Un cygne | Mon cygne blanc

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by Henrik Ibsen (1828 - 1906)

Translation © by Pierre Mathé

En svane

Language: Norwegian (Bokmål)

Our translations: FRE ITA JPN

Min hvide svane
du stumme, du stille,
hverken slag eller trille
lod sangrøst ane.

Angst beskyttende
alfen, som sover,
altid lyttende
gled du henover.

Men sidste mødet,
da eder og øjne
var lønlige løgne,
ja da, da lød det!

I toners føden
du slutted din bane.
Du sang i døden;
du var dog en svane!

Text Authorship:

by Henrik Ibsen (1828 - 1906), "En svane", written 1871, appears in Digte [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), "En svane", op. 25 (Seks digt af Henrik Ibsen) no. 2 (1876), published 1876 [ voice and piano ], Copenhagen, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Henzen (1850 - 1910) , written c1890 ; composed by Edvard Grieg.
- Go to the text.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Un cygne", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Anna Maria Norberg-Schulz) , "Un cigno", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
JPN Japanese (日本語) (Naoyuki Okada) , "白鳥", copyright © 2025, (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: 16
Word count: 55

Un cygne

Language: French (Français) after the Norwegian (Bokmål)

Mon cygne blanc,
muet, silencieux,
dans ton chant aucun soupçon,
ni d'éclat ni de trille.

Protégeant avec anxiété
la sylphide qui dort,
toujours attentif,
tu t'éloignais en glissant.

Mais à notre dernière rencontre
alors que serments et regards
étaient de secrets mensonges,
alors oui, alors ils s'entendaient !

À la venue de ces sons,
tu finissais ta route.
Tu chantais en mourant ;
tu étais bien un cygne !

Text Authorship:

Translation from Norwegian (Bokmål) to French (Français) copyright © 2012 by Pierre Mathé, (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), "En svane", written 1871, appears in Digte
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2012-02-05
Line count: 16
Word count: 66