Little Lasse | The world is so big, so big

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by Zachris Topelius (1818 - 1898)

Translation © by David McCleery

Lasse liten

Language: Swedish (Svenska)

Our translations: ENG FIN GER

Världen är så stor, så stor,
Lasse, Lasse liten!
Större än du nånsin tror,
Lasse, Lasse liten! 

Det är hett och det är kallt,
Lasse, Lasse liten! 
Men Gud råder överallt,
Lasse, Lasse liten! 

Många mänskor leva där,
Lasse, Lasse liten! 
Lycklig den som Gud har kär,
Lasse, Lasse liten! 

När Guds ängel med dig går,
Lasse, Lasse liten! 
Ingen orm dig bita få,
Lasse, Lasse liten! 

Säg, var trives du nu mest,
Lasse, Lasse liten? 
Borta bra men hemma bäst,
Lasse, Lasse liten!

Text Authorship:

by Zachris Topelius (1818 - 1898) [author's text not yet checked 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 Selim Palmgren (1878 - 1951), "Lasse liten" [ men's chorus ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957), "Lasse liten", op. 37 no. 2 (1902), published 1906 [ voice and piano ], from Fem sånger, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (David McCleery) , "Little Lasse", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Lasse pieni", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Kleiner Lasse", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 84

Little Lasse

Language: English after the Swedish (Svenska)

The world is so big, so big
Lasse, little Lasse!
Bigger than you’d ever think
Lasse, little Lasse!
 
It’s hot and it’s cold
Lasse, little Lasse!
But God takes care of it all
Lasse, little Lasse!
 
Lots of people live there
Lasse, little Lasse!
And happy are those whom God loves
Lasse, little Lasse!
 
When God’s angels are by your side
Lasse, little Lasse!
No snake will poison you with its bite
Lasse, little Lasse!
 
So, where do you like most to be
Lasse, little Lasse!
Away is good, but home’s best for me
Lasse, little Lasse!

Text Authorship:

Translation from Swedish (Svenska) to English copyright © 2018 by David McCleery, (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 Swedish (Svenska) by Zachris Topelius (1818 - 1898)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2018-01-21
Line count: 20
Word count: 97