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.
- 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.
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
Já nešťastný měl včera den, ó krutý ach mne osud stih', já pohledem byl usmrcen dvou krásných očí chrpových. To nebyl její zlatý vlas, ne rty, dvé puků růžových, ne liliových ňader jas, — to hrot byl z očí chrpových! Jen slovíčko, jen usmání, a srdce měla v léčkách svých, — ó krutý žel, jak v prsa vjel mi hrot z těch očí chrpových. Však marno lkát, — snad přece dbát, ač krutá, bude slibů mých, a ne-li, dám se pochovat u těch dvou očí chrpových.
Confirmed with BURNS, Robert. Výbor z písní a ballad, translated by Josef Václav Sládek, Praha: J. Otto, 1892.
Text Authorship:
- by Josef Václav Sládek (1845 - 1912), "Chrpové oči" [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"
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: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-08-12
Line count: 16
Word count: 86