Mr. Eusden

All Saints' Church, Spofforth (near Harrogate, North Yorkshire)

[Image source: Wikimedia Commons . This is where Laurence Eusden was baptised in 1688. His father was the rector.]

The Transformation of the THEBAN Matrons.

⁠The Theban Matrons their lov'd Queen pursu'd,
And tracing to the Rock, her Footsteps view'd.
Too certain of her Fate, they rend the Skies
With piteous Shrieks, and lamentable Cries.
All beat their Breast, and Juno all upbraid,
Who still remember'd a deluded Maid:
Who, still revengeful for one stol'n Embrace,
Thus wreak'd her Hate on the Cadmëan Race.
This Juno heard; and shall such Elfs, she cry'd,
Dispute my Justice, or my Pow'r deride?
You too shall feel my Wrath not idly spent;
A Goddess never for Insults was meant.
⁠She, who lov'd most, and who most lov'd had been,
Said, Not the Waves shall part me from my Queen.
She strove to plunge into the roaring Flood;
Fix'd to the Stone, a Stone her self she stood.
This, on her Breast would fain her Blows repeat,
Her stiffen'd Hands refus'd her Breast to beat.
That, stretch'd her Arms unto the Seas; in vain
Her Arms she laboured to unstretch again.
To tear her comely Locks another try'd,
Both comely Locks, and Fingers petrify'd.
Part thus; but Juno with a softer Mind
Part doom'd to mix among the feather'd Kind.
Transformed, the Name of Theban Birds they keep,
And skim the Surface of that fatal Deep.

(From Ovid's Metamorphoses Book IV, translation by Laurence Eusden.)

In the long darks I've sometimes been unable to read my paperback of A. D. Melville's wonderful 1986 translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, instead resorting to the phone and the 1727 translation compiled by Samuel Garth.

https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Metamorphoses_(tr._Garth,_Dryden,_et_al.)

It's a good fallback. It's the work of various authors including Dryden, Addison, Pope and others whose names are less remembered today. Book IV is mostly the work of Laurence Eusden (1688 - 1730).

Eusden had been appointed Poet Laureate in 1718, on more than usually flimsy grounds (his rivals said). His career and life were both, I imagine, shortened by the hard drinking mentioned by Pope in the Dunciad (this passage wasn't in the 1728 version, but was added after Eusden's death).

Whatever, Eusden's Metamorphoses translations must account for nearly all of his readers today. He's no Dryden, but he admired Dryden and learnt from him, and he must have given a lot of enjoyment to a lot of people. His work on Book IV includes such famous stories as Pyramus and Thisbe, the Sun in love, Perseus and Andromeda...; also some particularly unedifying examples of divine vengeance by Bacchus and Juno. (Eusden also translated Venus and Adonis in Book X.)

My quotation comes from the end of Juno's destruction of Ino and her family (apparently for no other reason than Ino being too happy; as you might say, "to wipe that smug grin off her face"). In lines 6-8 it's Eusden, not Ovid, who reasonably speculates that what really fuels Juno's cruelty is lingering hatred for Semele (Ino's sister). Eusden makes other additions too, e.g. the comment about Juno's "softer Mind" being revealed in the transformation of some of Ino's attendants to birds. (Despite these additions, his version of the passage is only three lines longer than Melville's.)

*

Here's a five-minute Eusden anthology, extracts from other poems that I've tracked down by following the links here:

https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Laurence_Eusden

Cease, cease, fair Nymph, to lavish precious Tears,

And discompose your Soul with airy Fears.

Look on Sicilia's glitt'ring Courts with Scorn;

A nobler Sceptre shall that Hand adorn.

Imperial Pomp shall sooth a gen'rous Pride;

The Bridegroom never will disgrace the Bride.

If you above Terrestrial Thrones aspire,

From Heav'n I spring, and Saturn was my Sire.

The Pow'r of Pluto stretches all around,

Uncircumscrib'd by Nature's utmost Bound:

Where Matter, mould'ring, dies, where Forms decay,

Thro' the vast trackless Void extends my Sway.

