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Bergvæg, brist med drøn og brag for mit tunge hammerslag! Nedad må jeg vejen bryde, til jeg hører malmen lyde. Dybt i fjeldets øde nat vinker mig den rige skat, - diamant og ædelstene mellem guldets røde grene. Og i dybet er der fred, - fred og [ørk]1 fra evighed; - bryd mig vejen, tunge hammer, til det dulgtes hjertekammer! Engang sad som gut jeg glad under himlens stjernerad, trådte vårens blomsterveje, havde barnefred i eje. Men jeg glemte dagens pragt i den midnatsmørke schakt, glemte [liens sus og]2 sange i min grubes tempelgange. Dengang først jeg steg herind, tænkte jeg med skyldfrit sind: dybets ånder skal mig råde livets endeløse gåde. - End har ingen ånd mig lært, hvad mig tykkedes så sært; end er ingen stråle runden, som kan lyse op fra grunden. Har jeg fejlet? Fører ej frem til klarhed denne vej? Lyset blinder jo mit øje, hvis jeg søger i det høje. Nej, i dybet må jeg ned; der er fred fra evighed. Bryd mig vejen, tunge hammer, til det dulgtes hjertekammer! - Hammerslag på hammerslag indtil livets sidste dag. Ingen morgenstråle skinner; ingen håbets sol oprinder.
1 Sjögren: "nat"
2 Sjögren: "fugelns glade"
Authorship:
- by Henrik Ibsen (1828 - 1906), "Bergmanden" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907), "Bergmanden", EG 132 (1870?) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Johan Gustaf) Emil Sjögren (1853 - 1918), "Bergmanden", op. 2 (Tre sånger för basröst) no. 1 (1877) [ bass voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Danish (Dansk), [adaptation] ; composed by Peter Arnold Heise.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Nigel Parker) , "The miner", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le mineur", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-20
Line count: 40
Word count: 191
Rockface, submit with thunder and noise under my heavy hammer blows! Down here I must make my way until the very ore obeys. Down to the desolate night of the depths I am drawn by the rich treasure: diamonds and jewels, amid lodes of red gold. And in the depths I find peace, eternal peace and quiet. Cleave a passage, my hammer, to the hidden chamber of the heart. Once I was a happy youth: under the open skies I walked paths of flowers, I owned the peace of childhood. But I laid aside the delight of daylight, and in the dark midnight forgot the sights and sounds of nature in the temple vaults of the mine. When first I entered here I innocently thought that the spirits of the deep would solve the eternal mystery of life. But no spirit has taught me what I dearly desired, no ray of enlightenment has struck me from out of the rock. Have I erred? Is this not the path to enlightenment? And now the light of the outside world - blinds me. No, I must go down: there is eternal peace. Cleave a passage, my hammer to the hidden chamber of the heart. Hammer blow and hammer blow, to the last day of my life. No ray of morning sun, no dawn of hope I meet down here.
Authorship:
- Translation from Norwegian (Bokmål) to English copyright © 2010 by Nigel Parker, (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:
- a text in Norwegian (Bokmål) by Henrik Ibsen (1828 - 1906), "Bergmanden"
This text was added to the website: 2010-08-10
Line count: 40
Word count: 227