The swan | My swan, my silent one

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Singable translation by Wilhelm Henzen (1850 - 1910)

Translation © by C. Ersel King

Ein Schwan

Language: German (Deutsch) after the Norwegian (Bokmål)

Our translations: CAT ENG

Mein Schwan, mein stiller,
Mit weissem Gefieder, 
Deine wonnigen Lieder
Verriet kein Triller.

Ängstlich sorgend
Des Elfen im Grunde, 
Glittst du horchend 
Allzeit in die Runde. 

Und doch bezwangst du 
Zuletzt mich beim Scheiden
Mit trügenden Eiden, 
Ja da, da sangst du!

Du schlossest singend 
Die irdische Bahn doch, 
Du starbst verklingend;
Du warst ein Schwan doch!

Text Authorship:

Singable translation by Wilhelm Henzen (1850 - 1910), written c1890 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Norwegian (Bokmål) by Henrik Ibsen (1828 - 1906), "En svane", written 1871, appears in Digte
- Go to the text page.

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

by Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907), "Ein Schwan", op. 25 (Seks digt af Henrik Ibsen) no. 2 (1876) [ voice and piano ], Copenhagen, also set in Norwegian (Bokmål) [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Manuel Capdevila i Font) , "Un cigne", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (C. Ersel King) , "The swan", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: C. Ersel King

This text was added to the website: 2008-10-14
Line count: 16
Word count: 57

The swan

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

My swan, my silent one,
With white plumage,
Your delightful songs,
No trill betrayed.

Fearfully mindful of
The elves in the dell,
You glided, listening,
Always in circles.

And yet you forced
Our final parting
With false promises.
Yes, there, there you sang!

Singing, you closed
Your earthly course.
You died, faded away.
You were a swan nevertheless!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2008 by C. Ersel King, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
C. Ersel King. Contact: erselking (AT) watervalley (DOT) net
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Wilhelm Henzen (1850 - 1910), written c1890
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Norwegian (Bokmål) by Henrik Ibsen (1828 - 1906), "En svane", written 1871, appears in Digte
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2008-10-14
Line count: 16
Word count: 58