by Karin Boye (1900 - 1941)
Translation by David McDuff (b. 1945)

Till någon som är mycket ung
Language: Swedish (Svenska) 
Späda nymåne,
vita nymåne,
blekskimrande låga, tänd
i nattens vita rum,

skira blåvinge,
sköra blåvinge,
yrvaken och väntansspänd
då skymning faller ljum,

spröda blomklocka,
klara blomklocka,
glasbräckliga flarn,

alf och vårväsen,
sylf och vårväsen --
lycka må ske dig, barn!

Confirmed with Karin Boye, karinboye.se/verk/dikter/dikter/till-nagon-som-ar.shtml, Karin Boye Sällskapet


Text Authorship:

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: 2026-01-11
Line count: 14
Word count: 39

To someone who is very young
Language: English  after the Swedish (Svenska) 
Slender new moon, 
white new moon, 
pale-shimmering flame, 
lit in the night's wide room,

clear blue moth, 
frail blue moth, 
startled awake and waiting-tensed, 
when warm falls the twilight gloom,

fragile flower-bell, 
bright flower-bell, 
glass-brittle through and through,

elf and spring-being, 
sylph and spring-being -
child, may happiness come to you!

Text Authorship:

Based on:

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


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

This text was added to the website: 2026-01-11
Line count: 14
Word count: 50