Since then I haven't asked anymore about that | Why is spring so transitory

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804 - 1877)

Translation © by Laura Prichard

Se'n har jag ej frågat mera

Language: Swedish (Svenska)

Available translation(s): ENG FIN FRE GER

Hvarför är så flyktig våren,
Hvarför dröjer sommarn icke?
Så jag tänkte fordom ofta,
Frågte, utan svar, af mången.

Se'n den älskade mig svikit,
Se'n till köld hans värme blifvit,
All hans sommar blifvit vinter,
Se'n har jag ej frågat mera,
Känt blott djupt uti mitt sinne,
Att det sköna är förgängligt,
Att det ljufva icke dröjer.

Authorship:

by Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804 - 1877), "Se'n har jag ej frågat mera", appears in Lyriska dikter II, in Ett litet öde, no. 10 [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), "Se'n har jag ej frågat mera" [sung text not yet checked]
by Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957), "Se'n har jag ej frågat mera", op. 17 (Seitsemän yksinlaulua pianon säestyksellä = Sju sånger (Seven songs)) no. 1 (1894), orchestrated 1903 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "Since then I haven't asked anymore about that", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Sen jälkeen en enää ole kysynyt", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Pourquoi le printemps est-il si bref", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Seitdem frage ich nicht weiter", 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: 11
Word count: 57

Since then I haven't asked anymore about that

Language: English after the Swedish (Svenska)

Why is spring so transitory,
Why does summer not linger?
So I have often wondered,
Asked, without answer, of many.

Since the one who loved me betrayed me,
Since to cold, his warmth became,
All his summer turned into winter,
Since then I haven’t asked anymore about that,
And felt, deep in my heart,
That the beautiful is transitory,
That the lovely does not last.

Authorship:

Translation from Swedish (Svenska) to English copyright © 2018 by Laura Prichard, (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.
Contact:

Based on:

a text in Swedish (Svenska) by Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804 - 1877), "Se'n har jag ej frågat mera", appears in Lyriska dikter II, in Ett litet öde, no. 10

This text was added to the website: 2018-12-13
Line count: 11
Word count: 65