by
Otto Benzon (1856 - 1927)
To a Devil
Language: English
Available translation(s): CAT FRE
I tell you, if an angel in paradise you were,
I'd go to his Allmightness and crave admission there.
And if he would not have me
And dared to cast me forth
I'd drag you down from heaven
And set you on the earth.
But now you are a devil and that is passing well,
For can I manage nothing else,
Then I can go to hell.
The Lord may keep his paradise,
May keep his angels too.
I only care for devils, when the devils are like you.
According to
Edvard Grieg: Letters to Colleagues and Friends by Finn Benestad, Peer Gynt Press, 2000, footnote 9 on p. 21, this poem was written in English and Benzon did not wish it to be translated into Danish or Norwegian. In some catalogs of Grieg's music it is nevertheless given the Danish title "Til en hunndjevel".
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "A un diable", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "À un démon", 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: 12
Word count: 89
A un diable
Language: Catalan (Català)  after the English
Et faig saber, si tu fossis un àngel del paradís,
aniria al Tot Poderós i li demanaria admissió.
I si ell no em volgués
i gosés fer-me fora,
t’arrossegaria de dalt del cel
i et deposaria a la terra.
Però tu ara ets un diable i això em va molt bé
car, si no puc fer res més,
llavors puc anar a l’infern.
El Senyor es pot guardar el seu paradís
i també els seus àngels.
Només estic pels diables, quan ells són com tu.
Authorship:
- Translation from English to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2015 by Salvador Pila, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in English by Otto Benzon (1856 - 1927), "To a Devil"
This text was added to the website: 2015-06-05
Line count: 12
Word count: 85