My love she was so pure | My love she was so pure and white

by Hans Christian Andersen (1805 - 1875)

Translation Singable translation by Frederick Corder (1852 - 1932)

Hun er saa hvid, min Hjertenskjær

Language: Danish (Dansk)

Our translations: FRE GRE

Hun er saa hvid, min Hjertenskjær,
Et mere hvidt ej findes der;
Jeg elsker hende, ej det sker,
At jeg kan elske hende mer!

Nu er hun død, min Hjertenskjær,
langt mere hvid hun smilerder!
Nu er hun død, o Hjertegru!
Og mer jeg elsker hende nu!

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Hans Christian Andersen (1805 - 1875), "Efter det Russiske", written 1843, appears in Poetiske bagateller, no. 2 [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 Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907), "Hun er saa hvid", op. 18 (Romanser og sanger) no. 2 (1865-1869), published 1869 [ voice and piano ], Copenhagen [sung text checked 1 time]
by Carl Nielsen (1865 - 1931), "Hun er saa hvid" [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English [singable] (Frederick Corder) , "My love she was so pure"
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "D'après une chanson russe", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Anonymous/Unidentified Artist) , "Sie ist so weiß"
GRE Greek (Ελληνικά) [singable] (Christakis Poumbouris) , "Λευκή κι αγνή", copyright © 2014, (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: 8
Word count: 47

My love she was so pure

Language: English after the Danish (Dansk)

My love she was so pure and white,
No mortal else had eyes so bright;
She fill'd with love the heart of me,
That never fuller might it be.
 
Now is she dead so pure and white,
Still purer seems her visage bright.
Dead is she now, O cruel woe!
My heart, too full, must overflow.

Note: from the Grieg score.

Text Authorship:

Singable translation by Frederick Corder (1852 - 1932), "My love she was so pure" [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Danish (Dansk) by Hans Christian Andersen (1805 - 1875), "Efter det Russiske", written 1843, appears in Poetiske bagateller, no. 2
- Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

[ None yet in the database ]

Researcher for this page: Harry Joelson

This text was added to the website: 2009-03-22
Line count: 8
Word count: 56