Our Language
Thou, who sailest Norse mountain-air,And Denmark's songs by the cradle singest,Who badest in Hald the war-flames flare,And, heard in our children's joy, gently ringest,--Thou treasure of treasures,Our mother-tongue,In pains as in pleasuresOur home and our tower,With God our power,--We hallow thee!
Whispering secrets that Holberg stored,Thou borest him home to a brighter morning,Didst serve him with armor and whet his swordFor satire's assaults and for laughter's warning.Thou spirit all knowing,Our mother-tongue,The ages foregoing,The future now growing,The present glowing,--We hallow thee!
Kierkegaard thou to the deeps didst bring,Where life's full currents in God he sounded.For Wergeland wert thou the eagle's wing,That lifted him sunward to heights unbounded.Thou treasure of treasures,Our mother-tongue,In pain as in pleasuresOur home and our tower,With God our power,--We hallow thee!
Radiant warmth of a May-dayThou to the spring of our freedom gavest.In thy clearness our Norse flags ayeWith song and honor afar thou wavest.Thou spirit all knowing,Our mother-tongue,The ages foregoing,The future now growing,The present glowing,--We hallow thee!
O'er the ocean unrollest thouThy carpet of flowers, a bridge that nigherCan bring dear friends to meet even now,--While faith grows greater and heaven higher.Thou treasure of treasures,Our mother-tongue,In pain as in pleasuresOur home and our tower,With God our power,--We hallow thee!
Best of friends that I found wert thou;Thou waitedst for me in the eyes of mother.And leave me last of them all wilt thou,Who knewest me better than any other.Thou spirit all knowing,Our mother-tongue,The ages foregoing,The future now growing,The present glowing,--We hallow thee!
Words in this poem
- norse a.
- Of or pertaining to ancient Scandinavia, or to the language spoken by its inhabitants. [Dan. Norsk, fr. nord north. See North.]
- flare v. i.
- To burn with an unsteady or waving flame; as, the candle flares. [Cf. Norw. flara to blaze, flame, adorn with tinsel, dial. Sw. flasa upp, and E. flash, or flacker.]
- 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.]
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- whet v. t.
- To rub or on with some substance, as a piece of stone, for the purpose of sharpening; to sharpen by attrition; as, to whet a knife. [AS. hwettan; akin to D. wetten, G. wetzen, OHG. wezzen, Icel. hvetja, Sw. vättja, and AS. hwæt vigorous, brave, OS. hwat, OHG. waz, was, sharp, Icel. hvatr, bol]
- sunward adv.
- Toward the sun.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Our Language 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, Our Language, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/our-language.html, id L29357.
Form and metre
Our Language is 60 lines in 6 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%).
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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 ABABC-CDD- airA · singestB · flareA · ringestB · treasuresC · tongue · pleasuresC · towerD · powerD · thee
- 2 ABABCBCCC- storedA · morningB · swordA · warningB · knowingC · tongueB · foregoingC · growingC · glowingC · thee
- 3 ABABC-CDD- bringA · soundedB · wingA · unboundedB · treasuresC · tongue · pleasuresC · towerD · powerD · thee
- 4 -A-ABBBBB- day · gavestA · aye · wavestA · knowingB · tongueB · foregoingB · growingB · glowingB · thee
- 5 ABABC-CDD- thouA · nigherB · nowA · higherB · treasuresC · tongue · pleasuresC · towerD · powerD · thee
- 6 ABABCCCCC- thouA · motherB · thouA · otherB · knowingC · tongueC · foregoingC · growingC · glowingC · thee
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 trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Thou, who sailest Norse mountain-air, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| And Denmark's songs by the cradle singest, | 10 | ·/····/˘/˘ |
| Who badest in Hald the war-flames flare, | 9 | ········· |
| And, heard in our children's joy, gently ringest,-- | 11 | ···//˘·/˘/˘ |
| Thou treasure of treasures, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Our mother-tongue, | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| In pains as in pleasures | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Our home and our tower, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| With God our power,-- | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| We hallow thee! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Whispering secrets that Holberg stored, | 8 | /˘/˘·/˘· |
| Thou borest him home to a brighter morning, | 10 | ·······//˘ |
| Didst serve him with armor and whet his sword | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| For satire's assaults and for laughter's warning. | 11 | ·/˘˘/··/˘/˘ |
| Thou spirit all knowing, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Our mother-tongue, | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| The ages foregoing, | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| The future now growing, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| The present glowing,-- | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| We hallow thee! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Kierkegaard thou to the deeps didst bring, | 9 | ········· |
| Where life's full currents in God he sounded. | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| For Wergeland wert thou the eagle's wing, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That lifted him sunward to heights unbounded. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘··˘/˘ |
| Thou treasure of treasures, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Our mother-tongue, | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| In pain as in pleasures | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Our home and our tower, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| With God our power,-- | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| We hallow thee! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Radiant warmth of a May-day | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| Thou to the spring of our freedom gavest. | 10 | ·····//˘·· |
| In thy clearness our Norse flags aye | 8 | ··/˘/··· |
| With song and honor afar thou wavest. | 10 | ···/˘˘/··· |
| Thou spirit all knowing, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Our mother-tongue, | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| The ages foregoing, | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| The future now growing, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| The present glowing,-- | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| We hallow thee! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| O'er the ocean unrollest thou | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Thy carpet of flowers, a bridge that nigher | 10 | ·/˘·/····· |
| Can bring dear friends to meet even now,-- | 8 | ······/· |
| While faith grows greater and heaven higher. | 9 | ···/˘·//˘ |
| Thou treasure of treasures, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Our mother-tongue, | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| In pain as in pleasures | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Our home and our tower, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| With God our power,-- | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| We hallow thee! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Best of friends that I found wert thou; | 8 | ········ |
| Thou waitedst for me in the eyes of mother. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| And leave me last of them all wilt thou, | 9 | ········· |
| Who knewest me better than any other. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Thou spirit all knowing, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Our mother-tongue, | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| The ages foregoing, | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| The future now growing, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| The present glowing,-- | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| We hallow thee! | 4 | ·/˘· |
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.