by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

She's fair and fause
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
Our translations:  FRE
She's fair and fause that causes my smart ;
I lo'ed her meikle and lang;
She's broken her vow, she's broken my heart ;
And I may e'en gae hang.
A coof cam in wi' routh o' gear,
And I ha'e tint my dearest dear;
But women is but warld's gear,
Sae let the bonny lass gang !

Wha'er ye be that woman love,
To this be never blind :
Nae ferlie 'tis tho' fickle she prove,
A woman has't by kind.
O woman, lovely woman fair!
An angel's form's fa'n to thy share;
'Twad been o'er meikle to gi'en thee mair,
I mean, an angel's mind.

Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 249.

GLOSSARY

Meikle = much
Coof = fool, simpleton
Routh = abundance
Gear = money, property
Tint = lost
Ferlie = wonder

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

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

  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , title 1: "Elle est belle et fausse", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


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

This text was added to the website: 2013-03-28
Line count: 16
Word count: 103