by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Behold, my love, how green the groves
Language: Scottish (Scots)
Available translation(s): FRE
[Behold, my love, how]1 green the groves, The primrose banks how fair; The balmy gales awake the flowers, And wave thy flowing hair. The lav'rock shuns the palace gay, And o'er the cottage sings: For Nature smiles as sweet, I ween, To Shepherds as to Kings. Let minstrels sweep the skilfu' string, In lordly lighted ha': The Shepherd stops his simple reed, Blythe in the birken shaw. The Princely revel may survey Our rustic dance wi' scorn; But are their hearts as light as ours, Beneath the milk-white thorn! The shepherd, in the flowery glen; In shepherd's phrase, will woo: The courtier tells a finer tale, But is his heart as true! These wild-wood flowers I've pu'd, to deck That spotless breast o' thine: The courtiers' gems may witness love, But, 'tis na love like mine.
View original text (without footnotes)
1 in some editions, "My Chloris, mark how" (and titled "My Chloris, mark")
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
1 in some editions, "My Chloris, mark how" (and titled "My Chloris, mark")
Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Behold, my love, how green the groves", 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 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827), "Behold, my love, how green the groves", op. 108 (25 schottische Lieder mit Begleitung von Pianoforte, Violine und Violoncello) no. 9 (1815) [ vocal duet with violin, violoncello, and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Vois ma Chloris", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Anonymous/Unidentified Artist) , "Schau her, mein Lieb, der Wälder Grün"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2004-08-03
Line count: 24
Word count: 136
Schau her, mein Lieb, der Wälder Grün
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the Scottish (Scots)
Schau her, mein Lieb, der Wälder Grün, Der Primeln bunte Schar, Wie Balsamluft die Blüten weckt Und wiegt dein blondes Haar. Die Lerche über Hütten singt, Sie scheut Palast und Thron, Dem Hirten lächelt süß Natur, So wie dem Königssohn. Schlicht sagt der Hirt im Blütental, Daß er der Deine sei! Des Höflings Rede feiner tönt, Doch ist sein Herz so treu? Zu schmücken deine reine Brust Brach ich des Waldes Zier; Des Höflings Glut schenkt Edelstein, Doch liebt er nicht gleich mir!
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, "Schau her, mein Lieb, der Wälder Grün" [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Behold, my love, how green the groves", written 1794
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 ]
Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani
This text was added to the website: 2004-08-18
Line count: 16
Word count: 84