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by Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804 - 1877)

Fåfäng önskan
Language: Swedish (Svenska) 
Our translations:  ENG FIN FRE
Otaliga vågor vandra
På hafvets glänsande ban.
O, vore jag bland de andra
En bölja i ocean,
Så liknöjd djupt i mitt sinne,
Så sorglöst kylig och klar,
Så utan ett enda minne
Från flydda sällare dar!

Dock, skulle en våg jag vara,
Den samme jag vore väl då.
Här går jag ju bland en skara
Af svala vågor också.
De skämta med fröjd och med smärta,
På lek de tåras och le,
Blott jag har mitt brinnande hjerta:
O, vore jag utan som de!

Text Authorship:

  • by Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804 - 1877), "Fåfäng önskan", appears in Lyriska dikter I [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 Karl Collan (1828 - 1871), "Fåfäng önskan", 1852 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Robert Kajanus (1856 - 1933), "Fåfäng önskan", op. 4 (Fyra visor med piano = Vier Lieder für Mezzo-Sopran mit Pianoforte) no. 2 (1880), published 1880 [ voice and piano ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957), "Fåfäng önskan", op. 61 (8 sånger (Eight Songs)) no. 7 (1910) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Alma von Böhlendorff , "Vergeblicher Wunsch" ; composed by Robert Kajanus.
      • Go to the text.

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

  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Vain desire", copyright © 2019
  • FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Turha toive", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Vain désir", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-09-17
Line count: 16
Word count: 85

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