Robert Burns Translation: Auld Lang Syne

Auld Lange Syne by Robert Burns modern English translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Should old acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot, And days for which we pine? For times we shared, my darling, Days passed, once yours and mine, We'll raise a cup of kindness yet, To those fond-remembered times! Have you ever wondered just exactly what you're singing? "Auld lang syne" means something like "times gone by" or "times long since passed" and in the context of the song means something like "times long since passed that we shared together and now remember fondly." In my translation, which is not word-for-word, I try to communicate what I believe Burns was trying to communicate: raising a toast to fond recollections of times shared in the past. Keywords/Tags: Robert Burns, auld lang syne, old, age, old acquaintance, memory, remember, remembrance, reminiscences, friends, friendship, drink, drinking, translation, modernization, update, interpretation, modern English, song Original Scots Dialect Lyrics Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And auld lang syne. CHORUS For auld lang syne, my jo, For auld lang syne. We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet, For auld lang syne. And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp! And surely I'll be mine! And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet, For auld lang syne. REPEAT CHORUS We twa hae run about the braes And pu'd the gowans fine But we've wander'd mony a weary foot Sin auld lang syne. REPEAT CHORUS We twa hae paidl'd i' the burn Frae mornin' sun till dine. But seas between us braid hae roar'd Sin auld lang syne. REPEAT CHORUS And there's a hand, my trusty fiere! And gie's a hand o' thine! And we'll tak a right guid willy waught, For auld lang syne. Hugh MacDiarmid wrote "The Watergaw" in a Scots dialect. A watergaw is a fragmentary rainbow. The Watergaw by Hugh MacDiarmid loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch One wet forenight in the sheep-shearing season I saw the uncanniest thing— a watergaw with its wavering light shining beyond the wild downpour of rain ... and I thought of the last wild look that you gave when you knew you were destined for the grave. There was no light in the skylark's nest that night—no—nor any in mine; but now often I've thought of that foolish light and of these more foolish hearts of men ... and I think that maybe at last I ken what your look meant then.