Ae fond kiss | Ae fond kiss, and then we sever!

by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

Ae fond kiss

Language: Scottish (Scots)

Our translations: FRE

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever!
Ae fareweel, and then for ever!
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.
Who shall say that Fortune grieves him,
While the star of hope she leaves him?
Me, nae chearful twinkle lights me;
Dark despair around benights me.

I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy:
Naething could resist my Nancy!
But to see her, was to love her,
Love but her, and love for ever.
Had we never lov'd sae kindly,
Had we never lov'd sae blindly,
Never met - or never parted-
We had ne'er been broken-hearted.-

Fare-thee-weel, thou first and fairest!
Fare-thee-weel, thou best and dearest!
Thine be ilka joy and treasure,
Peace, Enjoyment, Love and Pleasure!
Ae fond kiss, and then we sever!
Ae fareweel, alas, for ever!
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.

Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 163.

Text Authorship:

by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), note: often sung to the tune of Rory Dall's port [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 Agathe Ursula Backer-Grøndahl (1847 - 1907), "Ae fond kiss", op. 51 no. 11 (1902), published 1902 [ voice and piano ], from Tolv Folkeviser og Melodier fra fremmede Lande, no. 11 [sung text not yet checked]
by Gordon Ware Binkerd (1916 - 2003), "Ae fond kiss", published c1985, from Songs of love and affection [sung text not yet checked]
by (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "Ae fond kiss", Hob. XXXIa no. 131, JHW. XXXII/2 no. 131 [sung text not yet checked]
by William Mayer (b. 1925), "Ae fond kiss " [ SSATB chorus, flute, violoncello, and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858) , "Lebewohl" ; composed by Hubert Ferdinand Kufferath, Heinrich August Marschner.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Ještě jedno políbení"

Researcher for this page: Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 148