Lengsel

Vildeste fugl I flukt endnu
fløy dog ikke som lengses hu
Tid, kan du ikke ile? 
Fra morgen og inntil morgenry
Det er som at lide døden på ny.
Aldri så kommer hvile! 
Der er ei over det vide hav,
der er ei i den dunkle grav
og ei på fjell og ei i dal 
der er ei nogen større kval enn lengsel. 

Hjerte, mitt hjerte styr ikke så 
tanke, tanke hvor hen vil du gå?
Drøm, du bruker til vinge, 
det vet den lykke som vet seg stor
at kval er mere enn tomme ord
Yndige lyd som klinger! 
Jo større lykke, jo større kval
som høyest fjell og dypest dal
som dag og natt så er min Hu
meg tykkes at jeg bærer nu på lengsel.

by Theodor Kjerulf (1825-1888)

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

by Frederick Delius (1862-1934) , "Lengsel", 1888, from Five Songs from the Norwegian, no. 4, also set in English

by Frederick Delius (1862-1934) , "Longing", 1888, from Five Songs from the Norwegian, no. 4, also set in Norwegian (Bokmål)

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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Longing

 Quick darts the eagle through the skies
 Yet not swift as my longing flies
 Speed on time! do not languish!
 From evening gray, to the ruddy morn
 With mortal pangs I'm ever torn.
 Never allayed is my anguish. 
 Where billows thunder and dashin might
 Where tombs are yawning in gloomy night
 Where valleys wind and mountains tower,
 O'er all resistless reigns the power of longing. 
 
 Heart, oh my heart thy throbbing stay
 Whither, fancy, thy rapid way 
 Dreams but charm thee to vanish. 
 Her loftiest flight, well fortune knows,
 But heralds grief and untold woes
 Love only sorrow can banish. 
 The greater the bliss, the deeper the pain
 As lofty hill as lowland plain. 
 As day and night, as ebb and flow 
 Within me burns the joy, the woe of longing

Singable translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , "Longing"

a text in Norwegian (Bokmål) by Theodor Kjerulf (1825-1888)

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

by Frederick Delius (1862-1934) , "Longing", 1888, from Five Songs from the Norwegian, no. 4, also set in Norwegian (Bokmål)

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.