The Elf and the Cardinal | As the Cardinal one lovely day

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by Ernst Josephson (1851 - 1906)

Translation © by Dylan Hughes

Älvan och kardinalen

Language: Swedish (Svenska)

Our translations: ENG FIN FIN FRE

När kardinal'n en vacker dag
njöt morgonen i fulla drag
så, gissa, vad han skåda fick?
Spritt naken älva fin och kvick! 

För ögonen sin hand han bär,
min Gud, min Gud, det rent ej är,
men liten älva så muntert ler:
"Så se då hit, jag råder er!" 

Och småningom sin hand han tar
från ögonen. Jo, rent det var, jo rent det var.
Hans barm, hans gård fick blomsterskrud,
ty hon var vårens sändebud.

Text Authorship:

by Ernst Josephson (1851 - 1906) [author's text not yet checked 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 Yrjö Henrik Kilpinen (1892 - 1959), "Älvan och kardinalen", op. 27 no. 5 (1922), published 1924 [voice and piano], from Fantasi och verklighet I, no. 5, Wilhelm Hansen [ sung text verified 1 time]

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

FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , title 1: "Keijukainen ja kardinaali ", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Dylan Hughes) , title 1: "The Elf and the Cardinal", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Dylan Hughes) , title 1: "Keijukainen ja Kardinaali", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , title 1: "Quand par une belle journée le cardinal", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Dylan Hughes

This text was added to the website: 2010-01-21
Line count: 12
Word count: 76

The Elf and the Cardinal

Language: English after the Swedish (Svenska)

As the Cardinal one lovely day
Enjoyed the morning to the full
So guess, what did he see?
A stark naked Elf so fine and quick! 

Upon his eyes he lifts his hand,
"My God, my God", 'tis not proper!"
But the little Elf smiled so playfully:
"Look here, then, I shall counsel you!" 

And little by little he takes his hand
from his eyes. "Yes, it was proper, yes, it was proper."
His bosom, his yard were clad in flowers,
For she was the messenger of spring.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Swedish (Svenska) to English copyright © 2010 by Dylan Hughes, (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 Swedish (Svenska) by Ernst Josephson (1851 - 1906)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2010-01-21
Line count: 12
Word count: 88