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by Karin Boye (1900 - 1941)
Translation by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Ja visst gör det ont
Language: Swedish (Svenska) 
Ja visst gör det ont när knoppar brister.
Varför skulle annars våren tveka?
Varför skulle all vår heta längtan  
bindas i det frusna bitterbleka?
Höljet var ju knoppen hela vintern.
Vad är det för nytt, som tär och spränger?
Ja visst gör det ont när knoppar brister,
ont för det som växer
                              och det som stänger.

Ja nog är det svårt när droppar faller.
Skälvande av ängslan tungt de hänger,
klamrar sig vid kvisten, sväller, glider  -
tyngden drar dem neråt, hur de klänger.
Svårt att vara oviss, rädd och delad,
svårt att känna djupet dra och kalla,
ändå sitta kvar och bara darra  -
svårt att vilja stanna
                              och vilja falla.

Då, när det är värst och inget hjälper,
Brister som i jubel trädets knoppar.
Då, när ingen rädsla längre håller,
faller i ett glitter kvistens droppar

Confirmed with karinboye.se/verk/dikter/dikter/ja-visst-gor-det-ont.shtml


Text Authorship:

  • by Karin Boye (1900 - 1941), "Ja visst gör det ont", appears in För trädets skull [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 Maria Lithell Flyg (b. 1965), "Ja visst gör det ont" [ women's chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Bjørn Howard Kruse (b. 1946), "Ja visst gör det ont", 1981 [ alto and orchestra ], Nasjonalbiblioteket
        Publisher: Nasjonalbiblioteket [external link]  [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Gabriel Wilczkowski (b. 1980), "Ja visst gör det ont", copyright © 2002 [ satb chorus ], Gehrmans Verlag
        Publisher: Gehrmans Verlag [external link]  [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • ENG English (Anonymous/Unidentified Artist)


Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-01-05
Line count: 22
Word count: 136

Yes, it surely hurts when buds are...
Language: English  after the Swedish (Svenska) 
Yes, it surely hurts when buds are bursting
Why else would springtime falter?
Why would all our heat of longing
be caught in pale and bitter cold?
Buds encased all through the winter –
What’s new that makes them strain and split?
Yes, it surely hurts when buds are bursting,
hurts in what grows
          and in what shields.

Yes, it’s surely hard when drops are falling,
frightened shaking, heavy hanging,
cling to branches, swelling, sliding –
holding on while weighing down.
Hard to fear, divided, doubting,
hard to feel the depth that calls,
and yet remain and merely tremble –
hard to stay
          and hard to fall.

Then, when nothing helps and all seems lost,
the tree buds burst as if rejoicing.
Then, when fear holds on no more
sparkling drops from branches fall
forgetful that they feared the new,
forgetful that they feared the journey –
feel one second safe and sound,
rest in trust
          which creates this world.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Swedish (Svenska) by Karin Boye (1900 - 1941), "Ja visst gör det ont", appears in För trädets skull
    • 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):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-01-05
Line count: 27
Word count: 160

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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