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by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876)

I gaed a waefu' gate yestreen
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
Our translations:  FRE
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

Text 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) , "Einen schlimmen Weg", 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.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Bartsch , "Das blauäugige Mädchen", appears in Robert Burns' Lieder und Balladen, in Liebe ; composed by Wilhelm Kleinecke.
    • Go to the text.

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]

This text was added to the website: 2006-04-05
Line count: 16
Word count: 109

Einen schlimmen Weg ging gestern ich
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the Scottish (Scots) 
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, an meinem Tode Schuld 
Ist dann ihr Auge lieb und blau.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Gedichte von Ferdinand Freiligrath, 7. Aufl., Stuttgart und Tübingen, 1844.


Text Authorship:

  • by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876), "Einen schlimmen Weg", appears in Gedichte, in Robert Burns. Elf Lieder [later 13 Lieder], no. 5, first published 1838 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "The blue-eyed lassie"
    • 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 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 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Robert Franz (1815 - 1892), "Ihr Auge", op. 1 (Zwölf Gesänge) no. 1, published 1843 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Whistling [sung text not yet checked]
  • 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 [sung text not yet checked]
  • 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 [sung text checked 1 time]

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2006-04-05
Line count: 16
Word count: 103

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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