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Sweet Afton Lyrics
Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes,
Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise;
My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream,
Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.
Thou stock-dove whose echo resounds thro' the glen,
Ye wild whistling blackbirds in yon thorny den,
Thou green-crested lapwing, thy screaming forebear,
I charge you disturb not my slumbering fair.
How lofty, sweet Afton, thy neighboring hills,
Far mark'd with the courses of clear winding rills,
There daily I wander as noon rises high
My flocks and my Mary's sweet cot in my eye.
How pleasant thy banks and green valleys below,
Where wild in the woodlands the primroses blow;
There oft as mild Ev'ning weeps over the lea
The sweet scented birk shades my Mary and me.
Thy crystal stream, Afton, how lovely it glides,
And winds by the cot where my Mary resides,
How wanton thy waters her snowy feet lave,
As gathering sweet flow'rets she stems thy clear wave.
Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes,
Flow gently, sweet river, the theme of my lays,
My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream,
Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.
Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise;
My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream,
Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.
Ye wild whistling blackbirds in yon thorny den,
Thou green-crested lapwing, thy screaming forebear,
I charge you disturb not my slumbering fair.
Far mark'd with the courses of clear winding rills,
There daily I wander as noon rises high
My flocks and my Mary's sweet cot in my eye.
Where wild in the woodlands the primroses blow;
There oft as mild Ev'ning weeps over the lea
The sweet scented birk shades my Mary and me.
And winds by the cot where my Mary resides,
How wanton thy waters her snowy feet lave,
As gathering sweet flow'rets she stems thy clear wave.
Flow gently, sweet river, the theme of my lays,
My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream,
Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.
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I absolutley love Robert Burns, he was a poet back a long time ago in Scotland and his claim to fame was that he wrote in Scootish dialect. His poems are all beautiful, a little difficult to read sometimes, but all of them have gorgeous images and sweet afton is now exception, Nickle Creek did a great job translating it to music.
Amazingly beautiful and sweet. I hadn't heard of Robert Burns before this. Seems beautiful how an American Bluegrass band plays a poem of a Scottish poet. Also a nice detail about the song being in major while it's about the death of Mary, does make it allot more sweet.
A beautiful song, but JessiL, Mary is dead. I saw them live and Chris Thile was laughing about it cos he wasnt too sure when he wrote the melody, hence why he wrote it in a major key. Burns is contrasting the death of Mary with the flow of the river being a metaphor for the passage of time.
What the heck? Nickle Creek translated this song to music? I have music books dated back to the 1940's that I inherited from my grandmother when she passed away and Sweet Afton is in a few of them. I always thought they were just replaying a song popular over half a century ago.
yes, the original poem dates back further, but the most common tune is that of the Christmas carol 'Away in a Manger'. Nickel Creek wrote their own tune for the old song. A re-mix, if you will.
yes, the original poem dates back further, but the most common tune is that of the Christmas carol 'Away in a Manger'. Nickel Creek wrote their own tune for the old song. A re-mix, if you will.
my favorite song, it's just so soothing. odd to think of it as describing death though, i've always seen it as a sort of tranquil life
Only just discovered this beautiful poem / song, after listening to a rendition of it by The Hound + The Fox (husband and wife duo, who like to do covers) today. The tune, Afton Waters, is familiar. Perhaps it is because Away in a manger has been sung to to it. Here is a link about Robert Burns’ poetry that I found insightful and intriguing! It will provide you with fairly detailed/concise information from different sources and facts on the history/background of the story behind Afton Waters. http://www.robertburns.plus.com/Stories6.htm
"Sweet Afton" is a poem by Robert Burns, who often writes about nature and entangles it very beautifully with a love story. This is a prime and wonderful example of his writings. To me, Afton (the river) is like life, with bends and surrounded by its high and low parts of the landscape (being the ups and downs of life). Mary is the love part of the story, sleeping in her elegance as life passes by, with her feet barely in life itself. And as she is dreaming, the stream only murmurs so she can be imaginative in what she hopes her life can be like.