Oh were my love yon lilac fair

O were my Love yon lilac fair,
  Wi' purple blossoms to the spring,
And I a bird to shelter there,
  When wearied on my little wing;
How I wad mourn when it was torn
  By autumn wild and winter rude!
But I wad sing on wanton wing
  When youthfu' May its bloom renew'd.
 
O gin my Love were yon red rose
  That grows upon the castle wa',
And I mysel a drap o' dew,
  Into her bonnie breast to fa';
[O there, beyond expression blest,
  I'd feast on beauty a' the night;
Seal'd on her silk-saft faulds to rest,
  Till fley'd awa' by Phoebus' light.]1

by Robert Burns (1759-1796) , "O were my Love yon lilac fair"

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

by Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867-1944) , "Oh were my love yon lilac fair", op. 43 (Five Burns Songs) no. 3, published 1899, stanza 2,1. [soprano or tenor and piano]

by Otto Bach (1833-1893) , "O, wär' mein Lieb die Fliederblüth'", op. 11 (Lieder und Gesänge für eine Singstimme mit Clavier-Begleitung) no. 1, published 1865 [voice and piano], Berlin: Georg Plothow

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