Mark not with mournful Eyes the fainting Light,

Nor tremble at this Interval of Night.

A fairer Scene shall open to your View,

An Earth more verdant, and a Heav'n more blue...

(Pluto to Proserpine, translated from Claudian's Rape. From Steele's Poetical Miscellanies.)

I find Pluto's speech terrifying, not just because he's gaslighting a rape victim but because his words are nevertheless so powerfully seductive. When someone starts to lull you into believing that his dead world is far superior to your living one, it's time to seriously wake up.

*

Some, by kind Fates, to Greatness force their way,

And without Dawnings show a glorious Day;

Others, by Fortune, and industrious Strife,

Arrive at Honours, in the Noon of Life.

Many by painful, slow degrees ascend,

And anxious, till the verge of Death, attend.

Great Dryden did not early Great appear,

Faintly distinguish'd in his thirti'th Year:

But Nature, when she would a Poet doom

To show ripe Wonders in his op'ning Bloom,

Lavishly gives from all her choicest Mines,

And the rich Oar with nicer Care refines.

Britannia grieves, such Blessings are but few,

A Cowley, C----------ve, and a M-----------gue.

(From "To the Right Honourable Charles, Lord Hallifax: Occasion'd by translating into Latin His Lordship's Poem on the Boyn; and Mr. Stepney's on the late King's Voyage into Holland". From Steele's Poetical Miscellanies. )

A persuasively humble reflection on early poetical success. Written when he was 21, nine years before he was appointed Poet Laureate.

*

Here Spices in Parterres promiscuous blow,

Not from Arabia's Fields more Odours flow.

The wanton Winds thro' Groves of Cassia play,

And steal the ripen'd Fragrancies away.

Here, with its Load the mild Amomum bends,

There, Cinnamon in rival Sweets contends.

A rich Perfume the ravish'd Senses fills,

While from the weeping Tree the Balm distills. 

(From a description of the court of Love, out of Claudian's Epithalamium of Honorius and Maria. From Steele's Poetical Miscellanies. )

I included this mainly to add a note on Amomum. Classical authors write of it as a spicy plant, but no-one knows which one they were referring to. Today it's the name of a genus of plants (notably including Black Cardamom). Oddly, it also turns up in the specific name Sison amomum (Stone Parsley); a plant with an odour that most people consider distinctly unpleasant.

*

On a Lady, Who is the most Beautiful and Witty when she is Angry.

LONG had I known the soft, enchanting Wiles,

Which Cupid practis'd in Aurelia's Smiles.

Till by degrees, like the fam'd Asian, taught,

Safely I drank the sweet, tho' poys'nous Draught.

Love vex'd to see his Favours vainly shown,

The peevish Urchin murder'd with a Frown.

What cautious Youth would thence have fear'd Surprize?

Can Beauty from Deformity arise?

In cloudless Nights do Light'nings harmless fly,

And only blast from a tempestuous Sky?

Mild Venus haunts the Shades and peaceful Groves,

Her Thoughts, her Looks, are tender as her Doves.

Smooth'd were the Waves, and ev'ry Triton sung,

When from old Ocean first the Goddess sprung.

Aurelia shuns the Calm, and loves the Storm,

Ruffles her Passions to improve her Form.

She by some Art, to th' artful Sex unknown,

Has all the Graces, when the rest have none.

Th' unsated Victor seeks new Triumphs still,

And whom her Eyes but wound, her Tongue must kill.

No hope of Safety, if inflam'd her Breast;

At once the Cha[r]mer Looks, and Talks, the best.

So Dryden sweetest sung, by Envy fir'd, 

Thirst of Revenge, if Phoebus fail'd, inspir'd. 

His Antony did Sydley's Muse o'ertake,

And Absalon was writ for Zimri's sake.

New Injuries new Laurels did presage,

And a Mac Fleckno was the Child of Rage.

