by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation

Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon
Language: Scottish (Scots)  after the Scottish (Scots) 
Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon,
How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair?
How can ye chaunt, ye little birds,
And I'm sae weary fu' o' care?
Ye'll break my heart, ye warbling bird,
That warbles on the flowry thorn,
Ye mind me o' departed joys.
Departed never to return.

Oft hae I rov'd by bonnie Doon,
By morning and by evening shine
To hear the birds sing o' their loves
As fondly once I sang o' mine.
Wi' lightsome heart I stretch'd my hand
And pu'd a rosebud from the tree.
But my fause lover stole the rose,
And left the thorn wi' me.

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Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Set in a modified version by David Arditti, Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir.

Set in a modified version by Percy Aldridge Grainger, Roger Quilter.

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858) , "Am Ufer des Doon", page 191, poem No. 108, first published 1840 ; composed by Robert Franz, Moritz Hauptmann, Hubert Ferdinand Kufferath.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Hans Gál (1890 - 1987) , "Du liebe Flur im Seengrund", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission ; composed by Hans Gál.
  • Also set in Scottish (Scots), [adaptation] ; composed by Hans Gál.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 107