To Aasmund Olafsen Vinje
Your house to guests has shelter lent,While you with pen were seated.In silent quest they came and went,You saw them not, nor greeted.But when now theyWere gone away,Your babe without a mother lay,And you had lost your helpmate.
The home you built but yesterdayIn death to-day is sinking,And you stand sick and worn and grayOn ruins of your thinking.Your way lay bareSince child you were,The shelter that you first could shareWas this that now is shattered.
But know, the guests that to you cameIn sorrow's waste will meet you;Though shy you shrink, they still will claimThe right with love to treat you.For where you goTo you they showThe world in radiant light aglowOf great and wondrous visions.
What once you saw, now passing o'er,Will but be made the clearer;It is the far eternal shore,That on your way draws nearer.Your poet-sightWill see in lightAll that the clouds have wrapped in night;--Great doubts will find an answer.
And later when you leave againThe waste of woe thought-pregnant,Whom you have met shall teach us then.Your pen in power regnant.From sorrow's wealWith purer zeal,Inspiring light, and pain's appealShall shine your wondrous visions.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- helpmate n.
- A helper; a companion; specifically, a wife. [A corruption of the "help meet for him" of Genesis ii. 18.Fitzedward Hall.]
- aglow adv.
- In a glow; glowing; as, cheeks aglow; the landscape all aglow. [Pref. a- + glow.]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- clearer n.
- One who, or that which, clears.
- 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,]
- regnant a.
- Exercising regal authority; reigning; as, a queen regnant. [L. regnans, -antis, p. pr. of regnare to reign: cf. F régnant. See Reign.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Aasmund Olafsen Vinje 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, To Aasmund Olafsen Vinje, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/to-aasmund-olafsen-vinje.html, id L29315.
Form and metre
To Aasmund Olafsen Vinje is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABABCCC- lentA · seatedB · wentA · greetedB · theyC · awayC · layC · helpmate
- 2 ABABC-C- yesterdayA · sinkingB · grayA · thinkingB · bareC · were · shareC · shattered
- 3 ABABCCC- cameA · youB · claimA · youB · goC · showC · aglowC · visions
- 4 -A-ABBB- o'er · clearerA · shore · nearerA · sightB · lightB · nightB · answer
- 5 ABABCCC- againA · pregnantB · thenA · regnantB · wealC · zealC · appealC · visions
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 iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Your house to guests has shelter lent, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| While you with pen were seated. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| In silent quest they came and went, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| You saw them not, nor greeted. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But when now they | 4 | ···· |
| Were gone away, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Your babe without a mother lay, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And you had lost your helpmate. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The home you built but yesterday | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In death to-day is sinking, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And you stand sick and worn and gray | 8 | ········ |
| On ruins of your thinking. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Your way lay bare | 4 | ···· |
| Since child you were, | 4 | ···· |
| The shelter that you first could share | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Was this that now is shattered. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But know, the guests that to you came | 8 | ········ |
| In sorrow's waste will meet you; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Though shy you shrink, they still will claim | 8 | ········ |
| The right with love to treat you. | 7 | ······· |
| For where you go | 4 | ···· |
| To you they show | 4 | ···· |
| The world in radiant light aglow | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Of great and wondrous visions. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| What once you saw, now passing o'er, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Will but be made the clearer; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| It is the far eternal shore, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| That on your way draws nearer. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Your poet-sight | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Will see in light | 4 | ···· |
| All that the clouds have wrapped in night;-- | 8 | ········ |
| Great doubts will find an answer. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And later when you leave again | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The waste of woe thought-pregnant, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Whom you have met shall teach us then. | 8 | ········ |
| Your pen in power regnant. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| From sorrow's weal | 4 | ·/˘· |
| With purer zeal, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Inspiring light, and pain's appeal | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
| Shall shine your wondrous visions. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
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.