One of three fine poems on the psychology of attraction, all in Steele's Poetical Miscellanies. In the second, Eusden is easily persuaded that Dryden is a bad poet, when he hears it from the lips of a good-looking woman. In the third, his preference for the older but wittier Delia leads on to a comparison with the deep feelings invoked by ancient monuments; it sounds tasteless, but it isn't. 

*

'Tis nobly done, thus to enrich the stage

And raise the thoughts of a degen'rate age;

To show how endless joys from freedom spring,

How life in bondage is a worthless thing.

The unborn greatness of your soul we view,

You tread the paths frequented by the few;

With so much strength you write, and so much ease,

Virtue and sense! how durst you hope to please?

Yet crowds, the sentiments of ev'ry line,

Impartial clap'd, and own'd the work divine.

Ev'n the sour critics, who malicious came,

Eager to censure, and resolv'd to blame,

Finding the hero regularly rise,

Great while he lives, but greater when he dies;

Sullen approv'd, too obstinate to melt,

And sicken'd with the pleasures which they felt.

Not so the fair, their passions secret kept,

Silent they heard, but as they heard, they wept ...

From a poem addressed to the author of Cato (Joseph Addison, 1713). Though Cato is rarely read or performed today, its political legacy, e.g. in the USA, is as vigorous as ever.

(Quoted in Robert Bisset's Life of Lawrence Eusden, prefixing a 1793 edition of The Spectator; Eusden wrote some of the letters that appear within its pages.)

Sjung med!

While staying at Kyli's for a couple of days, I managed to record a singalong album of well known Swedish songs. All except one are in the 1944 edition of Sjung Svenska Folk! They're a mixture, both seasonally and functionally: a carol, a lullaby, a sentimental love song, a folk song, dance songs, children's songs, walking songs... Most Swedes would still recognize most of these tunes.

Hopefully we'll have some fun with this at Christmas and beyond. Anyway you can listen to my handiwork here....

michaelpeverett · Sjung med!

1. I sommarens soliga dagar (In the sunny days of summer). Words: G. E. Johansson, to an old marching tune. (Sjung Svenska Folk  no. 104.)

2. Videvisan (Willow song). Words: Z. Topelius. Music: Alice Tegnér 1864 - 1943. (Sjung Svenska Folk no. 52.)

3. Fjäriln vingad syns på Haga (Wingèd butterfly in Haga). Words and music: C. M. Bellman 1740 - 1795. (Sjung Svenska Folk no. 63.) My post about it: https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2023/06/a-butterfly-in-haga.html .

4. Nu tändas tusen juleljus (Now a thousand Christmas candles are lit). Words and music: Emmy Köhler 1858 - 1925. (Sjung Svenska Folk no. 135.)

5. Den första gång . . . (The first time . . .). Words and music: Birger Sjöberg 1885 - 1924. (Sjung Svenska Folk no. 73.)

6. Uti vår hage (Out in our paddock). Traditional folk song from Gotland. (Sjung Svenska Folk no. 89.)

7. Vi ska ställa te' en roliger dans (We are gonna do a joyful dance). Traditional. (Sjung Svenska Folk no. 99.)

8. Nu så är det jul igen (Now that it's Christmas again). Words and music: Alice Tegnér 1864 - 1943. (Sjung Svenska Folk no. 137.)

9. Vi gå över daggstänkta berg (We walk over dew-sprinkled hills). Words: Olof Thunman. Music: Traditional / Edwin Ericsson. (Sjung Svenska Folk no. 105.) My post about it: https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2023/12/on-magic-lands.html .

10. Tre små gummor (Three little old ladies). Words: The first verse of a 1909 poem by Anna Maria Roos. Music: Later attached to a traditional melody.

11. Å jänta å ja (My baby 'n' me). Words: F. A. Dahlgren. Music: Traditional Värmland polska. (Sjung Svenska Folk no. 100.) My post about it: https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2023/12/a-janta-ja-my-baby-n-me.html .

In magic lands

As regular readers will know I usually try to mix it up (a bit). So it's with apologies that I immediately follow one post about a popular Swedish song with another one. But hey, Christmas is coming and these are what I'm hastily working on, with singalongs in prospect.

