Oh, When Will You Stand Forth?
Oh, when will you stand forth, who with strength can bring aid,To strike down the injustice and liesThat my house have beset, and with malice blockadeEvery pathway I out for my powers have laid,And would hidden means findWith deceit and with hateTo set watch on my mindAnd defile every plateIn my beautiful home where defenseless we wait?
Oh, when will you stand forth? This detraction through yearsFor my people has made me an oaf,Hides my poetry's fount in the fog of its fleers,So it merely a pool of self-worship appears;Like a clumsy troll IAm contemned with affront,Whom all "cultured" folk fly,Or yet gather to hunt,That their hunger of hate at a feast they may blunt.
When I publish a book: "It is half like himself;"If I speak, 't is for vanity's sake.What I build in the stage-world of fancy's free elfIs but formed from my fatuous self.When for faith I contendAnd our land's ancient ways,When the bridge I defendFrom our fathers' great days,'Tis because my poor breast no king's "Order" displays.
Oh, when will you stand forth, who shall sunder in twainAll this slander so stifling and foul,And shall sink in the sea all the terror insaneThat they have of heart-passion and will-wielding brain,--And with love shall enfoldA soul's faith wide and deep,That in want and in coldWould its morning-watch keepUndismayed, till the light all the host shall ensweep?
Come, thou Spirit of Norway, God-given of yoreIn the stout giant-conquering Thor!While the lightning thou ridest, thy answer's loud roarDrowns the din that the dwarfs in defiance outpour;Thou canst waken with mightAll our longings to soar,Thou canst strengthen in rightWhat united we swore,When at Hafur thy standard in honor we bore.
Hail, thou Spirit of Norway! To think but of theeMakes so small all the small things I felt.To thy coming I hallow me, wholly to thee,And I humbly look up to thy face, unto thee,And I pray for a songWith thy tongue's stirring sound,That I true may and strongIn the crisis be found,To rouse heroes for thee on our forefathers' ground.
Words in this poem 20
- blockade n.
- The shutting up of a place by troops or ships, with the purpose of preventing ingress or egress, or the reception of supplies; as, the blockade of the ports of an enemy. [Cf. It. bloccata. See Block, v. t.]
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- defenseless a.
- Destitute of defense; unprepared to resist attack; unable to oppose; unprotected.
- detraction n.
- A taking away or withdrawing. [F. détraction, L. detractio.]
- clumsy a.
- Stiff or benumbed, as with cold. [OE. clumsed benumbed, fr. clumsen to be benumbed; cf. Icel. klumsa lockjaw, dial. Sw. klummsen benumbed with cold. Cf. 1st Clam, and 1st Clamp.]
- troll n.
- A supernatural being, often represented as of diminutive size, but sometimes as a giant, and fabled to inhabit caves, hills, and like places; a witch. Troll flower. (Bot.) Same as Globeflower (a). [Icel. troll. Cf. Droll, Trull.]
- cultured a.
- Under culture; cultivated.
- 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.]
- fatuous a.
- Feeble in mind; weak; silly; stupid; foolish; fatuitous. Glanvill. [L. fatuus.]
- 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,]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- enfold v. t.
- To infold. See Infold.
- ensweep v. t.
- To sweep over or across; to pass over rapidly. Thomson.
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- thor n.
- The god of thunder, and son of Odin. [Icel. þors. Cf. Thursday.]
- outpour n.
- A flowing out; a free discharge.
- waken v. i.
- To wake; to cease to sleep; to be awakened. [OE. waknen, AS. wæcnan; akin to Goth. gawaknan. See Wake, v. i.]
- hallow v. t.
- To make holy; to set apart for holy or religious use; to consecrate; to treat or keep as sacred; to reverence. [OE. halowen, halwien, halgien, AS. halgian, fr. halig holy. See Holy.]
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- crisis n.
