classic of gymnasium level swedish lit class, this 1700s poem about wishing for death

Queen Lovisa Ulrika of Sweden by Lorens Pasch the Younger (oil on canvas, 1768)

The talented, highly educated Lovisa Ulrika became one of Sweden's leading cultural figures. No other Swedish queen has left more of a mark on the theatre, and she also breathed new life into royal entertainment. She built up the palace theatres at Drottningholm and Ulriksdal.

Lovisa Ulrika was influenced by the ideals of the French Enlightenment. As a queen, she used the resources at her disposal to promote culture and science. For example, she supported the Swedish writer Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht and was also a patron of Carl Linnaeus.

In 1753, Lovisa Ulrika established the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, a centre of knowledge for research within the humanities.

Photo: royalpalaces.se

Concerning A Hyacinth by Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht

To – – – You wondrous plant whose match in colour, In sheen, allure I nowhere see, In Flora’s realm I find no other Whose beauty so enraptures me: Your petals Nature is suffusing, In art, in splendour sets alight; A subtle balsam-scent diffusing, You bring me pleasure and delight. My tender care shall never fail you, You get to breathe a milder air, No sudden squall shall e’er assail you, No heat and cold shall you impair. A gentle breeze shall worries banish, And infiltrate your every pore, And when from warmth you greatly languish A cooling tide shall you restore. But when at last, all blooms displaying, You grace my hut in full allure, The cruel law of change obeying, You fade and die and are no more. You soon forget my pleasant duty, And tire of all my watchful guard, Conceal in meagre dust your beauty, Are you ungrateful, then, and hard? But shall I censure this poor flower, Accuse a being frail as she, Whose lot’s to alter by the hour, She has to be what she must be. She is as grass, she has to perish, I bear no grudge because of this. And cold grows too a heart I cherish It has to be the way it is.

Viens, étoile du soir, souvent présage des meilleurs instants de ma vie ! Quand le silence règne c’est l’heure de mon passe-temps. Une ombre aimée me cache, un monde disparaît, où j’ai peiné. Après que mes sentiments, éphémères, ont plané, dans le calme la pensée s’amuse. Toi, instant, qui mène tout à la torpeur, tu réveilles la verve de mes pensées ; ton froid peut refroidir le feu de mes soucis, et ton ombre peut rendre clairs mes sentiments. Fatiguée des folies, de la frivolité, de la compagnie forcée, des commérages, parmi les déesses du chant je me repose et dors chez la douce Thalie.

Joie dans la solitude - Hedvig Charlotta NORDENFLYCHT

Tal día como hoy, 29 de junio mostramos los natalicios y fallecimientos de los escritores más destacados:

1315 Muere Ramon Llull, escritor mallorquín 1763 Muere Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht, escritora sueca 1789 Nace Giacomo Leopardi, poeta italiano 1852 Nace Juan de Dios Peza, escritor y diplomático mexicano 1873 Muere Michael Madhusudan Dutt, escritor indio 1879 Nace Zsigmond Moricz, novelista húngaro 1900 Nace Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, aviador y narrador francés 1905 Nace Manuel Altolaguirre, poeta español 1922 Nace Vasko Popa, poeta serbio 1923 Nace Pablo García Baena, poeta español 1926 Nace Jorge Enrique Adoum escritor y diplomático ecuatoriano 1933 Muere Olaf Bull, poeta noruego 1970 Muere Stefan Andres, narrador alemán 1979 Muere Blas de Otero, poeta español 1990 Muere Irving Wallace, novelista estadounidense

Min levnads lust är skuren av

Min levnads lust är skuren av, och döden är min längtan; till dig, du mörka, tysta grav står all min trängtan. På jorden jag ej finner vad mer min själ sitt nöje bär; min glädje borta är, min tid i gråt förrinner, min ungdoms lust försvinner; jag är olyckligt såld i grymma sorgens våld. En långsam död för ögon står, den jag dock icke finner. Du arma ömma hjärta! Kan ej den bittra smärta, som tär dig utan mått, dig ge så dödligt skott, att livets tråd må brista, och ädla själens gnista sitt fångehus må mista?

Portrait of Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht by Ulrika Pasch