Kunde jag följa dig långt bort, längre än allt du vet, ut i de yttersta rymdernas världsensamhet, där Vintergatan rullar ett bjärt dött skum och där du söker ett fäste i hisnande rum. Jag vet: det går inte. Men när du stiger huttrande blind ur ditt dop, tvärsigenom rymden skall jag höra ditt rop, vara dig ny värme, vara dig ny famn, vara dig när i en annan värld bland ting med ofött namn.
Confirmed with Karin Boye, karinboye.se/verk/dikter/dikter/kunde-jag-folja-dig.shtml, Karin Boye Sällskapet
Text Authorship:
- by Karin Boye (1900 - 1941), "Kunde jag följa dig", appears in För trädets skull, Bonniers [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 Benjamin Staern , "Kunde jag följa dig", 2013/21 [ alto and chamber orchestra ], from Sånger om bländvit kärlek, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ingvar Wieslander (1917 - 1963), "Kunde jag följa dig" [ mixed chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Linda Schenk ; composed by Camilla Åström.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Jenny Nunn) , "Could I Follow You"
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-01-14
Line count: 17
Word count: 74
Could I follow you far away, further than everything you know, out into the loneliness of the world's outermost places, where the Galaxy unfurls a gaudy dead spume and where you seek a stronghold in heady rooms. I know: it will not be. But when you climb shivering blind from your christening, straight through space shall I hear your cry, to be new arms to you, to be close in another world to you amongst things with an unborn name.
Confirmed with Jenny Nunn. karinboye.se/verk/dikter/dikter-engelska/could-i-follow-you.shtml, Karin Boye Sällskapet
Text Authorship:
- by Jenny Nunn , "Could I Follow You" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Swedish (Svenska) by Karin Boye (1900 - 1941), "Kunde jag följa dig", appears in För trädets skull, Bonniers
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: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-01-18
Line count: 16
Word count: 80