It was the charming month of May,
When all the flow'rs were fresh and gay.
One morning, by the break of day,
  The youthful, charming [Chloe]1 --
From peaceful slumber she arose,
Girt on her mantle and her hose,
And o'er the flow'ry mead she goes --
  The youthful, charming Chloe.

Chorus:
  [Lovely]2 was she by the dawn,
    [Youthful Chloe, charming Chloe]3,
  [Tripping]4 o'er the pearly lawn,
    The youthful, charming Chloe.

The feather'd people you might see
Perch'd all around on every tree,
In notes of sweetest melody
  They hail the charming Chloe;
Till, painting gay the eastern skies,
The glorious sun began to rise,
Outrival'd by the radiant eyes
  Of youthful, charming Chloe.
     Lovely was she, &c.

J. Haydn sets stanzas 2, 3 (beginning with the chorus)

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Burns, Robert. Poems and Songs. Vol. VI. The Harvard Classics. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909–14; Bartleby.com, 2001. www.bartleby.com/6/490.html.

Tune: Daintie Davie
¹ Haydn: "Anne", throughout
² Haydn: "O lovely", throughout
³ Haydn: "The sweetly smiling charming Anne"
⁴ Haydn: "When tripping"

Authorship

• by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "The charming month of May", written 1794 [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 (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "Green sleeves", Hob. XXXIa no. 112bis, JHW. XXXII/3 no. 262, stanzas 2,3 (beginning with the chorus), setting begins "O lovely was she by the dawn" [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Hermann Wolff (1845 - 1902) ; composed by Ignaz Brüll.
  • Go to the text.
    

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Byl krásný máj"
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-04-02
Line count: 22
Word count: 116

Byl krásný máj a porosen
květ každý z trávy koukal ven,
když ráno, sotva svitnul den,
   tu stála ve své kráse.
Byl spánek její dětský klid,
teď vzala plášť a přes pažit
a přes květy a rosy třpyt
   si vyšla ve své kráse.

      Sličná byla v úsvitu
      v červánkovém prvním jase,
      na perlitém pažitu,
      jak tu stála ve své kráse.

Sbor opeřenců, hlučný dav,
tu se stromů, tam z lučních trav
jí sladce zpíval na pozdrav,
   jak vyšla ve své kráse.
Teď na východě růžovém
se zvedlo slunce v lesku svém
a zářivější ona v něm
   tu stála ve své kráse.

      Sličná byla v úsvitu
      v červánkovém prvním jase,
      na perlitém pažitu
      jak tu stála ve své kráse.