Vid älvarna i Babylon jag satt och grät
Language: Swedish (Svenska)
Available translation(s): ENG FIN FRE
Vid älvarna i Babylon jag satt och grät
med mina bröder dag och natt.
Och mina systrar rördes av min gråt,
av mina bröders klagolåt.
Och Juda grät och dotter Sion grät --
Jerusalem!
Vi sörjde all din forna härlighet.
Hur kan jag le, hur kan jag vara glad?
Jag är en fånge i de älvars stad.
En tåreström har mina visor dränkt,
min harpa har jag i ett pilträd hängt.
Hur kan jag sjunga i de fångnas hus?
Jerusalem!
Hur kan jag glömma dig, du släckta ljus?
Jag vill stå upp. Jag vill stå upp och gå
med snabba fötter såsom markens rå.
Si, jag vill vandra genom öknars sand
och genom Edoms ogästfria land,
där farligheter lura på var ort.
Jerusalem!
Hur lång kan vägen vara till din port?
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Juutalaistytön laulu", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 21
Word count: 130
By the waters of Babylon, I sat down and...
Language: English  after the Swedish (Svenska)
By the waters of Babylon, I sat down and wept
with my brothers day and night.
And my sisters were moved by my weeping,
by my brothers’ profound lament.
And Judah wept and the daughter of Zion wept --
Jerusalem!
We mourned all you former glory.
How can I smile, how can I be glad?
I’m a prisoner in the city of rivers.
A stream of tears has drowned my songs,
my harp I've hung up on a willow.
How can I sing in the captive’s house?
Jerusalem!
How can I forget you, you extinguished light?
I will stand up. I will stand up and go
with swift feet like the woodland roe.
See, I'll wander through desert sands
and through Edom’s inhospitable land,
where dangers lurk everywhere.
Jerusalem!
How long can the way be to your portals?
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles:
"Den Judiska flickans sång" = "The Jewish girl's song"
"Solitude" = "Solitude"
Authorship:
- Translation from Swedish (Svenska) to English copyright © 2018 by Laura Prichard, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2018-12-16
Line count: 21
Word count: 137