Should auld acquaintance be forgot
 And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
 And [auld]1 lang syne!
Chorus:
 For auld lang syne, my [jo]2,
   For auld lang syne,
 We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet
   For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint stowp!
 And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o'kindness yet,
 For auld lang syne.

We twa hae run about the braes,
 And [pa'd]3 the gowans fine;
But we've wander'd mony a weary [foot]4,
 Sin' auld lang syne.

We taw hae paidl'd in the burn,
 Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd,
 Sin auld lang syne.

And there 's a hand, my trusty fiere!
 And gie 's a hand o' thine!
And we'll take a right gude-willie-waught,
 For auld lang syne.

L. Beethoven sets stanzas 1, 3, 5

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Beethoven: "days o' "
² Beethoven (and some other versions of Burns): "dear"
³ Some other versions of Burns: "pou'd"
⁴ Some other versions of Burns: "fit"

Text Authorship:

• by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Auld lang syne" [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 Agathe Ursula Backer-Grøndahl (1847 - 1907), "Auld Lang Syne", op. 51 no. 10 (1902), published 1902 [ voice and piano ], from Tolv Folkeviser og Melodier fra fremmede Lande, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827), "Auld Lang Syne", WoO. 156 (12 Scottish Songs) no. 11, G. 227 no. 11, published 1818, stanzas 1,3,5 [ vocal trio, piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858) , "Die alte gute Zeit" [an adaptation] ; composed by Robert Schumann.
  • Go to the text.
    

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

• CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Dávno již"
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Mémoire du bon vieux temps", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Georg Pertz) , "Soll alte Freundschaft untergehen"
• HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (József Lévay) , "A régi múlt idő..."

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 25
Word count: 134

Jak, — staré lásky zapomnít,
   kde druhu druh stál blíž? —
jak, — staré lásky zapomnít,
   snad, že to dávno již?

   Tak dávno, brachu můj,
      tak dávno již, —
   však srdečně si připijem
      na »dávno již«!

My květy spolu trhali
   přes mnohý dol a výš;
a šli jsme cestou trnitou
   tak dávno již.

My šplouchali se v potoce,
   zda ještě o tom víš?
pak loučila nás mořská hloub
   tak dávno již. 

Zde ruka, věrný příteli,
   a k mému srdci blíž!
tak hlubý doušek nepili
   jsme dávno již!

Ty jistě do dna dopiješ
   a já svou do dna číš:
buď zdrávo vše, jak bývalo
   tak dávno již!

   Tak dávno, brachu můj,
      tak dávno již, —
   však srdečně si připijem
      na — »Dávno již«!