Poetry
Andvökur
Not translated into English
Stephan G. Stephansson · 1909
Opening lines
Láttu í háttum meðan mátt
Magnið hreyfa þinna ljóða
Hvern þinn dýrgrip, alt sem átt!
Auð þinn snauðum heimi bjóða —
Fel ei lýsigullið góða!
Ljósið þitt um lífsins nátt.
Let, in your measures, while you may,
The power of your poems move
Each of your treasures, all you own!
Offer your wealth to a poor world:
Do not hide the good shining gold!
Your light through the night of life.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from archive.org
Synopsis
The major collection of an emigrant farmer, whose title, sleepless nights, tells how it came about: the poems were mostly written at night, after a long day's work on the farm. The poet speaks of Iceland with nostalgia and of his new country with the same fervour, attacks social, economic or clerical regimentation, and mingles biting satire with meditation, in a language rich in old words and at times of a tortuous turn.
Context
The first three volumes appeared in Winnipeg in 1908 and 1909; two others followed in 1923 and a sixth, posthumous, in 1938. Their reception mixes reproaches, bitter satire, archaic words, tortuous style, and a new popularity, which earned the author reading tours in North Dakota, Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 1908 and 1909, then on the west coast in 1913. His poems against the war, collected in 1920 in Reykjavík under the title Vígslóði, were condemned in Winnipeg. He wrote almost all his work in North America.
Who it is for
Long, dense poems in Icelandic, in an archaic and difficult language; the translations remain partial.
Prizes and reception
Many Icelanders considered him in 1917 their best poet since the thirteenth century; literary leader of the emigrants.
Sources for this page 2
The pages consulted to check this page.