Again rejoicing Nature sees Her robe assume its vernal hues, ; Her leafy locks wave in the breeze, All freshly steep'd in morning dews. [Refrain : And maun I still on Menie doat, And bear the scorn that 's in her e'e ? For it's jet, jet black, an' it's like a hawk, An' it winna let a body be!]1 In vain to me the cowslips blaw, In vain to me the vi'lets spring ; In vain to me in glen or shaw, The mavis and the lintwhite sing. [Refrain : And maun I still on Menie doat, And bear the scorn that 's in her e'e ? For it's jet, jet black, an' it's like a hawk, An' it winna let a body be!]1 The merry ploughboy cheers his team, Wi' joy the tentie seedsman stalks; But life to me's a weary dream, A dream of ane that never wauks. [Refrain : And maun I still on Menie doat, And bear the scorn that 's in her e'e ? For it's jet, jet black, an' it's like a hawk, An' it winna let a body be!]1 The wanton coot the water skims, Amang the reeds the ducklings cry, The stately swan majestic swims, And ev'ry thing is blest but I. [Refrain : And maun I still on Menie doat, And bear the scorn that 's in her e'e ? For it's jet, jet black, an' it's like a hawk, An' it winna let a body be!]1 The sheep-herd steeks his faulding slap, And o'er the moorlands whistles shill ; Wi' wild, unequal, wand'ring step, I meet him on the dewy hill. [Refrain : And maun I still on Menie doat, And bear the scorn that 's in her e'e ? For it's jet, jet black, an' it's like a hawk, An' it winna let a body be!]1 And when the lark 'tween light and dark, Blythe waukens by the daisy's side, And mounts and sings on flitt'ring wings, A wae-worn ghaist I hameward glide. [Refrain : And maun I still on Menie doat, And bear the scorn that 's in her e'e ? For it's jet, jet black, an' it's like a hawk, An' it winna let a body be!]1 Come, Winter, with thine angry howl, And raging bend the naked tree; Thy gloom will soothe my cheerless soul, When Nature all is sad like me! [Refrain : And maun I still on Menie doat, And bear the scorn that 's in her e'e ? For it's jet, jet black, an' it's like a hawk, An' it winna let a body be!]1
J. Haydn sets stanzas 1-3, 5-7
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 77.
1 omitted by HaydnGlossary:
Shaw = woody grove by a water sideMavis = trush
Lintwhite = linnet
Tentie = cautious
Wauks = wakens
Steeks = closes
Slap = gate to the sheep-fold
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Composed in Spring" [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 (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "I wish my Love were in a myre", JHW XXXII/3 no. 158, Hob. XXXIa no. 177, stanzas 1-3,5-7 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Mennie"
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani , Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2010-01-10
Line count: 56
Word count: 430
Zas příroda se odívá v své jarní roucho veselé a větříkem jí povívá vlas mokrý z rosné koupele. A na Menie-li myslím jen tak stále bez vší naděje? neb oči má jak šotky dva a každému se vysměje. Nač petrklíčem údolí, nač fialkami kvete hvozd? mně marně v háji šveholí tu konopka a jinde drozd. Svým polem chodí rozsévač, hoch vesel volky pohání, já chodím jako ve snu spáč a ze sna není probrání. Tam slípka vodu rozrývá, zde kachny křičí v sítině, tu hrá si labuť sněživá a já jsem smuten jedině. Svou lísu ovčák zavírá a pohvizduje slatinou, já v soumrak hledím do čirá, jak potkávám ho pěšinou. A v červánku sbor skřivánků když od chudobek, od blatuch se zvedá výš v nebeskou říš, jdu domů jako bludný duch. Ó zaduj, zimo, přes vody a nahé stromy oděj v sníh, ten smutek celé přírody žal utiší snad v prsou mých. A na Menie-li myslím jen tak stále bez vší naděje? neb oči má jak šotky dva a každému se vysměje.
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), "Mennie" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Composed in Spring"
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: 36
Word count: 172