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Jeg vanker indover det brune fjæld, jeg har ikke heste, jeg har ikke kusk, og nu er det kvæld. Og himlen slukner og mørket kommer. Men nu er der hus under hver en Busk, for nu er det [sommer]1. Jeg kjender mig stedt i en våken blund. Det synes som himlen og jorden er ett nu i nattens stund. Det lyder som jorden i søvne dier. Hvad suser i natten som ingen har set [og som]2 aldrig tier? Da bæver jeg ved hvad jeg ligger og tror, min tanke drømmer avsted -- avsted på de vilde spor: Om natten kloderne møter kloder, og kanske suser en stjerne ned til deg, vor moder... Jeg lytter til suset fra tinder og dal, og kjender min [sjæl]3 klinge ind som en stræng i den store koral, så dækker et mulm mine drømmes stier, jeg faller i søvn på min moseseng. Og alting tier.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with Knut Hamsun, Samlede Verker, Bind 15, Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, Oslo, 1964.
1 Haarklou: "Kvæld"2 Haarklou: "som"
3 Haarklou: "stræng"
Text Authorship:
- by Knut Hamsun (1859 - 1952), no title, appears in Det vilde kor, in Hvad suser i natten, no. 1, first published 1904 [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), "Hvad suser i natten", 1994 [ bass-baritone, narrator, violoncello, and piano ], from En Hamsun konsert, no. 13 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johannes Haarklou (1847 - 1925), "Hvad suser i natten?", op. 32 (Fem Romancer) no. 4 (1908) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
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: 2023-01-15
Line count: 24
Word count: 153
J’erre à travers une lande brune je n’ai pas de cheval, je n’ai pas de cocher et voici le soir venu. Le ciel s‘éteint et l’obscurité arrive. Mais il y a désormais une maison sous chaque buisson car maintenant c’est l’été. Je me sens plongé dans un rêve éveillé. Il semble que la terre et le ciel ne font plus qu’un en cette heure de la nuit. On dirait que la terre s’abreuve dans son sommeil Quel est ce bruissement dans la nuit, que personne n’a vu et qui jamais ne se tait ? Alors je tremble devant ce je crois, ma pensée rêve au loin, au loin, sur des voies sauvages : la nuit les astres rencontrent les astres et peut-être une étoile descend-elle en sifflant jusqu’à toi, notre mère… J’écoute le bruissement des cimes et des vallées, et je sens mon âme résonner comme une corde dans le grand chœur, puis une obscurité recouvre les sentiers de mes rêves, je m’endors sur mon lit de mousse. Et tout se tait.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles:
"Hvad suser i natten" = "Quel est ce bruissement dans la nuit"
"Hvad suser i natten?" = "Quel est ce bruissement dans la nuit ?"
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), no title, appears in Det vilde kor, in Hvad suser i natten, no. 1, first published 1904
This text was added to the website: 2026-09-03
Line count: 24
Word count: 170