May Seventeenth
Wergeland's statue on May seventeenthSaw the procession. And as its rear-guard,Slow marching masses,Strong men, and women with flower-decked presence;Come now the peasants, come now the peasants.
Österdal's forest's magnificent chieftainBore the old banner. Soon as we see itBlood-red uplifted,Greet it the thousands in thought of its story:That is our glory, that is our glory!
Never that lion bore crown that was foreign,Never that cloth was by Dannebrog cloven.I saw the future,When with that banner by Wergeland's columnPeasants stood solemn, peasants stood solemn.
Most of our loss in the times that have vanished,Most of our victories, most of our longing,Most that is vital:Deeds of the past and the future's bold daringPeasants are bearing, peasants are bearing.
Sorely they suffered for sins once committed,But they arise now. Here in the StortingStalwart they prove it,All, as they come from our land's every region,Peasants Norwegian, peasants Norwegian.
Hold what they won, with a will to go farther;Whole we must have independence and honor!All of us know it:Wergeland's summer bears soon its best flower,--Power in peasants, peasants in power.
Words in this poem
- dannebrog n.
- The ancient battle standard of Denmark, bearing figures of cross and crown. Order of Dannebrog, an ancient Danish order of knighthood.
- sorely adv.
- In a sore manner; grievously; painfully; as, to be sorely afflicted.
- stalwart a.
- Brave; bold; strong; redoubted; daring; vehement; violent. [OE. stalworth, AS. stælwyrth serviceable, probably originally, good at stealing, or worth stealing or taking, and afterwards extended to other causes of estimat]
- norwegian a.
- Of or pertaining to Norway, its inhabitants, or its language. [Cf. Icel. Noregr, Norvegr, Norway. See North, and Way.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
May Seventeenth 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, May Seventeenth, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/may-seventeenth.html, id L29355.
Form and metre
May Seventeenth is 30 lines in 6 stanzas of 5 lines each.
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.
- 2 ---AA chieftain · it · uplifted · storyA · gloryA
- 3 ---AA foreign · cloven · future · columnA · solemnA
- 4 ---AA vanished · longing · vital · daringA · bearingA
- 5 ---AA committed · storting · it · regionA · norwegianA
- 6 ---AA farther · honor · it · flowerA · powerA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wergeland's statue on May seventeenth | 10 | ···/···/˘/ |
| Saw the procession. And as its rear-guard, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Slow marching masses, | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Strong men, and women with flower-decked presence; | 10 | ···/˘·/·/˘ |
| Come now the peasants, come now the peasants. | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| Österdal's forest's magnificent chieftain | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| Bore the old banner. Soon as we see it | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Blood-red uplifted, | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Greet it the thousands in thought of its story: | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| That is our glory, that is our glory! | 10 | ··//˘··//˘ |
| Never that lion bore crown that was foreign, | 9 | /·/····/˘ |
| Never that cloth was by Dannebrog cloven. | 10 | /····/˘˘/˘ |
| I saw the future, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| When with that banner by Wergeland's column | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Peasants stood solemn, peasants stood solemn. | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Most of our loss in the times that have vanished, | 11 | ··/······/˘ |
| Most of our victories, most of our longing, | 10 | ··//˘··//˘ |
| Most that is vital: | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Deeds of the past and the future's bold daring | 11 | ······/˘·/˘ |
| Peasants are bearing, peasants are bearing. | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Sorely they suffered for sins once committed, | 11 | /˘·/˘···˘/˘ |
| But they arise now. Here in the Storting | 10 | ··˘/····/˘ |
| Stalwart they prove it, | 5 | /˘··· |
| All, as they come from our land's every region, | 11 | ·····/·/˘/˘ |
| Peasants Norwegian, peasants Norwegian. | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Hold what they won, with a will to go farther; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Whole we must have independence and honor! | 11 | ·····˘/˘·/˘ |
| All of us know it: | 5 | ····· |
| Wergeland's summer bears soon its best flower,-- | 10 | ···/˘····/ |
| Power in peasants, peasants in power. | 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.