Joutsenlaulu | Sano, miksi annamme maailmalle

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by Ernst Josephson (1851 - 1906)

Translation © by Erkki Pullinen

Svanesång

Language: Swedish (Svenska)

Our translations: FIN FRE

Säg, hvarför gifva vi de kval 
[åt]¹ världen vi bort dölja?
Vår jord är ju en jämmerdal,
den sorger öfverhölja.

Det därför är, att skaldens skrik,
dem hjärtats sår frambringa,
skall som en vemodsljuf musik
till eftervärlden klinga;

och därför svanen sjunga skall
med döden under vingen:
hans välljud tjusar världen all,
hans smärta kväljer ingen.

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Ernst Josephson, Svarta Rosor och Gula, C. & E. Gernandts Förlags Aktiebolag, Stockholm, 1901, p. 109.

¹ Rängstrom: "till"
Note: Kilpinen uses the spelling "Säg, varför giva vi de kval" in the first line.

Text Authorship:

by Ernst Josephson (1851 - 1906), "Svanesång", written 1882, appears in Svarta Rosor och Gula [author's text checked 2 times 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 Yrjö Henrik Kilpinen (1892 - 1959), "Svanesång", op. 28 no. 4 (1922), published 1924 [ voice and piano ], from Fantasi och verklighet II, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Ture Rangström (1884 - 1947), "Svanesång", 1911 [ voice and piano ], from Fyra dikter = Vier Gedichte, no. 4, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation possibly by Ture Rangström (1884 - 1947); composed by Ture Rangström.
- Go to the text.

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

FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Joutsenlaulu", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le chant du cygne", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2011-06-18
Line count: 12
Word count: 57

Joutsenlaulu

Language: Finnish (Suomi) after the Swedish (Svenska)

Sano, miksi annamme maailmalle
tuskat, jotka tahdomme piilottaa?
Maailmammehan on murheenlaakso,
joka peittyy suruihin.

Sen vuoksihan runoilijan huuto,
joka kaivaa esiin sydämen haavat,
kaikuu aikanaan jälkimaailmalle
katkeransuloisena musiikkina.

Ja siksi joutsenkin laulaa,
kun kuolema jo on sen siiven alla:
sen kaunis ääni ihastuttaa koko maailmaa,
sen tuska ei ketään kiusaa.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Swedish (Svenska) to Finnish (Suomi) copyright © 2015 by Erkki Pullinen, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Erkki Pullinen. We have no current contact information for the copyright-holder.
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Swedish (Svenska) by Ernst Josephson (1851 - 1906), "Svanesång", written 1882, appears in Svarta Rosor och Gula
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-04-12
Line count: 12
Word count: 50