Folk Songs, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-19
Line count: 21
Word count: 102