Plea | Speak, love, speak

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by Anders Österling (1884 - 1981)

Translation © by Anna Hersey

Tala, älskade, tala

Language: Swedish (Svenska)

Our translations: ENG FIN

Tala, älskade, tala,
orden göra mig väl!
Svalkande känner jag dala
majregn över min själ.

Ej jag vågar beröra
tinningens blonda svall.
Blundande tyst vill jag höra,
allt vad du tala skall.

Tveksamt läpparna bäva,
orden kommer så matt,
men liksom strålar de sväva
in i min döda natt.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Anders Österling (1884 - 1981), "Bön" [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 Hugo Alfvén (1872 - 1960), "Bön", op. 22 (Tre Österling-sånger) no. 1 (1905) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Yrjö Henrik Kilpinen (1892 - 1959), "Tala, älskade, tala", op. 40 no. 3 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Gustaf Nordqvist (1886 - 1949), "Bön", 1917 [ voice and piano ], from Lyrik : sju sånger, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Anna Hersey) , "Plea", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Anna Hersey

This text was added to the website: 2011-08-02
Line count: 12
Word count: 49

Plea

Language: English after the Swedish (Svenska)

Speak, love, speak,
your words do me good.
I feel refreshing May rain
falling over my soul.

I don't dare touch
the wave of blond hair on your temple.
Silent and with closed eyes I want to hear
everything you say.

The uncertain lips quiver,
the words come so faintly,
but somehow they shine and soar
in my lifeless nights.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Swedish (Svenska) to English copyright © 2011 by Anna Hersey, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., please ask the copyright-holder(s) directly.
Anna Hersey. Contact: hersey (DOT) anna (AT) gmail (DOT) com

If the copyright-holder(s) are unreachable for three business days, please write to: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Swedish (Svenska) by Anders Österling (1884 - 1981), "Bön"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2011-08-02
Line count: 12
Word count: 60