I dream'd I lay | I dream'd I lay where flow'rs were springing

by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

I dream'd I lay where flow'rs were...

Language: English

Our translations: FRE

I dream'd I lay where flow'rs were springing,
    Gaily in the sunny beam;
Listen'ning to the wild birds singing,
    By a falling crystal stream.
Straight the sky grew black and daring,
    Thro' the woods the whirlwinds rave, 
The trees with aged arms were warring,
    [Across]¹ the swelling drumlie wave.

Such was my life's deceitful morning,
    Such the pleasures I enjoy'd !
But long ere noon loud [tempest]² storming,
    All my flow'ry bliss destroy'd.
Tho' fickle fortune has deceiv'd me,
    (She promised fair, and perform'd but ill),
Of monie a joy and hope bereav'd me,
    I bear a heart shall support me still.

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• J. Haydn

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 207.

Glossary
Drumlie = muddy

¹ Haydn: "O'er"
² Haydn: "tempests"

Text Authorship:

by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "I dream'd I lay" [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), "I dream'd I lay", JHW. XXXII/1 no. 87, Hob. XXXIa no. 87 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Humphrey Procter-Gregg (1895 - 1980), "I dreamed I lay" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Set in a modified version by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Go to the text. [ view differences ] CZE FRE GER GER

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

Research team for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani , Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2012-08-14
Line count: 16
Word count: 103