Que veut mon cœur, où vont mes pas ?

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by Knut Hamsun (1859 - 1952)

Translation © by Pierre Mathé

Hvad vil mit hjærte, hvor vil min fot?

Language: Norwegian (Bokmål)

Our translations: FRE

Chosen for Diff

Hvad vil mit hjærte, hvor vil min fot?
Skal skogen lates alene?
Den var mit hjem som jeg nys forlot,
jeg vanker og vandrer byen imot
og stanser i natten sene.

En sovende verden ser jeg på,
det tier så godt i mit øre.
Den stensatte by er stor og grå
og dit vil alle de andre gå,
og kjære, hvad skal jeg gjøre?

Lul, lul —? Ringer det klokker i haugen?

Så vender jeg om til skogens fred
i midnatters sene tide.
Jeg vet hvor det dufter en hægg et sted,
der lægger jeg hodet i lyngen ned
og sovner i skogen vide.

Lul, lul! ringer de klokker i haugen.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Knut Hamsun, Samlede Verker, Bind 15, Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, Oslo, 1964.

Text Authorship:

by Knut Hamsun (1859 - 1952), "Så vender jeg om", appears in Det vilde kor [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 Magne Amdahl (b. 1942), "Saa vender jeg om", 1994 [ bass-baritone, narrator, violoncello, and piano ], from En Hamsun konsert, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]

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

FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2025-10-08
Line count: 17
Word count: 111

Que veut mon cœur, où vont mes pas ?

Language: French (Français) after the Norwegian (Bokmål)

Chosen for Diff

Que veut mon cœur, où vont mes pas ?
Faut-il laisser la forêt seule ?
Elle était ma demeure, que je viens de quitter ;
j’erre, je marche, vers la ville,
et je m’arrête dans la nuit profonde.

Je contemple un monde endormi ;
le silence est si bon à mon oreille.
La ville de pierre est vaste et grise,
et c’est là que tous les autres iront…
Ah, mon Dieu, que dois-je faire ?

Dormir, dormir… Les cloches sonnent-elles sur le tertre ?

Alors je retourne à la paix de la forêt,
aux les heures tardives de minuit.
Je sais où, quelque part le merisier embaume ;
là, je pose ma tête dans la bruyère
et je m’endors au cœur de la vaste forêt.

Dormir, dormir ! Les cloches sonnent sur le tertre.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles:
"Saa vender jeg om" = "Alors je retourne"
"Så vender jeg om" = "Alors je retourne"

Text Authorship:

Translation from Norwegian (Bokmål) to French (Français) copyright © 2026 by Pierre Mathé, (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 Norwegian (Bokmål) by Knut Hamsun (1859 - 1952), "Så vender jeg om", appears in Det vilde kor
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-08-20
Line count: 17
Word count: 126