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by Thomas Percy, Bishop of Dromore (1729 - 1811)
Translation

Balow, Lalow
Language: English  after the English 
Balow, lalow! Balow! lalow!
Balow, my babe, lie still and sleep!
It grieves me sore to see thee weep.
Wouldst thou be quiet I'se be glad,
Thy mourning makes my sorrow sad:
Balow my boy, thy mother's joy,
Thy father breeds me great annoy
Balow, lalow!

When he began to court my love,
And with his sugred words me move,
His faining false and flattering cheer
To me that time did not appear;
But now I see most cruelly
He cares not for my babe nor me
Balow, lalow!

Lie still my darling sleep a while
and when thou wak'st thou'le surely smile;
But smile not as thy father did,
To cozen maids -- nay, God forbid!
But yet I fear thou wilt go near
Thy father's heart and face to bear
Balow, lalow!

I cannot choose but ever will
Be loving to thy father still;
Where'er he go, where'er he ride,
my love with him doth still abide;
In weal or woe, where'er he go
My heart shall ne'er depart him fro,
Ah!

The text shown is a variant of another text. [ View differences ]
It is based on

  • a text in English by Thomas Percy, Bishop of Dromore (1729 - 1811), "Lady Ann Bothwell's Lament: A Scottish Song", appears in Reliques of Ancient English Poetry [an adaptation]
    • Go to the text page.
It is based on
  • a text in English from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Balowe"
    • Go to the text page.

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

  • by James Mulholland (b. 1935), "Balow, Lalow" [soprano, violoncello, and piano], from Four Love Songs, no. 1 [ sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Johann Gottfried Herder (1744 - 1803) , "Wiegenlied einer unglücklichen Mutter", appears in Stimmen der Völker in Liedern, in 3. Das dritte Buch. Nordwestliche Lieder, first published 1778 ENG ENG ; composed by Johann Friedrich Reichardt, Christof Rheineck.
      • Go to the text.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-04-15
Line count: 29
Word count: 173

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