To Sculptor Borch
With friends you stalwart stand and fair,To-day of fifty years the heir;The past your works rejoicing praise,But forward goes your gaze.Your childlike faith, your spirit true,Your hand that never weary grew,A home's sweet music, love of wife,Make ever young your life.
You dared believe with heart aliveThat here in Norway art can thrive.You forced the hardness of our stonesTo harmony of tones.You laid our wild world's secrets bareAnd caught "The Hunter" near the lair.Our nation's moods, of beauty born,Your "Girl with Eggs" adorn.
As o'er a slope's snow-covered browA youth came swiftly flying now,You saw him, raised your hand, and lo!He stood there, chiseled snow.But your "Ski-runner's" courage good,It was your own, when forth you stoodArt's champion by the world unawed,And with your faith in God.
You won your victory supremeThrough rock-like faith and will's full streamWhile with unnumbered hours of restYour love has others blessed.Were all now here from west and eastWhose hearts you own, oh, what a feast!From Akershus the convicts e'enWould bear a freeman's mien.
Now we whose lives with good you filledFor you to-day a palace build,On heights of heart's-ease lifting squareIts golden tower of prayer.In peace you oft shall dwell in it,Whene'er you need to rest a bit,And feel through them who hold you dearYourself to heaven near.
Long since our country to you gaveThe meed of thanks that most you crave;It gave a maid with golden hair,Its springtime's image fair.She came from where the fairies dwell,With nixie's charm and wood-nymph's spell,With peace all holy, sweet, and calm,To sing of life the psalm.
So may your life yet long endureTo light our gland, your home secure!May all that from your heart you gave,Still blossom on your grave!May God's protecting mercy holdYour spirit ever fresh and bold,--May He to genius oft impartJust such a mind and heart!
Words in this poem
- 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]
- childlike a.
- Resembling a child, or that which belongs to children; becoming a child; meek; submissive; dutiful.
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- unnumbered a.
- Not numbered; not counted or estimated; innumerable.
- 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,]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- meed v. t.
- To reward; to repay. Waytt.
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Sculptor Borch 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 Sculptor Borch, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/to-sculptor-borch.html, id L29290.
Form and metre
To Sculptor Borch is 56 lines in 7 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBCCDD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 AABBCCDD fairA · heirA · praiseB · gazeB · trueC · grewC · wifeD · lifeD
- 2 AABBCCDD aliveA · thriveA · stonesB · tonesB · bareC · lairC · bornD · adornD
- 3 AABBCCDD browA · nowA · loB · snowB · goodC · stoodC · unawedD · godD
- 4 AABBCCDD supremeA · streamA · restB · blessedB · eastC · feastC · e'enD · mienD
- 5 AABBCCDD filledA · buildA · squareB · prayerB · itC · bitC · dearD · nearD
- 6 AABBCCDD gaveA · craveA · hairB · fairB · dwellC · spellC · calmD · psalmD
- 7 AABBCCDD endureA · secureA · gaveB · graveB · holdC · boldC · impartD · heartD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| With friends you stalwart stand and fair, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To-day of fifty years the heir; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The past your works rejoicing praise, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| But forward goes your gaze. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Your childlike faith, your spirit true, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Your hand that never weary grew, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A home's sweet music, love of wife, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Make ever young your life. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| You dared believe with heart alive | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| That here in Norway art can thrive. | 8 | ···/···· |
| You forced the hardness of our stones | 8 | ···/˘·/· |
| To harmony of tones. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| You laid our wild world's secrets bare | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| And caught "The Hunter" near the lair. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Our nation's moods, of beauty born, | 8 | //˘··/˘· |
| Your "Girl with Eggs" adorn. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| As o'er a slope's snow-covered brow | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A youth came swiftly flying now, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| You saw him, raised your hand, and lo! | 8 | ········ |
| He stood there, chiseled snow. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| But your "Ski-runner's" courage good, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| It was your own, when forth you stood | 8 | ········ |
| Art's champion by the world unawed, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And with your faith in God. | 6 | ······ |
| You won your victory supreme | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| Through rock-like faith and will's full stream | 8 | ········ |
| While with unnumbered hours of rest | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| Your love has others blessed. | 7 | ···/˘·˘ |
| Were all now here from west and east | 8 | ········ |
| Whose hearts you own, oh, what a feast! | 8 | ········ |
| From Akershus the convicts e'en | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Would bear a freeman's mien. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Now we whose lives with good you filled | 8 | ········ |
| For you to-day a palace build, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On heights of heart's-ease lifting square | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Its golden tower of prayer. | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| In peace you oft shall dwell in it, | 8 | ········ |
| Whene'er you need to rest a bit, | 9 | ········· |
| And feel through them who hold you dear | 8 | ········ |
| Yourself to heaven near. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Long since our country to you gave | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| The meed of thanks that most you crave; | 8 | ········ |
| It gave a maid with golden hair, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Its springtime's image fair. | 6 | ·/·/˘· |
| She came from where the fairies dwell, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With nixie's charm and wood-nymph's spell, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With peace all holy, sweet, and calm, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To sing of life the psalm. | 6 | ······ |
| So may your life yet long endure | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To light our gland, your home secure! | 8 | ··/···˘/ |
| May all that from your heart you gave, | 8 | ········ |
| Still blossom on your grave! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| May God's protecting mercy hold | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Your spirit ever fresh and bold,-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| May He to genius oft impart | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Just such a mind and heart! | 6 | ······ |
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.