- The point of time when it is to be decided whether any affair or course of action must go on, or be modified or terminate; the decisive moment; the turning point. [L. crisis, Gr. Certain.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Oh, When Will You Stand Forth? 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, Oh, When Will You Stand Forth?, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/oh-when-will-you-stand-forth.html, id L29328.
Form and metre
Oh, When Will You Stand Forth? is 54 lines in 6 stanzas of 9 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.
- 1 A-AABCBCC aidA · lies · blockadeA · laidA · findB · hateC · mindB · plateC · waitC
- 2 A-AABCBCC yearsA · oaf · fleersA · appearsA · iB · affrontC · flyB · huntC · bluntC
- 3 A-AABCBCC himselfA · sake · elfA · selfA · contendB · waysC · defendB · daysC · displaysC
- 4 A-AABCBCC twainA · foul · insaneA · brainA · enfoldB · deepC · coldB · keepC · ensweepC
- 5 AAAABABAA yoreA · thorA · roarA · outpourA · mightB · soarA · rightB · sworeA · boreA
- 6 A-AABCBCC theeA · felt · theeA · theeA · songB · soundC · strongB · foundC · groundC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oh, when will you stand forth, who with strength can bring aid, | 12 | ············ |
| To strike down the injustice and lies | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| That my house have beset, and with malice blockade | 12 | ····˘/··/˘·/ |
| Every pathway I out for my powers have laid, | 11 | /˘/·····/·· |
| And would hidden means find | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| With deceit and with hate | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| To set watch on my mind | 6 | ······ |
| And defile every plate | 7 | ·˘//˘˘· |
| In my beautiful home where defenseless we wait? | 11 | ··/˘··˘/˘·· |
| Oh, when will you stand forth? This detraction through years | 12 | ·······˘/˘·· |
| For my people has made me an oaf, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Hides my poetry's fount in the fog of its fleers, | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| So it merely a pool of self-worship appears; | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| Like a clumsy troll I | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Am contemned with affront, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Whom all "cultured" folk fly, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Or yet gather to hunt, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| That their hunger of hate at a feast they may blunt. | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| When I publish a book: "It is half like himself;" | 12 | ··/˘······˘/ |
| If I speak, 't is for vanity's sake. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| What I build in the stage-world of fancy's free elf | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| Is but formed from my fatuous self. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When for faith I contend | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And our land's ancient ways, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| When the bridge I defend | 6 | ····˘/ |
| From our fathers' great days, | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| 'Tis because my poor breast no king's "Order" displays. | 12 | ········/˘˘/ |
| Oh, when will you stand forth, who shall sunder in twain | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| All this slander so stifling and foul, | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| And shall sink in the sea all the terror insane | 12 | ········/˘˘/ |
| That they have of heart-passion and will-wielding brain,-- | 12 | ·····/˘··/˘· |
| And with love shall enfold | 6 | ····˘/ |
| A soul's faith wide and deep, | 6 | ······ |
| That in want and in cold | 6 | ······ |
| Would its morning-watch keep | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Undismayed, till the light all the host shall ensweep? | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Come, thou Spirit of Norway, God-given of yore | 10 | ··/·/··/·· |
| In the stout giant-conquering Thor! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| While the lightning thou ridest, thy answer's loud roar | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| Drowns the din that the dwarfs in defiance outpour; | 12 | ·······˘/˘·/ |
| Thou canst waken with might | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| All our longings to soar, | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| Thou canst strengthen in right | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| What united we swore, | 6 | ·˘/˘·· |
| When at Hafur thy standard in honor we bore. | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| Hail, thou Spirit of Norway! To think but of thee | 11 | ··/·/······ |
| Makes so small all the small things I felt. | 9 | ········· |
| To thy coming I hallow me, wholly to thee, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| And I humbly look up to thy face, unto thee, | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| And I pray for a song | 6 | ······ |
| With thy tongue's stirring sound, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That I true may and strong | 6 | ······ |
| In the crisis be found, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| To rouse heroes for thee on our forefathers' ground. | 12 | ··/˘···//·˘· |
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.