At Hansteen's Bier
God, we thank Thee for the dowerThou gavest Norway in his power,Whom in the grave we now shall lay!Starlit paths of thoughts that awe usHis spirit found; his deeds now draw usTo deeds, as mighty magnets play.He was the first to standA light in our free land;Of our present the first fair crown,The first renown,At Norway's feet he laid it down.
We his shining honors sharing,And humble now his body bearing,Shall sing with all the world our praise.God, who ever guides our nation,Hath called us to a high vocationAnd shown where He our goal doth raise.People of Norway, gladGo on, as God us bade!God has roused you; He knows whereto,Though we are few.With Him our future we shall view.
Words in this poem
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- 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,]
- starlit a.
- Lighted by the stars; starlight.
- vocation n.
- A call; a summons; a citation; especially, a designation or appointment to a particular state, business, or profession. [L. vocatio a bidding, invitation, fr. vocare to call, fr. vox, vocis, voice: cf. F. vocation. See Vocal.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- whereto adv.
- To which; -- used relatively.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
At Hansteen's Bier 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 Hansteen's Bier, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/at-hansteen-s-bier.html, id L29329.
Form and metre
At Hansteen's Bier is 22 lines in 2 stanzas of 11 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in iambic 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 --ABBACCDDD dower · power · layA · usB · usB · playA · standC · landC · crownD · renownD · downD
- 2 AABCCB---DD sharingA · bearingA · praiseB · nationC · vocationC · raiseB · glad · bade · whereto · fewD · viewD
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 iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| God, we thank Thee for the dower | 7 | ······· |
| Thou gavest Norway in his power, | 9 | ···/···/˘ |
| Whom in the grave we now shall lay! | 8 | ········ |
| Starlit paths of thoughts that awe us | 8 | /˘······ |
| His spirit found; his deeds now draw us | 8 | ·/······ |
| To deeds, as mighty magnets play. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| He was the first to stand | 6 | ······ |
| A light in our free land; | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Of our present the first fair crown, | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| The first renown, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| At Norway's feet he laid it down. | 8 | ·/······ |
| We his shining honors sharing, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| And humble now his body bearing, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Shall sing with all the world our praise. | 8 | ······/· |
| God, who ever guides our nation, | 9 | ··/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Hath called us to a high vocation | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| And shown where He our goal doth raise. | 8 | ····/··· |
| People of Norway, glad | 6 | /˘·/·· |
| Go on, as God us bade! | 6 | ······ |
| God has roused you; He knows whereto, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Though we are few. | 4 | ···· |
| With Him our future we shall view. | 8 | ··//˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.