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by Ludvig Holstein (1864 - 1943)
Translation by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Far, hvor flyver Svanerne hen?
Language: Danish (Dansk) 
Our translations:  FRE
Far, hvor flyver Svanerne hen? 
Bort! Bort! Vingerne spiler de, 
Halsens strækker de, syngende iler de 
bort! Bort! Ingen hved hvorhen. 

Far, hvor sejler Skyerne hen? 
Bort! Bort! Jaget af Vindene 
udover Havene stryger de skinnende 
bort! Bort! Ingen hved hvorhen. 

Far, hvor løber Dagene hen? 
Bort! Bort! Ruller de, rinder de. 
Ingen kan gribe dem. Sporløse svinder de 
bort! Bort! Ingen hved hvorhen. 

Men Far, vi selv, hvor gaar vi saa hen? 
Bort! Bort! Øjnene lukker vi, 
Hovedet bøjer vi, klagende sukker vi, 
bort! Bort! Ingen hved hvorhen.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Ludvig Holstein (1864 - 1943), "Far, hvor flyver Svanerne hen?" [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 Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934), "Far, hvor flyver Svanerne hen", from Five Danish Songs, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Peter Erasmus Lange-Müller (1850 - 1926), "Efteraar", op. 61 no. 3 [ voice and piano ], from Fire Sange af Ludvig Holstein, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Leevi Antti Madetoja (1887 - 1947), "Far, hvor flyver Svanerne hen?", op. 44 no. 2 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Frederick Delius.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Charles Wharton Stork (1881 - 1971) , "Father, where do the wild swans go?" ; composed by Gary Bachlund.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Frederick Delius.
    • Go to the text.

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

  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Père, vers où s'envolent les cygnes ?", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-12-11
Line count: 16
Word count: 89

Autumn
Language: English  after the Danish (Dansk) 
Father, whither fly the swans?
Away, away!
With glittering wings, with outstretched necks singing they hasten away, away!
No one knows where to!

Father, whither sail the clouds?
Away, away!
Hunted by winds across the wide ocean shining the race away, away!
No one knows where to!

Father and we, say whither we go?
Away, away!
We close our eyes and bow our heads, sobbing plaintively: Away, away!
No one knows where to!

Text Authorship:

  • by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Danish (Dansk) by Ludvig Holstein (1864 - 1943), "Far, hvor flyver Svanerne hen?"
    • 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 Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934), "Autumn", 1900?, also set in German (Deutsch) [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-12-29
Line count: 12
Word count: 73

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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