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by Jens Peter Jacobsen (1847 - 1885)
Translation by Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934)

Irmelin Rose
Language: Danish (Dansk) 
Our translations:  ENG FRE
Se, der var en Gang en Konge,
Mangen Skat han kaldte sin,
Navnet paa den allerbedste
Vidste hver var Irmelin,
Irmelin Rose,
Irmelin Sol,
Irmelin Alt, hvad der var dejligt.

Alle Ridderhjelme spejled
Hendes Farvers muntre Pragt,
Og med alle Rim og Rythmer
Havde Navnet sluttet Pagt:
Irmelin Rose,
Irmelin Sol,
Irmelin Alt, hvad der var dejligt.

Hele store Bejlerflokke
Der til Kongens Gaarde foer,
Bejlede med ømme Lader
Og med blomsterfagre Ord:
Irmelin Rose,
Irmelin Sol,
Irmelin Alt, hvad der er dejligt!

Men Prindsessen jog dem fra sig
(Hjertet var saa koldt som Staal),
Lastede den Enes Holdning,
Vrænged ad den Andens Maal.
Irmelin Rose,
Irmelin Sol,
Irmelin Alt, hvad der er dejligt !

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   C. Elling •   W. Peterson-Berger 

W. Peterson-Berger sets stanzas 1-3

Modernized version used by Elling:

Se der var en gang en konge, 
mangen skatt han kalte sin,
navnet på den allerbeste visste hver var Irmelin,
Irmelin Rose, Irmelin Sol, 
Irmelin alt, hva der var deilig.

Alle ridderhjelme speilet 
hennes farvers muntre pragt,
og med alle rim og rytmer 
hadde navnet sluttet pakt:
Irmelin Rose, Irmelin Sol, 
Irmelin alt, hva der var deilig.

Hele store beilerflokke 
der til kongens gårde for,
beilede med ømme lader 
og med blomsterfagre ord:
Irmelin Rose, Irmelin Sol, 
Irmelin alt, hva der er deilig. 

Men prinsessen jog dem fra seg
(hjertet var så koldt som stål),
lastede den enes holdning, 
vrenget ad den andens mål.
Irmelin Rose, Irmelin Sol, 
Irmelin alt, hva der er deilig.


Text Authorship:

  • by Jens Peter Jacobsen (1847 - 1885), "Irmelin Rose" [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 Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, Sir (1883 - 1953), "Irmelin Rose", 1927 [ voice and piano ], from Three Songs from the Norse, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Matti Borg (b. 1956), "Irmelin Rose", from Landskab. 12 sange til tekster af J.P.Jacobsen, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934), "Irmelin Rose", published 1897, from Seven Danish Songs, no. 2, also set in English, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Catharinus Elling (1858 - 1942), "Irmelin Rose", op. 41 (Fire romanser) no. 1 (1888-89) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Carl Nielsen (1865 - 1931), "Irmelin Rose", op. 4 (Fem digte = 5 songs) no. 4, FS. 12 no. 4 (1891) [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Wilhelm Peterson-Berger (1867 - 1942), "Irmelin Rose", op. 3 (Tre sånger = Drei Lieder) no. 3 (1887), stanzas 1-3 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Ethel Florence Lindesay Robertson, née Richardson (1870 - 1946), as Henry Handel Richardson, "Irmelin Rose" [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Wilhelm (Vilhelm) Eugen Stenhammar (1871 - 1927), "Irmelin Rose", op. 10 no. 2 (1889), from To digte af J P Jacobsen, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in English, a translation by Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934) ; composed by Frederick Delius.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Robert Franz Arnold (1872 - 1938) ; composed by Clemens von Franckenstein, Oskar C. Posa, Alexander Zemlinsky.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Jelka Rosen (Delius) (1868 - 1935) ; composed by Frederick Delius.
    • Go to the text.

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

  • ENG English [singable] (Aretta Werrenrath) , "Irmelin Rose"
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Irmelin la rose", copyright © 2010, (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: 28
Word count: 114

Irmelin Rose
Language: English  after the Danish (Dansk) 
There was a King in days of old,
many treasures rare he owned;
he knew his daughter Irmelin
of all to be the rarest one,
Irmelin rose, 
Irmelin sun,
Irmelin loveliest of all!

Her bright image was reflected 
in the helmets of all the knights,
and with ev'ry rhyme and rhythm 
her fair name had been entwined:
Irmelin rose, 
Irmelin sun,
Irmelin loveliest of all!

Knights by hundreds, noble wooers 
thronged the castle of the King,
wooed the maid with tender bearing 
and with sweet and flowered words:
Irmelin rose, 
Irmelin sun,
Irmelin loveliest of all!

But the Princess would not listen, 
cold her heart was, cold as steel,
of some she mocked the clumsy bearing 
and laughed at others' ugly forms.
Irmelin rose, 
Irmelin sun,
Irmelin loveliest of all!

Text Authorship:

  • by Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934) [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Danish (Dansk) by Jens Peter Jacobsen (1847 - 1885), "Irmelin Rose"
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934), "Irmelin Rose", 1897, from Seven Danish Songs, no. 2, also set in German (Deutsch), also set in Danish (Dansk) [ sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Peter Donderwinkel

This text was added to the website: 2003-12-07
Line count: 28
Word count: 130

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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