by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation by Georg Pertz (1830 - 1870)
How cruel are the parents
Language: English
Our translations: FRE
How cruel are the parents
Who riches only prize,
And to the wealthy booby
Poor woman sacrifice !
Meanwhile the hapless daughter
Has but a choice of strife :
To shun a tyrant father's hate,
Become a wretched wife !
The rav'ning hawk pursuing,
The trembling dove thus flies :
To shun [impending]1 ruin
A while her pinions tries;
'Till of escape despairing,
No shelter or retreat,
She trusts the ruthless falconer,
And drops beneath his feet.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 281.
1 Beethoven: "impelling" (?)
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "How cruel are the parents" [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), "Helpless woman", WoO. 155 (26 Walisische Lieder) no. 13 (1809-10) [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Ó, rodičové krutí"
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Comme les parents sont cruels", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Georg Pertz) , "Kalt ist der Eltern Busen"
Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani
This text was added to the website: 2006-01-11
Line count: 16
Word count: 74
Kalt ist der Eltern Busen
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Kalt ist der Eltern Busen Und hart wie Stein und Erz, Die schnödem Mammon opfern Ein armes Frauenherz. Dieweil der Unglücksel'gen Nur bleibt die bittre Wahl: Hier eines harten Vaters Zorn, Dort lebenslange Qual. So vor dem grimmen Falken Sicht Schutz die Taube bang, Den Mörder hart im Nacken, Flieht sie und duckt sich lang; Bis sie zuletzt verzweifelnd, Wenn nirgends Rettung winkt, Dem wilden Falkner sich vertraut Und him zu Füßen sinkt.
Text Authorship:
- by Georg Pertz (1830 - 1870), "Kalt ist der Eltern Busen" [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "How cruel are the parents"
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: Ferdinando Albeggiani
This text was added to the website: 2006-01-11
Line count: 16
Word count: 73