The North | The leaves are falling

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by Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804 - 1877)

Translation © by David McCleery

Norden

Language: Swedish (Svenska)

Available translation(s): ENG FIN FRE GER

Löfven de falla,
Sjöarna frysa...
Flyttande svanor,
Seglen, o seglen
Sorgsna till södern,
Söken dess nödspis,
Längtande åter;
Plöjen dess sjöar,
Saknande våra!
Då skall ett öga
Se er från palmens
Skugga och tala:
"Tynande Svanor,
Hvilken förtrollning
Hvilar på norden?
Den som från södern
Längtar, hans längtan
Söker en himmel."

Note: modern spelling would change "Löfven" to "Löven" and remove the leading 'H' for "Hvilken" and "Hvilar".

Authorship:

by Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804 - 1877), "Norden", appears in Lyriska dikter II [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 Harald Fryklöf (1882 - 1919), "Norden" [sung text not yet checked]
by Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957), "Norden", op. 90 (6 sånger (Six Songs)) no. 1 (1917) [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (David McCleery) , "The North", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Pohjola", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le Nord", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Der Norden", copyright © 2018, (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: 18
Word count: 51

The North

Language: English after the Swedish (Svenska)

The leaves are falling
The lakes freeze over
Migrating swans
Glide, how they glide
Sorrowfully to the south,
To seek refuge,
Impatient to return;
They plough the lakes
Longing for ours!
There, a beady eye
Will spot you
From the shadow of a palm tree and say:
“O melancholic swans
What sort of magic
Enchants the North?
He who comes from the South
Has a yearning; he yearns
To find paradise.

Authorship:

Translation from Swedish (Svenska) to English copyright © 2018 by David McCleery, (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 Swedish (Svenska) by Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804 - 1877), "Norden", appears in Lyriska dikter II

This text was added to the website: 2018-02-26
Line count: 18
Word count: 71