Vi gå över daggstänkta berg

D                                        A7

Vi gå över daggstänkta berg, fallera,
A7                                                    D

Som lånat av smaragderna sin färg, fallera!
         G

Och sorger ha vi inga,

          D
Våra glada visor klinga,

             A7                                 D
När vi gå över daggstänkta berg, fallera!

         G

Och sorger ha vi inga, &c

We walk over dew-sprinkled hills, fallera,

Who've borrowed from the emeralds their tints, fallera!

And sorrows we're not bringing,

Our merry songs go ringing

When we walk over dew-sprinkled hills, fallera.

2. De väldiga skogarnas sus, fallera,

Gå mäktiga som orgeltoners brus, fallera!

Och livets vardagsträta,

Så lätt det är förgäta,

Vid de väldiga skogarnas sus, fallera!

Och livets vardagsträta, &c

The sound of the mighty forests' roar, fallera, 

Tremendous like the growl of organ chords, fallera!

And life's daily fretting

Is easily forgotten,

When you're out in the mighty forests' roar, fallera!

3. De gamla och kloka må le, fallera,
Vi äro ej förståndiga som de, fallera!
Men vem skulle sjunga
Om våren den unga,
Om vi vore kloka som de, fallera?

Men vem skulle sjunga, &c

The old and the wise, smile they may, fallera,

We know we aren't as sensible as they, fallera!

But who on earth would sing rhyme

To hail the youthful springtime,

If all of us were just as wise as they, fallera?

4. O mänskor, förglömmer er gråt, fallera,
och kommer och följer oss åt, fallera!
Si, fjärran vi gånga
Att solskenet fånga,
Ja, kommer och följer oss åt, fallera!

Si, fjärran vi gånga, &c

O sorry humankind, forget your tears, fallera,

Come abroad and walk with us out here, fallera!

Just see, how far we're marching 

The sunshine that we're catching,

Yes, come abroad and walk with us out here, fallera!

5. Så gladeligt hand uti hand, fallera,
Nu gå vi till fågel Fenix land, fallera!
Det sagoland som skiner
Av kristaller och rubiner,
Nu gå vi till fågel Fenix land, fallera!

Det sagoland som skiner, &c

So gladly we walk hand in hand, fallera,

Now we're on our way to see the phoenix' land, fallera!

That saga-land illumined

All with crystal and with rubies,

Now we're on our way to see the phoenix' land, fallera!

(Text from the 1944 edition of Sjung Svenska Folk.)

The words are by Olof Thunman, poet, landscape artist and enthusiastic hiker (he was inspired by the ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau).  The story is that he made up the words, some of them anyway, in the course of a post-dinner walk in Flen (Södermanland) in 1900, when he was just 21. At the time he was employed as a private tutor to three boys, sons of a bank director called Ericsson. Walking with him was the eldest son, Edwin Ericsson, playing an accordion. There is some dispute whether the ridiculously catchy melody was Edwin's own invention or a traditional "gånglåt" (marching tune). At any rate the essential "fallera"s came along later, replacing a double repeat of the final word in the line.

However it came about, I think Olof Thunman's lyric does capture the feel of spontaneous composition in nature. What I particularly like is how the song starts with something like realistic observation of the nature around him (the emerald green, the sound of the trees), but it ends by following the imagination into magic lands. That seems to me just the way that things tend to happen on a walk; as our thoughts gradually become less willed, as the immediacy of nature becomes less novel to us, a creative interplay between our minds and our physical activity and our surroundings takes place, if we allow it to. It offers the promise of a bigger life than the one we normally inhabit, and if this promise finds words at all, they tend to be words of the fantastic, the world of fairytales, yet arising naturally, like dreams; e.g. in this case the image of emeralds (verse 1) giving rise to the crystal and rubies of verse 5.

