Miriam Gideon: 4 Epitaphs (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


Lament him, Mauchline husbands a',
He aften did assist ye;
For had ye staid hale weeks awa',
Your wives they ne'er had miss'd ye!

Ye Mauchline bairns, as on ye pass
To school in bands thegither,
O tread ye lightly on his grass -
Perhaps he was your father!

2. Epitaph on Wee Johnnie

Language: English

Authorship

Robert Burns (1759-1796)


Hic Jacet wee Johnie.

Whoe'er thou art, O reader, know
That Death has murder'd Johnie;
An' here his body lies fu' low ;
For saul he ne'er had ony.

3. Epitaph on the Author

Language: English

Authorship

Robert Burns (1759-1796)


He who of Rankine sang, lies stiff and deid,
And a green grassy hillock hides his head;
Alas! alas! a devilish change indeed!

4. Monody on a Lady Famed for her Caprice

Language: English

Authorship

Robert Burns (1759-1796)

See other settings of this text


How cold is that bosom which folly once fired,
How pale is that cheek where the rouge lately glisten'd;
How silent that tongue which the echoes oft tired,
How dull is that ear which to flatt'ry so listen'd!

If sorrow and anguish their exit await,
From friendship and dearest affection remov'd;
How doubly severer, Maria, thy fate,
Thou diedst unwept, as thou livedst unlov'd.

Loves, Graces, and Virtues, I call not on you;
So shy, grave, and distant, ye shed not a tear:
But come, all ye offspring of Folly so true,
And flowers let us cull for Maria's cold bier.

We'll search through the garden for each silly flower,
We'll roam thro' the forest for each idle weed;
But chiefly the nettle, so typical, shower,
For none e'er approach'd her but rued the rash deed.

We'll sculpture the marble, we'll measure the lay;
Here Vanity strums on her idiot lyre;
There keen Indignation shall dart on his prey,
Which spurning Contempt shall redeem from his ire.

The Epitaph

Here lies, now a prey to insulting neglect,
What once was a butterfly, gay in life's beam:
Want only of wisdom denied her respect,
Want only of goodness denied her esteem.