Vain desire | Countless waves roll

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by Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804 - 1877)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Fåfäng önskan

Language: Swedish (Svenska)

Our translations: ENG FIN FRE

Otaliga vågor vandra
På hafvets glänsande ban.
O, vore jag bland de andra
En bölja i ocean,
Så liknöjd djupt i mitt sinne,
Så sorglöst kylig och klar,
Så utan ett enda minne
Från flydda sällare dar!

Dock, skulle en våg jag vara,
Den samme jag vore väl då.
Här går jag ju bland en skara
Af svala vågor också.
De skämta med fröjd och med smärta,
På lek de tåras och le,
Blott jag har mitt brinnande hjerta:
O, vore jag utan som de!

Text Authorship:

by Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804 - 1877), "Fåfäng önskan", 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 Karl Collan (1828 - 1871), "Fåfäng önskan", 1852 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Robert Kajanus (1856 - 1933), "Fåfäng önskan", op. 4 (Fyra visor med piano = Vier Lieder für Mezzo-Sopran mit Pianoforte) no. 2 (1880), published 1880 [ voice and piano ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
by Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957), "Fåfäng önskan", op. 61 (8 sånger (Eight Songs)) no. 7 (1910) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Alma von Böhlendorff , "Vergeblicher Wunsch" ; composed by Robert Kajanus.

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

ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Vain desire", copyright © 2019
FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Turha toive", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Vain désir", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-09-17
Line count: 16
Word count: 85

Vain desire

Language: English after the Swedish (Svenska)

Countless waves roll
Across the gleaming sea.
Oh, would that I were among them,
A wave in the ocean,
My mind so indifferent,
So carefree, cold, and clear,
So free of a single memory
Of happy days long past!

But if I were a wave,
I would still be the same as I am now:
Even here I move in a multitude
Of cold waves.
They joke about joy and pain,
In jest they shed tears and grin;
Only I have a heart that burns:
Oh, would that I had none, like them!

Text Authorship:

Translation from Swedish (Svenska) to English copyright © 2019 by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive
For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
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Based on:

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

This text was added to the website: 2019-07-22
Line count: 16
Word count: 93