Frederik Hegel
You never came here; but I goHere often and am met by you.Each room and road here must renewThe thought of you and your form showStanding with helpful hand extended,As when long since in trust and deedMy home you from my foes defended.
So often, while I wrote this book,The light shone from your genial eye;Then we were one, both you and IAnd what in silence being took;So here and there the book possessesYour spirit and your heart's fresh faith,And therefore now your name it blesses.
I love the air, when growing colderIt, clear and high,The purer skyBroadens with sense of freedom bolder.
I find in forests joy the keenestIn autumn daysWhen fancy plays,And not when they are young and greenest.
I knew a man: in autumn clearnessHis even course,--His heart's fine forceLike autumn sky in soft-hued sheerness.
His memory is, as--when a-swarmingThe cold blasts firstOf winter burst--The gentle flame my room first warming.
When all our outward longings falter,And summer's mindWithin we find,Is friendship's feast round autumn's altar.
Words in this poem
- wrote v. i.
- To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]
- genial a.
- Contributing to, or concerned in, propagation or production; generative; procreative; productive. [L. genialis: cf. OF. genial. See Genius.]
- falter v. t.
- To thrash in the chaff; also, to cleanse or sift, as barley.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Frederik Hegel 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, Frederik Hegel, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/frederik-hegel.html, id L29356.
Form and metre
Frederik Hegel is 34 lines in 7 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 5 of its 7 stanzas.
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 ABBACCC goA · youB · renewB · showA · extendedC · deedC · defendedC
- 2 ABBAC-C bookA · eyeB · iB · tookA · possessesC · faith · blessesC
- 3 ABBA colderA · highB · skyB · bolderA
- 4 ABBA keenestA · daysB · playsB · greenestA
- 5 ABBA clearnessA · courseB · forceB · sheernessA
- 6 ABBA swarmingA · firstB · burstB · warmingA
- 7 ABBA falterA · mindB · findB · altarA
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| You never came here; but I go | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Here often and am met by you. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Each room and road here must renew | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The thought of you and your form show | 8 | ········ |
| Standing with helpful hand extended, | 9 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘ |
| As when long since in trust and deed | 8 | ········ |
| My home you from my foes defended. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| So often, while I wrote this book, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The light shone from your genial eye; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Then we were one, both you and I | 8 | ········ |
| And what in silence being took; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| So here and there the book possesses | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Your spirit and your heart's fresh faith, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And therefore now your name it blesses. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| I love the air, when growing colder | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| It, clear and high, | 4 | ···· |
| The purer sky | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Broadens with sense of freedom bolder. | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| I find in forests joy the keenest | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| In autumn days | 4 | ·/˘· |
| When fancy plays, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And not when they are young and greenest. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| I knew a man: in autumn clearness | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| His even course,-- | 4 | ·/˘· |
| His heart's fine force | 4 | ···· |
| Like autumn sky in soft-hued sheerness. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| His memory is, as--when a-swarming | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| The cold blasts first | 4 | ···· |
| Of winter burst-- | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The gentle flame my room first warming. | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| When all our outward longings falter, | 9 | ··//˘/˘/˘ |
| And summer's mind | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Within we find, | 4 | ···· |
| Is friendship's feast round autumn's altar. | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
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.