by Ernst Josephson (1851 - 1906)
Translation Singable translation by Alfred Julius Boruttau (1877 - 1940) and by Ferdinand Tilgmann (1832 - 1911)
Svarta rosor
Language: Swedish (Svenska)
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.
View original text (without footnotes)
Note: "hjerta der" is spelled "hjärta där" in some editions.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
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 Jelka Rosen (Delius) (1868 - 1935) ; 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.
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
Schwarze Rosen
Language: German (Deutsch) after the Swedish (Svenska)
Sag, warum bist du so trübselig heut? bist doch allzeit sonst so heiter und froh? Und dennoch bin ich mehr nicht trübselig heut, als wenn du meinst, ich sei heiter und froh; Denn Trauer trägt nachtschwarze Rosen. Hier im Herzen da wuchert ein Rosengerank, das raubt die Ruh' mir, das martert mich krank, auf den Segeln da spreizen sich Dorn an Dorn, und die quälen mich fort mit brennendem Sporn denn Trauer trägt nachtschwarze Rosen. Doch an Rosen birgt es ein herrlich Kleinod, bald röter wie Blut, bald so bleich wie der Tod. Das wuchert und wuchert. Ich glaub, ich vergeh' an Herzmarkes Wurzeln, da zerrt es o weh; denn Trauer trägt nachtschwarze Rosen.
Note: this is a revision by Boruttau of Tilgmann's translation.
Researcher for this page: Harry Joelson
Text Authorship:
- Singable translation by Alfred Julius Boruttau (1877 - 1940) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
- Singable translation by Ferdinand Tilgmann (1832 - 1911) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Swedish (Svenska) by Ernst Josephson (1851 - 1906), "Svarta rosor", appears in Svarta Rosor och Gula
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), "Schwarze Rosen", op. 36 (Kuusi yksinlaulua pianon säestyksellä = 6 sånger (Six Songs)) no. 1 (1899), also set in Swedish (Svenska) [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Harry Joelson
This text was added to the website: 2008-02-05
Line count: 15
Word count: 114