At a Banquet for Professor Ludv. Kr. Daa
Youthful friends here a circle form,Elder foes now surrender.Feel among us in safety, warm,Toward you our hearts are tender.Once again on a hard-fought dayHero-like you have led the way,Smiting all that before you stood;--But now be good!
With no hubbub, without champagne,Dress-suit, and party-collar,We would honor o'er viands plainGrateful our "grand old scholar"!When all quiet are wind and wave,Seldom we see this pilot brave;--When storm-surges our ship might whelm,He takes the helm!
--Takes the helm and through thick and thin(Clear are his old eyes burning),Steers the course with his trusty "grin,"Straight, where the others are turning!Thanks gave to him I know not who,For he scolded the skipper, too!--Back he went to his home right soon:We had the boon.
He has felt what it is to goHated, till truth gains the battle;He has felt what it is to knowBlows that from both sides rattle.He has felt what the cost is, soForward the present its path to show:He, whose strength had such heights attained,Stood all disdained.
Would that Norway soon grew so greatThat it with justice rewardedHeroes who its true weal create,Who are no laggards sordid.Shall we always so slowly crawl,Split forever in factions small,Idly counting each ill that ails?--No! Set the sails!
Set the sails for the larger life,Whereto our nation has power!Daily life is with death but rife,If there's not growth every hour.Rally to war for the cause of right,Sing 'neath the standard of honor bright,Sail with faith in our God secure,And strong endure
Words in this poem
- hubbub n.
- A loud noise of many confused voices; a tumult; uproar. [Cf. Whoobub, Whoop, Hoop, v. i.]
- champagne n.
- A light wine, of several kinds, originally made in the province of Champagne, in France. [F. See Champaign.]
- whelm v. t.
- To cover with water or other fluid; to cover by immersion in something that envelops on all sides; to overwhelm; to ingulf.
- grin n.
- A snare; a gin. [AS. grin.]
- skipper n.
- One who, or that which, skips.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- sordid a.
- Filthy; foul; dirty. [L. sordidus, fr. sordere to be filthy or dirty; probably akin to E. swart: cf. F. sordide. See Swart, a.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- crawl v. i.
- To move slowly by drawing the body along the ground, as a worm; to move slowly on hands and kness; to creep. [Dan. kravle, or Icel. krafla, to paw, scrabble with the hands; akin to Sw. kr to crawl; cf. LG. krabbeln, D. krabbelen to scratch.]
- whereto adv.
- To which; -- used relatively.
- rife a.
- Prevailing; prevalent; abounding. [AS. rif abundant, or Icel. rifr munificent; akin to OD. riff, rijve, abundant.]
- rally v. t.
- To collect, and reduce to order, as troops dispersed or thrown into confusion; to gather again; to reunite. [OF. ralier, F. rallier, fr. L. pref. re- + ad + ligare to bind. See Ra-, and 1st Ally.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
At a Banquet for Professor Ludv. Kr. Daa is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Songs, Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, the Arthur Hubbell Palmer translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, At a Banquet for Professor Ludv. Kr. Daa, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/at-a-banquet-for-professor-ludv-kr-daa.html, id L29327.
Form and metre
At a Banquet for Professor Ludv. Kr. Daa is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCDD, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%).
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCCDD formA · surrenderB · warmA · tenderB · dayC · wayC · stoodD · goodD
- 2 ABABCCDD champagneA · collarB · plainA · scholarB · waveC · braveC · whelmD · helmD
- 3 ABABCCDD thinA · burningB · grinA · turningB · whoC · tooC · soonD · boonD
- 4 ABABAACC goA · battleB · knowA · rattleB · soA · showA · attainedC · disdainedC
- 5 ABABCCDD greatA · rewardedB · createA · sordidB · crawlC · smallC · ailsD · sailsD
- 6 ABABCCDD lifeA · powerB · rifeA · hourB · rightC · brightC · secureD · endureD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Youthful friends here a circle form, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Elder foes now surrender. | 7 | /˘··˘/˘ |
| Feel among us in safety, warm, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Toward you our hearts are tender. | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Once again on a hard-fought day | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| Hero-like you have led the way, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Smiting all that before you stood;-- | 8 | /˘······ |
| But now be good! | 4 | ···· |
| With no hubbub, without champagne, | 8 | ··/˘··˘/ |
| Dress-suit, and party-collar, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| We would honor o'er viands plain | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Grateful our "grand old scholar"! | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| When all quiet are wind and wave, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Seldom we see this pilot brave;-- | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| When storm-surges our ship might whelm, | 8 | ··/˘/··· |
| He takes the helm! | 4 | ···· |
| --Takes the helm and through thick and thin | 8 | ········ |
| (Clear are his old eyes burning), | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Steers the course with his trusty "grin," | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Straight, where the others are turning! | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| Thanks gave to him I know not who, | 8 | ········ |
| For he scolded the skipper, too!-- | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Back he went to his home right soon: | 8 | ········ |
| We had the boon. | 4 | ···· |
| He has felt what it is to go | 8 | ········ |
| Hated, till truth gains the battle; | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| He has felt what it is to know | 8 | ········ |
| Blows that from both sides rattle. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| He has felt what the cost is, so | 8 | ········ |
| Forward the present its path to show: | 9 | /˘·˘/···· |
| He, whose strength had such heights attained, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Stood all disdained. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Would that Norway soon grew so great | 8 | ··/····· |
| That it with justice rewarded | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Heroes who its true weal create, | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| Who are no laggards sordid. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Shall we always so slowly crawl, | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| Split forever in factions small, | 8 | ·˘/˘·/˘· |
| Idly counting each ill that ails?-- | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| No! Set the sails! | 4 | ···· |
| Set the sails for the larger life, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Whereto our nation has power! | 9 | ˘//˘/˘·/˘ |
| Daily life is with death but rife, | 8 | /˘······ |
| If there's not growth every hour. | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| Rally to war for the cause of right, | 9 | /˘······· |
| Sing 'neath the standard of honor bright, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Sail with faith in our God secure, | 8 | ····/·˘/ |
| And strong endure | 4 | ··˘/ |
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