To Johan Dahl, Bookdealer
Our glasses we lift now and drink to our host!"Hurrah!"Give heed to our ditty, we sing you our toast!"Aha!"The first thing appearing is what he was nearing,When uproar not fearing he came for a hearing'Fore skerry-bred eagleAnd Wergeland regal.Oh! Ha!
He came like an innocent spring-lambkin ewe-born,Oh, woe!So neat and so fine in his guilelessness new-bornLike snow.The flesh so delicious was chopped up to farce-meat,And later by Wergeland found for a farce meet,And gayly 't was swallowed,And all the bones hollowedAnd strown.
But swift as Thor's he-goats to life again skipping,He sprangWhole skinned together, and gave them a whippingThat rang.This made him seem worthy to join the gay party,At once they received him in fellowship hearty!And soon was no otherMore loved as a brotherThan Dahl.
The light from his shop spread afar and made brighterOur day.His drawing-room gathered so many a fighterIn play.Our taste there was made and our critical passion,The shop was a power, new Norway to fashion.Though little, its storyShall some time in gloryBe writ.
For what you have kindled, endured, and aspired,Our thanks!For hearts you have gladdened and souls you have fired,Our thanks!For all your good faith in your fervor and ranting,Yes, for your whole-heartedness free from all canting,You whimsical, queer one,Old fellow, you dear one,Our thanks!
Words in this poem
- hurrah interj.
- A word used as a shout of joy, triumph, applause, encouragement, or welcome. [Cf. G., Dan., & Sw. hurra. Cf. Huzza.]
- ditty n.
- A saying or utterance; especially, one that is short and frequently repeated; a theme. [OE. dite, OF. ditié, fr. L. dictatum, p. p. neut. of dictare to say often, dictate, compose. See Dictate, v. t.]
- gayly adv.
- With mirth and frolic; merrily; blithely; gleefully.
- 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.]
- fighter n.
- One who fights; a combatant; a warrior. [AS. feohtere.]
- 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,]
- fervor n.
- Heat; excessive warmth. [OF. fervor, fervour, F. ferveur, L. fervor, fr. fervere. See Fervent.]
- canting a.
- Speaking in a whining tone of voice; using technical or religious terms affectedly; affectedly pious; as, a canting rogue; a canting tone. - Cant"ing*ly, adv.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Johan Dahl, Bookdealer 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 Johan Dahl, Bookdealer, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/to-johan-dahl-bookdealer.html, id L29289.
Form and metre
To Johan Dahl, Bookdealer is 45 lines in 5 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 ABABCCDDB hostA · hurrahB · toastA · ahaB · nearingC · hearingC · eagleD · regalD · haB
- 2 ABABCCDD- bornA · woeB · bornA · snowB · meatC · meetC · swallowedD · hollowedD · strown
- 3 ABABCCDD- skippingA · sprangB · whippingA · rangB · partyC · heartyC · otherD · brotherD · dahl
- 4 ABABCCDD- brighterA · dayB · fighterA · playB · passionC · fashionC · storyD · gloryD · writ
- 5 -A-ABBCCA aspired · thanksA · fired · thanksA · rantingB · cantingB · oneC · oneC · thanksA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Our glasses we lift now and drink to our host! | 11 | //˘······/· |
| "Hurrah!" | 2 | ˘/ |
| Give heed to our ditty, we sing you our toast! | 11 | ···//˘···/· |
| "Aha!" | 2 | ·/ |
| The first thing appearing is what he was nearing, | 12 | ···˘/˘····/˘ |
| When uproar not fearing he came for a hearing | 12 | ·/··/˘····/˘ |
| 'Fore skerry-bred eagle | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| And Wergeland regal. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Oh! Ha! | 2 | ·· |
| He came like an innocent spring-lambkin ewe-born, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| Oh, woe! | 2 | ·· |
| So neat and so fine in his guilelessness new-born | 13 | ············· |
| Like snow. | 2 | ·· |
| The flesh so delicious was chopped up to farce-meat, | 12 | ···˘/˘······ |
| And later by Wergeland found for a farce meet, | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| And gayly 't was swallowed, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| And all the bones hollowed | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| And strown. | 2 | ·· |
| But swift as Thor's he-goats to life again skipping, | 12 | ········˘//˘ |
| He sprang | 2 | ·· |
| Whole skinned together, and gave them a whipping | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| That rang. | 2 | ·· |
| This made him seem worthy to join the gay party, | 12 | ····/˘····/˘ |
| At once they received him in fellowship hearty! | 12 | ···˘/··/˘·/˘ |
| And soon was no other | 6 | ····/˘ |
| More loved as a brother | 7 | ··˘··/˘ |
| Than Dahl. | 2 | ·· |
| The light from his shop spread afar and made brighter | 11 | ······˘/··/ |
| Our day. | 3 | /˘· |
| His drawing-room gathered so many a fighter | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/·/ |
| In play. | 2 | ·· |
| Our taste there was made and our critical passion, | 11 | /·····//˘/˘ |
| The shop was a power, new Norway to fashion. | 11 | ····/·/··/˘ |
| Though little, its story | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Shall some time in glory | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Be writ. | 2 | ·· |
| For what you have kindled, endured, and aspired, | 11 | ····/˘˘/·˘/ |
| Our thanks! | 3 | /˘· |
| For hearts you have gladdened and souls you have fired, | 11 | ····/˘····/ |
| Our thanks! | 3 | /˘· |
| For all your good faith in your fervor and ranting, | 12 | ·······/˘·/˘ |
| Yes, for your whole-heartedness free from all canting, | 12 | ····/˘˘···/˘ |
| You whimsical, queer one, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Old fellow, you dear one, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Our thanks! | 3 | /˘· |
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.