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 text without footnotesConfirmed 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
Ó, rodičové krutí, jež mámí zlata zjev, že bohatému hlupci svou obětují krev, že ubohé jich dceři v tom boji zbývá jen buď otcův hněv, aneb se stát tou nejbídnější z žen. Tak chvějící se holub, když stíhán sokolem, před hrozící mu zkázou se vznáší nad polem; až nenalézá spásy a lovci krutému v svém důvěřuje zoufání a k nohám padne mu.
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), "Ó, rodičové krutí" [author's text checked 1 time 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: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-08-11
Line count: 16
Word count: 62