Var det en dröm?
Language: Swedish (Svenska)
Available translation(s): ENG FIN FRE GER GER
Var det en dröm, att ljuvt en gång
jag var ditt hjärtas vän?
Jag minns det som en tystnad sång,
då strängen darrar än.
Jag minns en törnros av dig skänkt,
en blick så blyg och öm;
jag minns en avskedstår, som blänkt.
Var allt, var allt en dröm?
En dröm lik sippans liv så kort
uti en vårgrön ängd,
vars fägring hastigt vissnar bort
för nya blommors mängd.
Men mången natt jag hör en röst
vid bittra tårars ström:
göm djupt dess minne i ditt bröst,
det var din bästa dröm!
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (David McCleery) , "Was it a dream?", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Oliko se unta?", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Était-ce un rêve ?", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "War es ein Traum ", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Beate Binnig) , "War es ein Traum?", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 92
Was it a dream?
Language: English  after the Swedish (Svenska)
Was it a dream, that once upon a blissful time
I was your heart’s friend?
I remember it like a silent song
Whose melody still lingers on.
I remember you gave me a rose
With a look so shy and tender,
I remember the glistening of a parting tear.
Was it all just a dream?
A dream like a wildflower's life,
So brief in the verdant meadow,
Whose beauty quickly withers away
Within an ocean of new flowers
But on many a night I hear a voice
Through a stream of bitter tears.
Hide this memory deep in your heart
For this was your best dream.
Authorship:
- Translation from Swedish (Svenska) to English copyright © 2018 by David McCleery, (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:
This text was added to the website: 2018-01-21
Line count: 16
Word count: 106