by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation by Adolf Wilhelm Ernst von Winterfeld (1824 - 1888)
O were my Love yon lilac fair
Language: Scottish (Scots)
Our translations: SPA
O were my Love yon lilac fair, Wi' purple blossoms to the spring, And I a bird to shelter there, When wearied on my little wing; How I wad mourn when it was torn By autumn wild and winter rude! But I wad sing on wanton wing When youthfu' May its bloom renew'd. O gin my Love were yon red rose That grows upon the castle wa', And I mysel a drap o' dew, Into her bonnie breast to fa'; [O there, beyond expression blest, I'd feast on beauty a' the night; Seal'd on her silk-saft faulds to rest, Till fley'd awa' by Phoebus' light.]1
A. Beach sets stanza 2, 1
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Text Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "O were my Love yon lilac fair" [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 Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867 - 1944), "Oh were my love yon lilac fair", op. 43 (Five Burns Songs) no. 3, published 1899, stanza 2,1 [ soprano or tenor and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Frederick Brandeis (1835 - 1899), "O were my love yon lilac fair", op. 43 no. 1, published 1877 [ voice and piano ], from Four Songs, no. 1, New York: Martens Brothers, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Francis George Scott (1880 - 1958), "O were my love yon lilac fair", published 1922 [ male voice and piano ], from Scottish Lyrics, Book 2, no. 8, Bayley & Ferguson [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "O were my Love yon lilac fair", published 1889 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Henri-François-Louis-Auguste Potez (1863 - c1946) ; composed by André Gédalge, Pierre Nau.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Adolf Wilhelm Ernst von Winterfeld (1824 - 1888) , "O, wär' mein Lieb die Fliederblüth'" ; composed by Otto Bach, Ernst Paul Flügel.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by L. G. Silbergleit , "O wär' mein Lieb" ; composed by Jan Karol Gall, Eugène Jámbor, Rudolf Krzyzanowski.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876) , no title [an adaptation] ; composed by Carl Banck, Frederick Brandeis, August Conradi, Wilhelm Heiser, Ludwig Hoffmann, Carl Hohfeld, Carl August Krebs, Arnold Krug, Anton Maier, C. Adolph Oberdörffer, Hans Michael Schletterer, Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by (Johann) Philipp Kaufmann (1802 - 1846) , no title, appears in Gedichte von Robert Burns, first published 1839 [an adaptation] ; composed by Franz Bendel, Alban Maria Johannes Berg, Wilhelm Mayer.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Johann Bernhard André.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Kéž byla bys ten vonný bez"
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Elisa Rapado) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
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: 105
O, wär' mein Lieb die Fliederblüth'
Language: German (Deutsch) after the Scottish (Scots)
Our translations: ENG
O, wär' mein Lieb die Fliederblüth',
Beglänzt vom Abendsonnenschein,
Und ich das Vöglein, das sich müd',
Auf ihr in Schlummer wiegte ein.
Wie wollt' ich trauern, wenn sie dann
Die holden Glöcklein eingebüßt,
Wie wollt' ich jubeln, wenn der Mai
Sie endlich wieder wachgeküßt.
O, wär' mein Lieb ein Röslein roth,
Das auf dem Walle wächst mit Lust,
Und ich, o ich, ein Tröpflein Thau,
Das niedersänk' in ihre Brust.
O dort, auf sammtnem Blatt gewiegt,
Wollt' schwelgen ich die ganze Nacht,
An ihren duft'gen Kelch geschmiegt,
Bis daß der neue Tag erwacht.
Confirmed with Lieder und Balladen von Robert Burns. Aus dem Englischen, schottischer Mundart von A.v. Winterfeld, Berlin: Verlag von A. Hofmann & Comp., 1860, page 37
Text Authorship:
- by Adolf Wilhelm Ernst von Winterfeld (1824 - 1888), "O, wär' mein Lieb die Fliederblüth'" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "O were my Love yon lilac fair"
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Otto Bach (1833 - 1893), "O, wär' mein Lieb die Fliederblüth'", op. 11 (Lieder und Gesänge für eine Singstimme mit Clavier-Begleitung) no. 1, published 1865 [ voice and piano ], Berlin: Georg Plothow [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ernst Paul Flügel (1844 - 1912), "O wär' mein Lieb' die Fliederblüth'", op. 4 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 6, published 1867 [ voice and piano ], Greifswald, Verlag der Academischen Buchhandlung (and later: Leipzig, Leuckart, 1876) [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Oh, were my love the lilac blossom", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2009-09-14
Line count: 16
Word count: 93