by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation by Henri-François-Louis-Auguste Potez (1863 - c1946)
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
Si mon amour était la rose
Language: French (Français) after the Scottish (Scots)
Si mon amour était la rose Qui croit sur le mur du château, Si j'étais goutte de rosée Pour tomber sur son sein, Heureux comme on ne fut jamais, Toute la nuit j'y resterais, Dans la douceur de ses replis, Jusqu'au lever du jour. Si mon amour était ce beau lilas Que le printemps fleurit de violet, Et si j'étais l'oiseau des bois Qui vient y reposer son aile Quelle douleur de le voir déchiré Par le rude automne et l'hiver Mais les douces chansons et les battements d'ailes Lorsqu'il refleurirait au jeune mois de mai!
Note: the stanzas are reversed with respect to the original.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Text Authorship:
- by Henri-François-Louis-Auguste Potez (1863 - c1946) [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 André Gédalge (1856 - 1926), "Si mon amour était la rose", 1909, published 1909 [ voice and piano ], from Sept Chansons sur des poèmes de Robert Burns, no. 4, Paris: Enoch & Cie. [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Pierre Nau , "Si mon amour était la rose", 1941? [ high voice and piano ], Éd. J. Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-02-01
Line count: 16
Word count: 96