THE COLLECTED POEMS OF HENRIK IBSEN Translated by John ...

139
PROLOGUE,
delivered in the Norwegian Theatre
21 st August [1859].
Grief for Oscar, our bereavement,
Hall and church have long conveyed.
His late deeds, his high achievement
Verse and music have portrayed.
Here, from this place too, shall rise
One more voice that testifies; —
Testifies there are few places
Where his fame has left no traces.
Sagas are like symphonies,
Filled with tunes and themes unnumbered,
Sometimes muted, sometimes thundered,
Rich with life’s complexities.
Hårdråder’s in major key,
Set for lur and brazenry, —
Athelstan’s sweet minor, cherished
By the race, have never perished.
So, too, shall King Oscar’s ring
Fresh and hale throughout the ages;
His display, though sparse, presages
Whispering, a northern Spring.
Hence his saga is repaid
With fair Memory’s accolade;
It shall never be rejected,
Never by the folk neglected.
Yes, it prophesies a Spring
Dawning o’er these northern quarters,
The first daylight on our waters,
Our hill-people’s burgeoning!
And as grown men in extremes
Hark back to their stripling dreams,
So the North shall hark, with reason,
Back to Oscar’s radiant season.
Well his thought bloomed in us all,
Understanding of his mission:
Kindred souls in coalition
Was the folk’s great rallying-call.
And thereby we came to long
For a living verse and song
That would picture our Norwegian
Life in dale and upland region.