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Jeg kunde slet ikke sove For Nattergalens Røst, Som fra de dunkle Skove Sig trængte til mit Bryst. Jeg aabnede Vinduet stille Og stirred i Mulmet hen, Og lod hver Elskovstrille Mig synge om Dig igjen. Et Posthorn i det Fjerne, Et Suk af Nattens Vind, Et Glimt af en eensom Stjerne Vakte mit stille Sind; Dit Billed sagte hensvæved Paa Nattens Baggrund huldt; Mit Hjerte zittred og bæved Længsel- og smertefuldt. Min Tanke jeg Dig sendte, Jeg sendte Dig mit Blik; Ak, hvor mit Hjerte brændte, At intet Svar jeg fik; Kun Pust af Nattevinden, Fra Grenen hist et Vink, Den kolde Dug fra Linden, Og Stjernens kolde Blink. Du tænker vel, jeg har glemt Dig? Men troe mig, om Du kan, Jeg har i Hjertet gjemt Dig, Og skal over Gravens Rand, Trods Dødens bittre Kulde, Hiinsides Livets Kyst Bære dit Navn, det hulde, Prentet dybt i mit Bryst.
Confirmed with Sang og sagn: digte af Christian Winter, Kjøbenhavn: P. G. Philipsen, 1840, pages 14 - 15.
Text Authorship:
- by Christian Winther (1796 - 1876), "Længsel" [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 Halfdan Kjerulf (1815 - 1868), "Længsel", op. 1 (Seks sange) no. 4, HK. 16 (1840?), published 1841 [ voice and piano ]
Score: IMSLP [external link] [sung text checked 1 time] - by Halfdan Kjerulf (1815 - 1868), "Længsel", op. 3 (6 Sange) no. 2 (1852-1855), published 1856 [ voice and piano ], Stockholm: Abraham Hirsch
Score: IMSLP [external link] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Edmund Lobedanz (1820 - 1882) ; composed by Charles Edward Ives.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Katharina Kasch (1839 - 1901) , "Sehnsucht" ; composed by Albert Fuchs.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Dr. Maria Fogderud) , "Longing", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Langueur", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Melanie Trumbull
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-16
Line count: 32
Word count: 151
I simply could not sleep for the nightingale’s voice, which from the dark forest pressed itself to my breast. I opened the window silently and gazed off into the darkness, and heard each trill of love it sang to me of you again. A post horn in the distance, a sigh of the night’s wind, a glimmer of a lonely star watched over my quiet thoughts. Your image slowly hovered on the night’s dark background. My heart quivered and trembled, longing- and pain-filled. My thoughts I sent you, I sent you my glance, ah, how my heart burned that I received no answer. Only a breath of the night wind, from the branch now and then a hint, the cold dew from the linden and the star’s cold twinkle. You may well think I have forgotten you, but believe me if you can, in my heart I have hidden you, and shall, over the grave’s edge, in spite of Death’s cold chill, on the other side of Life’s shore, bear your name, the lovely one, imprinted deep in my heart.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Danish (Dansk) to English copyright © 2023 by Dr. Marla Fogderud, (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: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in Danish (Dansk) by Christian Winther (1796 - 1876), "Længsel"
This text was added to the website: 2026-03-15
Line count: 32
Word count: 180