Translation by Thomas Percy, Bishop of Dromore (1729 - 1811)
Balow, my babe, ly stil and sleipe!
Language: English  after the English
Balow, my babe, ly stil and sleipe! It grieves me sair to see thee weipe; If thoust be silent, Ise be glad, Thy maining maks my heart ful sad. Balow, my boy, thy mither's joy! Thy father breides me great annoy. Balow, my 'babe, ly stil and sleipe! It grieves me sair to see thee weipe. When he began to court my luve, And with his sugred words to muve, His faynings fals and flattering cheire To me that time did not appeire: But now I see, most cruell hee, Cares neither for my babe nor mee. Balow, etc. Ly stil, my darlinge, sleipe awhile, And when thou wakest sweitly smile: But smile not, as thy father did, To cozen maids; nay, God forbid! But yette I feire, thou wilt gae neire, Thy fatheris hart and face to beire. Balow, etc. I cannae chuse, but ever will Be luving to thy father stil: Whaireir he gae, whaireir he ryde, My luve with him maun stil abyde: In weil or wae, whaireir he gae, Mine hart can neir depart him frae. Balow, etc. But doe not, doe not, prettie mine, To faynings fals thine hart incline; Be loyal to thy luver trew, And nevir change hir for a new; If gude or faire, of hir have care, For womens banning's wonderous sair. Balow, etc. Bairne, sin thy cruel father is gane, Thy winsome smiles maun eise my paine; My babe and I 'll together live, He'll comfort me when cares doe grieve; My babe and I right saft will ly, And quite forgeit man's cruelty. Balow, etc. Fareweil, fareweil, thou falsest youth That ever kist a woman's mouth! I wish all maids be warned by mee, Nevir to trust man's curtesy; For if we doe but chance to bow, They'll use us then they care not how. Balow, my 'babe, ly stil and sleipe! It grieves me sair to see thee weipe.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Bishop Thomas Percy, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, sixth Edition, vol. III, London: Samuel Richards & Co., 1823. Appears in Series II, Book the Second, pages 22 - 24.
This poem inspired Arnaud Berquin's French poem Plaintes d'une femme abandonnée par son amant, auprès du berceau de son fils.
Authorship:
- by Thomas Percy, Bishop of Dromore (1729 - 1811), "Lady Ann Bothwell's Lament: A Scottish Song", appears in Reliques of Ancient English Poetry [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Balowe"
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Bernard van Dieren (1887 - 1936), "Balow", 1924, published 1925 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 - 1814), "Lady Ann Bothwell's Lament", 1798 [ voice and piano ], from Wiegenlieder für gute deutsche Mütter, no. 16, Leipzig: bei Gerhard Fleischer der Jüngern [sung text checked 2 times]
Set in a modified version by John Linton Gardner.
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, [adaptation] ; composed by James Mulholland.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Johann Gottfried Herder (1744 - 1803) , "Wiegenlied einer unglücklichen Mutter", appears in Stimmen der Völker in Liedern, in 3. Das dritte Buch. Nordwestliche Lieder, first published 1778 ; composed by Johann Friedrich Reichardt, Christof Rheineck.
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Melanie Trumbull
This text was added to the website: 2005-11-11
Line count: 51
Word count: 321