I suppose I'm labouring the obvious, but it makes me question my normal understanding of that important aspiration we refer to by terms such as "mindfulness" or "being present". It mustn’t mean limiting ourselves to attending only to what our senses are registering, as it were for fear of missing something. Salutary as such advice seems (i.e. in response to modern waking lives that are mostly buried in the virtual) yet it's something short of a living relationship with nature: strictly observing our surroundings, we cease to interact with them, we assemble data but we exile ourselves from nature's community. We don't open ourselves to letting it tell us anything new. It's the same with our communication with other people: if we habitually scrutinize another person's behaviour, we stop being able to hear them, they become merely a case.

Vi gå, etc: nearly all the verb endings are "wrong". I'm not sure why, though it seems to be typical of older Swedish song lyrics: whether some Swedish verb-rules have actually changed since 1900 or whether it's supposed to sound archaic or slangy or dialectal or comic or what. (In some other texts the imperative verbs in verse 4 appear as "förglömmen","kommen", etc... different, but just as "wrong".... this is what Gustaf Adolf Lund sings in the YouTube clip below.)

inga / klinga, etc. As in many older Swedish songs and poems, there's a strict pattern of masculine (monosyllabic) and feminine (disyllabic) rhymes: here it's masculine for lines 1,2 and 5; feminine for lines 3 and 4. But feminine rhymes aren't quite as commonplace in English as they are in Swedish, one reason I gave up on a proper verse translation of this one.

berg (Verse 1): a word with wide usage in Swedish: mountain, hill, cliff. 

vardagsträta (Verse 2): everyday dealings.

förgäta (Verse 2): forget. The usual word is glömma; this is a poetic alternative. 

som de (Verse 3). As in most old songs, the pronouns and some other common words should be pronounced the way they are spelled, and not as they are in standard modern Swedish; sometimes, as here, it's necessary for the rhyme. (I.e. you have to pronounce de as "deer" not "domm"). Compare the popular lullaby Videvisan, where dig must be pronounced "deeg" not "day". 

sagoland (verse 5). Saga means fairytale or legend (as in Sibelius' En Saga). Yes, I know, I've translated it as "saga-land" because it sounded better, but please don't start thinking of something like Njals' Saga. It means a magical land, the land of Faërie.

Here's Gustaf Adolf Lund's recording from 1913. Lund's text (like many others) didn't include verse 2 but otherwise it follows the same sequence as quoted above. Some texts don't; for examples, see the Swedish Wikipedia article https://sv.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vi_g%C3%A5_%C3%B6ver_daggst%C3%A4nkta_berg .

Here's my rendition:

michaelpeverett · Vi Gå Över Daggstänkta Berg

Å Jänta å Ja / My baby n me

Midsummer Dance (Midsommardans), 1897 painting by Anders Zorn 

[Image source: Wikipedia . This is the version in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.]

Å jänta å ja

Traditional Värmland polska with words by Fredrik August Dahlgren (1816-95). Still popular as a round dance at midsummer or Christmas. Often only the first verse is used, repeated as necessary. 

Å jänta å ja, å jänta å ja,
Allt uppå landavägen, å ja,
Å jänta å ja, å jänta å ja,
Allt uppå landavägen.
Där mötte ho mej en morgon så klar,
Då sola ho sken på himmelen så rar,
Å vacker som ljusan dagen ho var.
Mitt hjärta, vart tog dä' vägen?

 

                          My baby n me, my baby n me,

                          All up upon the high road, n me,

                          My baby n me, my baby n me,

                          All up upon the high road.

                          That is where we met one morning so rare,

                          The sun shining in the heavens so fair,

                          And lovely was she as the day's brightness there.

                          My heart, where have you wandered?

Å jänta å ja, å jänta å ja,
Allt på missommersvaka, å ja,
Å jänta å ja, å jänta å ja,
Allt på missommersvaka.
Där råka vi varann mä fräsande fröjd,
Å allri ja nånstin känt mej så nöjd,
Ja kasta mina ben i himmelens höjd
Och hoppa över alle taka.

                          My baby n me, my baby n me,

                          All upon midsummer evening, n me,

                          My baby n me, my baby n me,

                          All upon midsummer evening.

