Halfdan Kjerulf
Winter had sought his life's tree to o'erthrow,Youthful and strong. But his blood's vernal flowSaved it from death through the cold and the maiming;Late in the summer bright flowers were flaming,Late in the autumn they swelled to completeness,--Fruits that were few, but of fragrance and sweetness.
Poets received them to endless seed-sowing,Where for his folk endless summer is glowing,--While more and more,Stricken he hung o'er the death-river's shore,Fighting in weakness the winter abhorred,Fighting for summer, the singer's reward,Fighting while failing, with modesty rare,Soon but in prayer.
Summer received him! He now is victorious!Now, while they harvest the yellowing corn,Now, while the hills hear the notes of the horn,He enters glorious.
Mirrored in him is true poetry's force,Marked by our winter, in summer its source.E'en as the air with its quivering sheen,Leaves of the forests and red peaks serene,Waters that wander 'mid meadows delayingSound with the music the sunshine is playing,--Poetry also shall leap with new life,If it, though failing, is faithful in strife:--Leap from death's thronging:--Soon comes the summer with summer's pure longing.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- stricken p. p.
- Struck; smitten; wounded; as, the stricken deer.
- yellowing n.
- The act or process of making yellow.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- 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,]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Halfdan Kjerulf 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, Halfdan Kjerulf, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/halfdan-kjerulf.html, id L29300.
Form and metre
Halfdan Kjerulf is 28 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 93% of the lines.
See other poems in rhyming couplets.
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 AABBCC o'erthrowA · flowA · maimingB · flamingB · completenessC · sweetnessC
- 2 AABBCCDD sowingA · glowingA · moreB · shoreB · abhorredC · rewardC · rareD · prayerD
- 3 ABBA victoriousA · cornB · hornB · gloriousA
- 4 AABBCCDDEE forceA · sourceA · sheenB · sereneB · delayingC · playingC · lifeD · strifeD · throngingE · longingE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Winter had sought his life's tree to o'erthrow, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Youthful and strong. But his blood's vernal flow | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Saved it from death through the cold and the maiming; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Late in the summer bright flowers were flaming, | 11 | ···/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Late in the autumn they swelled to completeness,-- | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| Fruits that were few, but of fragrance and sweetness. | 11 | ······/˘·/˘ |
| Poets received them to endless seed-sowing, | 11 | /˘˘/··/˘·/˘ |
| Where for his folk endless summer is glowing,-- | 11 | ····/˘/˘·/˘ |
| While more and more, | 4 | ···· |
| Stricken he hung o'er the death-river's shore, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Fighting in weakness the winter abhorred, | 10 | /˘·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Fighting for summer, the singer's reward, | 10 | /˘·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Fighting while failing, with modesty rare, | 10 | /˘·/˘·/˘˘· |
| Soon but in prayer. | 4 | ···· |
| Summer received him! He now is victorious! | 11 | /˘˘/····˘/˘ |
| Now, while they harvest the yellowing corn, | 10 | ···/˘·/˘˘· |
| Now, while the hills hear the notes of the horn, | 10 | ·········· |
| He enters glorious. | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| Mirrored in him is true poetry's force, | 10 | /˘····/˘˘· |
| Marked by our winter, in summer its source. | 10 | ··//˘·/˘·· |
| E'en as the air with its quivering sheen, | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| Leaves of the forests and red peaks serene, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Waters that wander 'mid meadows delaying | 11 | /˘·/˘·/·˘/˘ |
| Sound with the music the sunshine is playing,-- | 11 | ···/˘·/··/˘ |
| Poetry also shall leap with new life, | 10 | /˘˘/˘····· |
| If it, though failing, is faithful in strife:-- | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| Leap from death's thronging:-- | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Soon comes the summer with summer's pure longing. | 11 | ···/˘·/˘·/˘ |
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.