C'était alors | Plus haut sur le sable

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by Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804 - 1877)

Translation © by Pierre Mathé

Det var då

Language: Swedish (Svenska)

Our translations: FRE

Högre mot sanden
svallar den vreda sjön,
björken på stranden
susar ej mera grön;
marken är stel av snön.

Du, som med våren
flydde från dal och vän,
bragte dig tåren
blott för en stund igen,
ville jag säga än:

"Skåda kring runden,
flicka, en gång ännu!
Minns du, hur lunden
fordom var grön och ljuv?
Se, vad den blivit nu!"

Sen, då hon flydde,
skulle hon säga så:
"Skönare grydde
ynglinges kind också;
men det var då, - ja, då!"

Text Authorship:

by Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804 - 1877), "Det var då", appears in Lyriska dikter I [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 Fredrik August Ehrström (1801 - 1850), "Det var då", published 1869, from Det sjungande Finland I [sung text checked 1 time]
by Jacob Axel Josephson (1818 - 1880), "Det var då", op. 15 no. 6 [ voice and piano ], from Nya sånger vid piano, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Halfdan Kjerulf (1815 - 1868), "Det var då", op. 3 (6 Sange) no. 4 (1852-1855), published 1856 [ voice and piano ], Stockholm: Abraham Hirsch
Score: IMSLP [external link] [sung text not yet checked]

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

FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "C'était alors", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-11-05
Line count: 20
Word count: 80

C'était alors

Language: French (Français) after the Swedish (Svenska)

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Plus haut sur le sable
la mer en colère bouillonne,
les bouleaux sur la plage
ne font plus bruire leur verdure ;
les champs sont empesés de neige.

Toi, avec le printemps,
tu as fui la vallée et tes amis,
si les larmes te ramenaient
juste pour une heure,
je voudrais te dire :

« Regarde alentour
encore une fois, jeune fille !
Te rappelles-tu combien le bois
était autrefois vert et charmant ?
Vois, qu'en reste-t-il maintenant ! »

Alors en partant,
elle pourrait dire :
« Elles paraissaient plus belles
aussi, tes joues d'adolescent ;
mais c'était alors -- oui, alors ! »

Text Authorship:

Translation from Swedish (Svenska) to French (Français) copyright © 2014 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.
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Based on:

a text in Swedish (Svenska) by Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804 - 1877), "Det var då", appears in Lyriska dikter I
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-01-23
Line count: 20
Word count: 96