                          There we met each other brimming with delight,

                          And never have I ever felt so satisfied,

                          I kicked my legs up unto the heavens height

                          And danced over all the roof lines. 

Å jänta å ja, å jänta å ja,
Allt uti gröna lunden, å ja,
Å jänta å ja, å jänta å ja,
Allt uti gröna lunden.
Där stal jag mej en köss så rosenderöd
Å talte om för henne hela min nöd,
Å frågte om ho ville dela mitt bröd,
Och ho svara ja på stunden.

                          My baby n me, my baby n me,

                          All out upon the greenwood, n me,

                          My baby n me, my baby n me,

                          All out upon the greenwood.

                          There I stole to me a kiss so rosy red

                          And told her all about the way my feelings stood,

                          And asked her if she wouldn't like to share my bread,

                          And she answered yes all right then. 

Å jänta å ja, å jänta å ja,
Allt i Ransäters körka, å ja,
Å jänta å ja, å jänta å ja,
Allt i Ransäters körka.
Där stodo vi nu vid altaret just
Å lovade tro i nöd å i lust
Å allt till den allra sistaste pust
Så troget varandra dörka. 

                          My baby n me, my baby n me,

                          All upon Ransäter church-house, n me,

                          My baby n me, my baby n me,

                          All upon Ransäter church-house.

                          And right before the altar stood ourselves

                          Plighting our troth in sickness and in health

                          And always until our very last breath

                          Thus faithfully to love each other.

This text comes from Sjung Svenska Folk! (26th edition, 1944), so it's the one I'm familiar with. It's typical of what you'll hear if you search for "jänta å ja" on YouTube. 

Version A

Behind it lies the seven-verse version first published by Fredrik August Dahlgren in his book Viser på Varmlanske Tongmåle (Songs in the Värmland Dialect, 1875, 1886), which he published under the pseudonym Fredrek på Rannsätt. I'll call this Version A.

Version A, from the 1886 edition of Dahlgren's book:

https://runeberg.org/varmlansk/0005.html

The full title of this 1886 edition is Viser på Varmlanske Tongmåle, deckta åttå Fredrek på Rannsätt: Gamle å Speller nye å Sprett sprang nye.

It has seven verses.

Verse 1, first meeting on the highway (as Verse 1 above). 

Verse 2: Ransäter church, where her glances make him go weak.

Verse 3 joyous meeting at Midsummer Eve (as Verse 2 above).

Verse 4: dancing the polska with her, his senses in a whirl.

Verse 5, a kiss in the green grove (as Verse 3 above). 

Verse 6,  at Ransäter church they stand at the altar and take their vows: to be true for better or worse, and to adore each other till the last breath (as Verse 4 above). 

Verse 7: the first part is the same as Verse 1; now he travels life's high road with her, and they'll never separate till death us do part.

Version B

There's another version (Version B), whose origin I don't know, but it's important as it's part of Swedish choral literature and hence most of the sung versions (including the one I began with) are basically selected verses from Version B.

Version B, from CPDL.org (free choral music):

https://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/%C3%85_j%C3%A4nta_%C3%A5_ja_(Traditional)

Version B, though still in dialect, tends to have more standard Swedish spelling and it replaces some of the more unfamiliar värmländska expressions with Swedish equivalents. 

The substantive differences are all in Verse 1. 

Version A:

Där mötte ja’ henn’ e môra så rar,

Då sola ho sken på himmalen så klar,

A däjli som ljusan dagen ho var —

Mett hjârte, hvar tog dä vägen?

Version B:

Där mötte ho’ mej en morgon så klar,

då sola ho’ sken på himmelen så rar,

å vacker som ljusa dagen ho’ var,

mitt hjärta, vart tog du vägen?

*

Parallel Text

Here is the full 1886 text (Version A), with Version B interleaved.

Jänta å ja’.

Verse 1

Version A:

Å jänta å ja’ :||: å allt uppå landavägen,

Å ja’,

Å jänta å ja’ :||: å allt uppå landavägen.

