I gaed a waefu' gate yestreen, A gate I fear I'll dearly rue: I gat my death frae twa sweet een, Twa lovely een o' bonie blue! 'Twas not her golden ringlets bright, Her lips like roses wat wi' dew, Her heaving bosom lily-white: It was her een sae bonie blue. She talk'd, she smil'd, my heart she wyl'd, She charm'd my soul I wist na how; And ay the stound, the deadly wound, Cam frae her een sae bonie blue. But 'spare to speak, and spare to speed' - She'll aiblins listen to my vow: Should she refuse, I'll lay my dead To her twa een sae bonie blue.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 230.Glossary:
Blathrie = nonsense
Gate = road
Een = eyes
Wyl'd = beguiled by flattery
Wist = knew
Stound = ache, pain
Aiblins = perhaps
Authorship
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "The blue-eyed lassie" [author's text checked 2 times 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 (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "The blathrie o't", JHW XXXII/3 no. 165, Hob. XXXIa no. 162 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876) , appears in Gedichte, in Robert Burns. Elf Lieder [later 13 Lieder], no. 5, first published 1838 ; composed by Louis Ehlert, Robert Franz, Adolf Jensen, Heinrich August Marschner.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Chrpové oči"
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Text added to the website: 2006-04-05 00:00:00
Last modified: 2014-09-22 10:18:12
Line count: 16
Word count: 110
Einen schlimmen Weg ging gestern ich, Einen Weg, dem ich nicht wieder trau'! Zwei süße Augen trafen mich, Zwei süße Augen lieb und blau. Nicht war's ihr blond und wallend Haar, Nicht war's ihr Mund, die Ros' im Thau, Auch nicht ihre weiße Brust, Es war ihr süßes Auge, lieb und blau. Ihr Aug' hat mir das Herz bethört, Ihr Auge, mit der dunklen Brau; O tief're Wunden als ein Schwert, Schlug mir dies Auge, lieb und blau. Geduld mein Herz, Geduld, Geduld! Vielleicht doch wehe mir! Weis't sie rauh mich ab, weis't sie rauh mich ab; An meinem Tode schuld ist dann ihr Auge, lieb und blau.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship
- by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876), appears in Gedichte, in Robert Burns. Elf Lieder [later 13 Lieder], no. 5, first published 1838 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
- a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "The blue-eyed lassie"
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)
- by Louis Ehlert (1825 - 1884), "Einen schlimmen Weg", op. 4 (Sechs Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1847 [voice and piano], Leipzig, Peters [text not verified]
- by Robert Franz (1815 - 1892), "Ihr Auge", op. 1 (Zwölf Gesänge) no. 1, published 1843 [voice and piano], Leipzig, Whistling [text not verified]
- by Adolf Jensen (1837 - 1879), "Einen schlimmen Weg ging gestern ich", op. 49 no. 3, published 1874 [voice and piano], from Sieben Lieder von Robert Burns, no. 3, Breslau, Hainauer [text not verified]
- by Heinrich August Marschner (1795 - 1861), "Einen schlimmen Weg ging gestern ich", op. 103 ([Sieben] Lieder nach Rob. Burns von F. Freiligrath für Sopran oder Tenor) no. 3, published 1838 [soprano or tenor and piano], Mainz, Schott [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Text added to the website: 2006-04-05 00:00:00
Last modified: 2014-09-19 14:55:00
Line count: 16
Word count: 108