Songs
Macpherson’s Farewell
by Dmitri Shostakovich From Six Romances on Verses by English Poets (1942) Op. 62
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Text
Macpherson’s Farewell
English source:
Robert Burns
Sae rantingly, sae wantonly,
Sae dauntingly gaed he:
He played a spring, and danced it round
Below the gallows-tree.
Farewell, ye dungeons dark and strong,
The wretch’s destinie!
Macpherson’s time will not be long,
On yonder gallows-tree.
Oh what is death but parting breath?
On many a bloody plain
I’ve dared his face, and in this place
I scorn him yet again!
Untie these bands from off my hands,
And bring me to my sword;
And there’s no a man in all Scotland,
But I’ll brave him at a word.
I’ve lived a life of sturt and strife;
I die by treacherie:
It burns my heart I must depart,
And not avenged be.
I’ve lived a life of sturt and strife;
I die by treacherie:
It burns my heart I must depart,
And not avenged be.
Now farewell light, thou sunshine bright,
And all beneath the sky!
May coward shame distain his name,
The wretch that dares not die!
Sae rantingly, sae wantonly,
Sae dauntingly gaed he;
He played a spring, and danced it round,
Below the gallows-tree.
Sae dauntingly gaed he:
He played a spring, and danced it round
Below the gallows-tree.
Farewell, ye dungeons dark and strong,
The wretch’s destinie!
Macpherson’s time will not be long,
On yonder gallows-tree.
Oh what is death but parting breath?
On many a bloody plain
I’ve dared his face, and in this place
I scorn him yet again!
Untie these bands from off my hands,
And bring me to my sword;
And there’s no a man in all Scotland,
But I’ll brave him at a word.
I’ve lived a life of sturt and strife;
I die by treacherie:
It burns my heart I must depart,
And not avenged be.
I’ve lived a life of sturt and strife;
I die by treacherie:
It burns my heart I must depart,
And not avenged be.
Now farewell light, thou sunshine bright,
And all beneath the sky!
May coward shame distain his name,
The wretch that dares not die!
Sae rantingly, sae wantonly,
Sae dauntingly gaed he;
He played a spring, and danced it round,
Below the gallows-tree.
Composer
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich was a Russian composer and pianist. He achieved fame in the Soviet Union, although later developed a more complex and difficult relationship with the government. As a composer, he combined a variety of different musical…
Poet
Robert Burns
Robert Burns , also known as Rabbie Burns, the Bard of Ayrshire and various other names and epithets, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the…