During a Journey in Sweden
My boyish heart in thee confided,For to the great by thee 't was guided.As man, my waiting is for thee,--The Northern cause with thee, with thee!
Rich lands and talents are thy dower,But fallow lie thy wealth and power._Thou must the North in concord bind,Or never shalt thy true self find._
There's longing in thy folk arisen,Poetic hope--but yet in prison.Though forces great within thee dwell,Thou art not wholly sound and well.
Too many things are undertaken,Too oft the task is soon forsaken.Though rich in promptings of the heart,In faith and duty faint thou art.
In danger only hast thou thriven,When something great to guard was given.When every breast with warmth shall glowAt Sweden's name, thy strength thou'lt know.
What's thine alone lifts not thy feeling,Till honor's cause the skies are pealing,Thou hast no joy but daring deedIn fortune's favor or in need.
For thy fair memories inspiringAre far too great, much more requiring:_The Northern cause! Lead thou the way!'T will double glory thee repay!_
Of all thou canst, this is the greatest,Thy duty earliest and latest.Thy future rests in its embraceWith cure for ills that now abase.
Thou land of heart-born fancies thronging,Thou land of poetry and longing,Fill now thy heart, thy spirit free!The Northern banner waits for thee!
Words in this poem
- boyish a.
- Resembling a boy in a manners or opinions; belonging to a boy; childish; trifling; puerile.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
During a Journey in Sweden 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, During a Journey in Sweden, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/during-a-journey-in-sweden.html, id L29285.
Form and metre
During a Journey in Sweden is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 8 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 AABB confidedA · guidedA · theeB · theeB
- 2 --AA dower · power · bindA · findA
- 3 AABB arisenA · prisonA · dwellB · wellB
- 4 AABB undertakenA · forsakenA · heartB · artB
- 5 AABB thrivenA · givenA · glowB · knowB
- 6 AABB feelingA · pealingA · deedB · needB
- 7 AABB inspiringA · requiringA · wayB · repayB
- 8 AABB greatestA · latestA · embraceB · abaseB
- 9 AABB throngingA · longingA · freeB · theeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| My boyish heart in thee confided, | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| For to the great by thee 't was guided. | 10 | ········/˘ |
| As man, my waiting is for thee,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The Northern cause with thee, with thee! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Rich lands and talents are thy dower, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But fallow lie thy wealth and power. | 9 | ·/·····/˘ |
| _Thou must the North in concord bind, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Or never shalt thy true self find._ | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| There's longing in thy folk arisen, | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Poetic hope--but yet in prison. | 9 | ˘/˘····/˘ |
| Though forces great within thee dwell, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thou art not wholly sound and well. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Too many things are undertaken, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·˘ |
| Too oft the task is soon forsaken. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Though rich in promptings of the heart, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In faith and duty faint thou art. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In danger only hast thou thriven, | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| When something great to guard was given. | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| When every breast with warmth shall glow | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| At Sweden's name, thy strength thou'lt know. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| What's thine alone lifts not thy feeling, | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| Till honor's cause the skies are pealing, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Thou hast no joy but daring deed | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In fortune's favor or in need. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| For thy fair memories inspiring | 9 | ···/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Are far too great, much more requiring: | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| _The Northern cause! Lead thou the way! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'T will double glory thee repay!_ | 9 | ··/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Of all thou canst, this is the greatest, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Thy duty earliest and latest. | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| Thy future rests in its embrace | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| With cure for ills that now abase. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Thou land of heart-born fancies thronging, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Thou land of poetry and longing, | 9 | ···/˘˘·/˘ |
| Fill now thy heart, thy spirit free! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The Northern banner waits for thee! | 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.