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Säg hvarför är du så ledsen i dag, Du, som alltid är så lustig och glad? Och inte är jag mera ledsen i dag Än när jag tyckes dig lustig och glad; Ty sorgen har nattsvarta rosor. I mitt hjerta der växer ett rosendeträd Som aldrig nånsin vill lemna mig fred. Och på stjelkarne sitter [tagg]1 vid tagg, Och det vållar mig ständigt sveda och agg; Ty sorgen har nattsvarta rosor. Men af rosor blir det en hel klenod, Än hvita som döden, än röda som blod. Det växer och växer. Jag tror jag förgår, I hjertträdets rötter det rycker och slår; Ty sorgen har nattsvarta rosor.
Note: "hjerta der" is spelled "hjärta där" in some editions.
1 Sibelius: "det tagg"
Text Authorship:
- by Ernst Josephson (1851 - 1906), "Svarta rosor", appears in Svarta Rosor och Gula [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 Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957), "Svarta rosor", op. 36 (Kuusi yksinlaulua pianon säestyksellä = 6 sånger (Six Songs)) no. 1 (1899), also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934) ; composed by Frederick Delius.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Alfred Julius Boruttau (1877 - 1940) and by Ferdinand Tilgmann (1832 - 1911) ; composed by Jean Sibelius.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Jelka Rosen (Delius) (1868 - 1935) ; composed by Frederick Delius.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Anna Hersey) , "Black roses", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Mustat ruusut", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Roses noires", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- JPN Japanese (日本語) (Naoyuki Okada) , "黒いバラ", 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: 15
Word count: 108
今日の君はどうしてそんなに悲しげなんだ? いつもは元気で幸せそうなのに 私が元気で幸せそうに見えている時のように 私はこれ以上は悲しまない 悲しみには闇夜のように黒いバラがあるから 私の心でそのバラの木は育ち 私を捉えて離そうとはせず その茎には次々と棘が生え それが常に私を傷つけ苦しめる 悲しみには闇夜のように黒いバラがあるから しかしバラの棘は宝石に変わる それは 死よりも白く 血よりも赤い それはどんどん成長し 私は死ぬだろう 私の心の木の根元で それは震え 鼓動する 悲しみには闇夜のように黒いバラがあるから
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Swedish (Svenska) to Japanese (日本語) copyright © 2025 by Naoyuki Okada, (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 Ernst Josephson (1851 - 1906), "Svarta rosor", appears in Svarta Rosor och Gula
This text was added to the website: 2025-06-04
Line count: 15
Word count: 20