Där mötte ja’ henn’ e môra så rar,

Då sola ho sken på himmalen så klar,

Å däjli som ljusan dagen ho var —

Mett hjârte, hvar tog dä vägen?

jänta: flickan (the girl) (-a is the feminine form of the definite article)

môra: morgon (morning)

däjli: I'm guessing this is SAOB Dejlig 3b. Whatever, it means "vacker" (beautiful): see Version B.

Version B:

Å jänta å ja', å jänta å ja'

allt uppå landavägen, å ja',

å jänta å ja', å jänta å ja'

allt uppå landavägen.

Där mötte ho’ mej en morgon så klar,

då sola ho’ sken på himmelen så rar,

å vacker som ljusa dagen ho’ var,

mitt hjärta, vart tog du vägen?

Verse 2

Version A:

Å jänta å ja’ :||: å allt uti Rannsätts körke,

Å ja’,

Å jänta å ja’ :||: å allt uti Rannsätts körke.

Där bliga ho på mej så himmalens blått,

Å yja di sköt så blextrande brådt,

Så allri ha mett hjârte tåcka salve fått;

Ja’ messta’ kav mi hele störke.

yja: ögon (eyes)

allri: aldrig (never)

tåcka: sådan (such a)

störke: styrka (strength)

Version B:

Å jänta å ja', å jänta å ja'

allt uti Rannsätts körke, å ja',

å jänta å ja', å jänta å ja'

allt uti Rannsätts körke.

Där bliga ho’ på mig så himmalens blått,

å yja di sköt så blextrande brått,

så allri ha mett hjärte tåcka salve fått,

ja’ messta kav mi hele störke.

Verse 3

Version A:

Å jänta å ja’ :||: å allt på messommers-vaka,

Å ja’,

Å jänta å ja’ :||: å allt på messommers-vaka.

Där råka vi hvarann mä fräsande fröjd,

Å allri nônnstinn ha ja’ kännt mej så nöjd,

Ja’ kasta mine ben i himmalens höjd

Å hoppa övver alle taka.

mä: med (with)

Version B:

Å jänta å ja', å jänta å ja'

allt på messommersvaka, å ja'

Å jänta å ja', å jänta å ja'

allt på midsommers vaka.

Där råka vi varann mä fräsande fröjd,

Å allri nonnstinn ha ja’ kännt mej så nöjd,

Ja’ kasta mine ben i himmalens höjd

Å hoppa över alle taka.

Verse 4

Version A:

Å jänta å ja’ :||: å allt uti pålskedansen,

Å ja’

Å jänta å ja’ :||: å allt uti pålskedansen.

Då tog ja’ tag så vackert uti hennas hann,

För yja skömdes bårt bå himmalen å lann;

Hur dansen hadd’ gått te, dä vesst’ja’ int ett grann

När som ja’ kom igen te sansen.

te: till (to)

Version B:

Å jänta å ja', å jänta å ja'

allt uti pålskedansen, å ja’,

å jänta å ja', å jänta å ja'

allt uti pålskedansen.

Då tog ja’ tag så vackert uti hennes hann,

för yja sjömmdes bårt bå himmalen å lann,

hur dansen hadd gått te,

dä vesst ja’ int ett grann,

när som ja’ kom igen te sansen.

Verse 5

Version A:

Å jänta å ja’ :||: å allt uti gröna lunden,

Å ja’,

Å jänta å ja’ :||: å allt uti gröna lunden.

Där stal ja’ mej en köss så rosande rö

Å tala om för henne hele mi nö

Å fråga, om ho ville dele mett brö,

Å ho svara ja på stunden.

Version B:

Å jänta å ja', å jänta å ja'

allt uti gröna lunden, å ja'

Å jänta å ja', å jänta å ja'

allt uti gröna lunden.

Där stal ja' mej en köss så rosande rö

Å tala om för henne hele mi nö,

å fråga, om ho’ ville dele mitt brö,

å ho’ svara ja på stunden.

