John Anderson, my jo, John, When we were first acquent, Your locks were like the raven, Your bonie brow was brent; But now your brow is beld, John, Your locks are like the snaw; But blessings on your frosty pow, John Anderson, my jo! John Anderson, my jo, John, We clamb the hill thegither, And mony a cantie day, John, We've had wi' ane anither: Now we maun totter down, John, But hand in hand we'll go, And sleep thegither at the foot, John Anderson, my jo!
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 223.
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "John Anderson, my jo" [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 David Arditti (b. 1964), "John Anderson", op. 1 no. 8, first performed 1994, from Burns Songs, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "John Anderson, my jo", JHW. XXXII/5 no. 390, Hob. XXXIa no. 2bis [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "John Anderson", JHW. XXXII/1 no. 2, Hob. XXXIa no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910 - 1998), "John Anderson, my jo" [ voice and piano ], from Five Burns Songs, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henry Hugo Pierson (1816 - 1873), "John Anderson", published 1842 [ voice and piano ], from 6 Lieder von Freiligrath nach R. Burns, no. 4, Leipzig, Kistner, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906 - 1975), "When we were first acquent", 1943, first performed 1944 [ voice(s) and orchestra ], from Eight British and American Folk Songs, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "John Anderson, My Jo", published 1891 [ voice and piano ], London: G. Ricordi & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876) , "John Anderson" ; composed by John Böie, Martin Jacobi, Heinrich August Marschner, Fredrik Pacius, Henry Hugo Pierson, as Henry Hugo Pearson, Karl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke, Nicolai von Wilm.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858) , "John Anderson" ; composed by Adolf Jensen, Theobald Kretschmann, Henry Hugo Pierson, Heinrich Schmidt, Robert Schumann.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Paul Hermann Franz Graener.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
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- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by August Bungert.
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Samuil Yakovlevich Marschak (1887 - 1964) ; composed by Georgiy Vasil'yevich Sviridov.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Jan Andersen"
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Valter Juva) , "John Anderson"
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "John Anderson, mon chéri", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (József Lévay) , "John Anderson"
- POL Polish (Polski) (Jan Kasprowicz) , "Dżon Anderson, ty mój!", Warsaw, first published 1907
- RUS Russian (Русский) (Mikhail Larionovich Mikhailov) , no title, first published 1856
Researcher for this page: Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 87
Dżon Anderson, mój drogi Dżon! Kiedyśmy się poznali, Ty jeszcze kruczy miałeś włos I prosty grzbiet, ze stali. Dziś się pochylił już mój Dżon, Śnieżny ma włosów zwój — Błogosław Bóg twój mroźny szron, Dżon Anderson, ty mój! Dżon Anderson, mój drogi Dżon! Pięliśmy się w granity; Niejeden słodki dzień, o Dżon, Był dla nas w blask spowity! Dziś schodźmy razem w dół, o Dżon! Wspólny nas przygniótł znój: Razem ostatni znajdziem schron, Dżon Anderson, ty mój!
Confirmed with Poeci angielscy, translated by Jan Kasprowicz, Księgarnia H. Antenberga, Warszawa 1907, page 109-110.
Text Authorship:
- by Jan Kasprowicz (1860 - 1926), "Dżon Anderson, ty mój!", Warsaw, first published 1907 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "John Anderson, my jo"
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: 2019-08-16
Line count: 16
Word count: 77