Birger Sjöberg

Birger Sjöberg (December 6, 1885 – April 30, 1929) was a modern Swedish poet and songwriter. Originally a journalist, Sjöberg wrote songs in his spare time. His first collection Frida's Book (Fridas bok, 1922) was extremely popular. After initiating a series of concert tours, he withdrew from public life and focused on poetry and prose writing.

After his death in 1929, a new series of songs (1929) and a selection of poems were published.

Works

• Fridas bok, 1922, poetry
• Kvartetten som sprängdes, parts 1 and 2, 1924, novel
• Kriser och kransar, 1926, poetry
• Fridas andra bok, 1929, poetry
• Minnen från jorden, 1940, poetry
• Syntaxupproret, 1955, poetry
• Fridas tredje bok, 1956, poetry
• Samlade dikter, 1973, collected poetry
• Samlade visor, 1981, collected song lyrics

His works in English

• Anthology Of Swedish Lyrics (1930) - (trans. by Charles Wharton Stork)
• Modern Swedish Poetry Part 2 (1936) - (trans. by C.D. Locock)
• Scandinavian Songs And Ballads (1950) - (trans. by Helen Asbury)
• 20th Century Scandinavian Poetry (1950) - (trans. by Helen Asbury and Martin S. Allwood)
• 12 Pieces From Frida’s Book (1975) - (trans. by Michael Roberts)
• LP: When First I Ever Saw You (1980) - (trans. by Tom Fletcher and Michael Roberts)
• Frida's New Clothes (2008) - (trans. by Stork, Locock, Asbury, Roberts . . .)

His life in English

• A History of Swedish Literature (1961) - (Alrik Gustafson)
• A History of Swedish Literature (1989) - (Ingemar Algulin)
• A History of Swedish Literature (1996) - (Lars G. Warme)

Frida Cleans House

Something angel-like you may be certain,

Makes a halo round my Frida's head,

When behind the Spring's new flowered curtain

Swift and light I hear her busy tread.

Never crashing with a din dismaying,

Soft she goes as rushes' whispered song.

Yet she does not stand, as is the saying,

On the social ladder's highest rung.

How she makes a thing of grace and beauty

Of a task so worldly, I'm afraid

Science must explain, for that's a duty,

Loving her so much, I must evade.

With her brimming pail she kneels to scour;

Then she dries the prisms round the light.

Dainty as a butterfly or flower,

Gentle as the wavelet gleaming bright.

Winter's padding from the windows tearing,

Breathing on the pane she rubs it clean.

Quick and strong, her little hands unerring,

Find again the copper's hidden sheen.

"Charles XII's Last Journey" next is dusted

To a lively Boston's gay refrain.

Happy should the soldiers be, entrusted

To those hands, where fain they would remain.

While a song the gusty breeze composes

In the wires strung across the roof,

On a chest the china cat reposes,

From the rush and flurry quite aloof.

Now my angel must a hammer borrow

While she nails the sampler on the wall:

"Leave beneath the threshold care and sorrow,

And your hat and cane out in the hall."

Surely now my loving words have taught her

That no bitterness my lot may bear;

Even with the Judge's lovely daughter

Gentle Frida safely can compare.

If, in frock-coat hung with decoration,

He should say "My daughter you may wed,"

I should run where Frida has her station,

Hunting moths in draperies outspread.

Though a worldly wind may stir her curtain,

Worldly dust may gather in her tread,

Still an angel light, you may be certain,

Shines about my Frida's lovely head.

See her like a queen her realm surveying

Though mid steaming buckets she be found.

No, she does not stand, as is the saying,

On the social ladder's highest round.

Birger Sjöberg Frida's Book 1922

English translation by Helen Asbury

External links

• Free scores by Birger Sjöberg in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)