Verse 6

Version A:

Å jänta å ja’ :||: å allt uti Rannsätts körke,

Å ja’,

Å jänta å ja’ :||: å allt uti Rannsätts körke.

Där stog nu vi två ve alltere jusst

Å lôva vår tro i nö å i lusst

Å att te den allre sistaste pusst

Så troget hvarannre dörke.

dörke: dyrka (worship, adore)

Version B:

Å jänta å ja', å jänta å ja'

allt i Rannsätts körke, å ja'

Å jänta å ja', å jänta å ja'

allt i Rannsäts körke.

Där stog vi nu två ve altere jusst

å lova vår tro i nö å i lusst

å att te den allre sistaste pusst

så troget varannre dörke.

Verse 7

Version A:

Å jänta å ja’ :||: å allt uppå landavägen,

Å ja’,

Å jänta å ja’ :||: å allt uppå landavägen.

På lifsens lannsväg vannrer ja’ nu

Så gladeligen mä mi lelle hustru,

Å allri nônnstinn ska vi skeljes vi tu,

Fôrrn döen går oss i vägen.

Version B:

Å jänta å ja', å jänta å ja'

allt uppå landavägen, å ja',

å jänta å ja', å jänta å ja'

allt uppå landavägen.

På livsens lannsväg vannrer ja’ nu

så gladeligen mä mi lelle hustru,

å allri nonnstinn ska vi skeljes vi tu,

förrn döen går oss i vägen.

*

Recordings

Å Jänta å Ja exists more as something you take part in than something you actually listen to. Here's Erik Östs Spelmanslag with dance-caller Bosse Larsson supplying the typical sound of Å Jänta å Ja in action: just the first verse, repeated at will.

A shout out for the recording (c. 1960?) by Värmland folk singer Gunde Johansson. He uses Version A and includes every verse except one (Verse 4):

And another shout out to the remarkable Värmland beat group Sven Ingvars, who in 1966 improbably welded Å Jänta Å Ja to the rhythm of I Can't Get No Satisfaction.

Unlikely I know, but yes this is the visiting Osmonds from Utah having a stab at Å Jänta å Ja in 1965, though it seems to me the local children's choir is doing most of the heavy lifting.

Of course the tune is even better known than the words, so here's a couple of instrumental versions. This is the legendary accordionist Carl Jularbo:

A pretty cool jazz version by Frej's Jazz:

A little classical guitar from Jan-Olof Eriksson:

And here's my own rendition... just the four verses quoted at the head of the post:

michaelpeverett · Å Jänta Å Ja

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Other notes that found no place above!

Full text of Version B, with interleaved English translation by Eva Toller:

http://www.evatoller.se/translation/AA/men/aajaentaaja.txt

I'm not sure if Dahlgren made up the lyric or just wrote it down. (The internet asserts both.) I would guess he made it up, it seems too arranged somehow... but maybe based on a folk source.

From Värmland himself, Dahlgren had etymological interests and wrote the whole of his book in fairly strictly notated värmländska. (He was also a member of the Swedish Academy and active in the early stages of putting together the SAOB.)

(Apparently Gustaf Fröding also published some verse in värmländska.)

It's evident that Dahlgren's words were already connected with a melody, presumably the same one we sing today (which sounds like a traditional polska).

*

Värmländska

https://sv.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A4rml%C3%A4ndska

The Swedish Wikipedia has a useful account of värmländska dialects (they vary considerably), typical sound changes, different grammar features, plus a list of common värmländska words with their Swedish equivalents. 

Two additional letters you'll need to write värmländska are ô (variously described as "a combination of ö and å" and "a tired ö") and less commonly û (combination of u and ô). 

Other accounts and wordlists:

https://www.swedishnomad.com/sv/varmlandska-ord-och-uttryck/

https://filipandreasson.wordpress.com/2014/03/24/varmlandsk-ordlista/

https://solagast.blogspot.com/2013/02/varmlandsk-ordlista.html

More comprehensive is this lookup dictionary, but I wish there was a way of simply listing all the words in it: 

https://xn--vrmlndsk-0zad.ordbok.gratis/