Solvejg these tears
are not for me,
but for the promises
I didn’t keep to you.
Why you waited
I have but little grasp,
it was in my foolish hands
all along to return,
these which now clutch
upon your apron.
Know, that I cared more
than I could give,
lost myself for not trying,
never thought I’d hear
your soft voice again,
be cradled song
in your warm lap.
—–
The tale of Peer Gynt.
Peer, after his long journeys, finally returns to his love Solvejg,
who has waited for him all the time. Both are old now, Peer has led a restless,
sinful life and hardly dares to face Solvejg after all the years he kept her waiting.
He falls down on his knees in front of her, crying, and buries his face in her lap.
He asks her where his real self was all these years, and she replies
“in my faith and hope and love”. She then sings him a cradle song.
