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by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation by (Johann) Philipp Kaufmann (1802 - 1846)

Prayer for Mary
Language: English 
Powers celestial, whose protection
  Ever guards the virtuos fair,
While in distant climes I wander,
  Let my Mary be your care:
Let her form sae fair and faultless,
  Fair and fautless as your own:
Let my Mary’s kindred spirit
  Draw your choicest influence down.
 
Make the gales you waft around her,
  Soft and peaceful as her breast;
Breathing in the breeze that fans her,
  Soothe her bosom into rest:
Guardian angels, O protect her,
  When in distant lands I roam;
To realms unknown while fate exiles me,
  Make her bosom still my home.

Confirmed with The Collected Poems of Robert Burns, Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1994, p. 458.


Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Prayer for Mary" [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):

    [ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by L. G. Silbergleit ; composed by Carl Goldmark.
      • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by (Johann) Philipp Kaufmann (1802 - 1846) , no title, appears in Gedichte von Robert Burns ; composed by Ferdinand Gumbert, Joseph Rheinberger.
      • Go to the text.

Researcher for this page: Rudi Spring

This text was added to the website: 2014-09-26
Line count: 16
Word count: 93

Himmelsbote, Strahl der Sterne
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English 
[Himmelsbote]1, Strahl der Sterne, 
Der ob schöner Unschuld wacht, 
Wenn ich irr' in weiter Ferne, 
Schütz Maria deine Macht.

Hold voll Huld und ohne Fehle,
Hold und rein und klar wie du,
Auf Marias reiner Seele
Mit dem hellsten Scheine ruh.

Laue Lüfte, mild ihr lächelt,
Leise weht ihr Kühlung zu;
Linder Hauch der sie umfächelt,
Wiege sanft ihr Herz in Ruh.

Und ein Engel auf sie blicke,
Wenn ich irr' am fernen Strand; 
Fern von ihr verbannt vom Glücke,
Sey ihr Herz mein Heimathland.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Gedichte von Robert Burns. Übersetzt von Philipp Kaufmann, Stuttgart und Tübingen, Verlag der J. G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, 1839, p. 137.

1 Gumbert: "Himmelslüfte"; further changes may exist not shown above.

Text Authorship:

  • by (Johann) Philipp Kaufmann (1802 - 1846), no title, appears in Gedichte von Robert Burns [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in English by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Prayer for Mary"
    • 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 Ferdinand Gumbert (1818 - 1896), "Maria", op. 2 (6 Lieder für Sopran oder Tenor) no. 2, published 1843 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Berlin, Schlesinger [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Joseph (Gabriel) Rheinberger (1839 - 1901), "Himmelsbote, Strahl der Sterne", JWV. 129 no. 2 [ voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2014-07-27
Line count: 16
Word count: 87

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
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