Analysis of Norse nature
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson 1832 (Kvikne) – 1910 (Paris)
(In Ringerike During The Student Meeting Of 1869)
We wander and sing with glee
Of glorious Norway, fair to see.
Let sweetly the tones go twining
In colors so softly shining
On mountain, forest, fjord, and shore,
'Neath heaven's azure arching o'er.
The warmth of the nation's heart,
The depth, the strength, its songs impart,
Here opens its eyes to greet you,
Rejoicing just now to meet you,
And giving, grateful for the chance,
In love a self-revealing glance.
Here wakened our history first,
Here Halfdan dreamed of greatness erst,
In vision of hope beholding
The kingdom's future unfolding,
And
Nore
stood and summons gave,
While forth to conquest called the wave.
Here singing we must unroll
Of our dear land the pictured scroll!
Let calm turn to storm of wildness,
Bring might into bonds of mildness:
Then Norsemen mustering, each shall see
This is our land's whole history.
To them first our way we wing,
The hundred harbors in the spring,
Where follow fond love and yearning,
When sea-ward the ships are turning.
For Norway's weal pure prayers exhale
From sixty thousand men that sail.
See sloping the skerried coasts,
With gulls and whales and fishing-posts,
And vessels in shelter riding,
While boats o'er the sea are gliding,
And nets in fjord and seines in sound,
And white with spawn the ocean's ground.
See Lofoten's tumult grand,
Where tow'ring cliffs in ocean stand,
Whose summits the fogs are cleaving,
Beneath them the surges heaving,
And all is darkness, mystery, dread,
But 'mid the tumult sails are spread.
Here ships of the Arctic sea;
Through snow and gloom their course must be;
Commands from the masthead falling
The boats toward the ice are calling;
And shot on shot and seal on seal,
And souls and bodies strong as steel.
On mountains we now shall guest,
When eventide to all brings rest,
In dairy on highland meadow,
On hay-field 'neath slanting shadow,
While to the alphorn's tender tone
Great Nature's voice responds alone.
But quickly we must away,
If a11 the land we would survey,-
The mines of our metal treasures,
The hills of our hunters' pleasures,
The foam-white river's rush and noise,
The timber-driver's foot-sure poise.
Returning, we linger here,
These valleys broad to us are dear,
Whose men in their faithful living
To Norway are honor giving;
Their fathers, strong in brain and brawn,
Lent luster to our morning-dawn.
We wander and sing with glee
Of glorious Norway fair to see.
Our present to labor binds us,
Each how of the past reminds us,
Our future shall be sure and bright,
As God we trust and do the right.
Scheme | x AAbbcx ddeeff xdbbxcgg axhfaa bbbbii jjbbkk llbbmm aabbnn ooppqq rrsstt xxbbuu AAhhvv |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (21%) |
Metre | 0110010101 1100111 11001111 11001110 01011010 11010101 110101010 0110101 01011101 11011111 01011111 01010101 01010101 11101001 11011101 01011010 01010010 0 1 10101 11110101 110111 110110101 11111110 1101111 110100111 111011100 11110111 01010001 11011010 11101110 1111101 11010111 110011 11010101 01001010 111001110 01010101 01110101 11101 11110101 1100111 01101010 011101001 11010111 1110101 11011111 0110110 010101110 01110111 01010111 1101111 111111 0101101 1111101 1101101 11010101 1101101 10011101 011101010 011101010 01110101 01010111 0101101 11011111 11011010 1111010 11010101 110110101 1100111 11001111 101011011 11101011 101011101 11110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,490 |
Words | 443 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 6, 6, 8, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 75 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 155 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 34 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 2:17 min read
- 134 Views
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"Norse nature" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4373/norse-nature>.
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