Tuesday, 21 July 2020

Erik Axel Karlfeldt: 'Svarta Rudolf'



Svarta Rudolf

Se svarta Rudolf han dansar,
han böjer sin nacke och ler.
Han tänker på stormande nätter
i Amsterdams glädjekvarter.
||: Han drömmer om flickornas kransar
           och svävande bruna ben
           på stranden av blåa slätter
           vid samoamånens sken. :||

Han böjer sin nacke och blundar
i flygande roslagsvals.
Så höll han i smäktande lundar
sin arm om chilenskans hals;
||: Så böjde han krullig hjässa
           en afton i negerbyn,
           mot trettonårig prinsessa
           med eldsken i ebenholtzhyn. :||

Så dansa de svajiga karlar
på Malagas vinstänkta redd.
Den vitröda tösen hon bävar,
bedårad, förlorad, förledd.
||: Hun ler i den väldiges nävar
           åt allt vad han tog och han gav,
           hon suckar och vinden svarar
           från Ålands jäsande hav. :||


Black-haired Rudolph

Look, black-haired Rudolph, he’s dancing,
he bends his head slightly and smiles.
He’s thinking of wild nights of pleasure
where Amsterdam’s red light beguiles.
||: He’s dreaming of wreathed girls romancing,
           their brown legs that sway to each tune, 
           Samoa’s smooth beaches quite azure 
           beneath the Pacific’s bright moon. :||

His eyes closed, he bends his head slightly, 
the Roslagen waltz whirls him on.
As once in dark groves he held lightly
a Chilean girl’s neck like a swan;
||: As once his black curls he inclined to –
           in some shanty town late at night –
           a youthful princess he’d a mind to
           with ebony skin shot with light. :||

So dance all the swaying young fellows
on Malaga’s wine-spattered piers
The blushing pale lass slowly mellows,
enchanted, entranced and all ears.
||: She smiles as huge fists hold her tightly
           at all that he took and he gave,
           she sighs and the wind answers quietly
           from Åland’s sea’s turbulent waves. :||


To hear an old 78 recording of this song, go to here
To hear a more famous recording, go to here

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