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

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to spur a man to choose a lifetime’s striving:
it is to make this generation whole.
The age of miracles has passed forever.
God shapes no Adam now on earth, perforce;
the Lord requires Man’s help in His endeavour
to bring this generation back on course.
“Hence I shall go into the world abroad
and gather up the limbs, the fragments scattered,
restoring for the second time unshattered
man truly whole, in likeness of our Lord.
And hence my war with you, your fellow creatures,
with those whose blindness has contrived our fall, —
who worshipped truth but in its several features,
where Truth abides in nothing if not all!”
Eyes like a bird, a bird ensnared and cowering,
the girl was swept away on his mind’s surge; —
it seemed she yielded to her overpowering
by his audaciousness, his will’s wild urge.
But Einar shook his golden mop, replying
with just a hint of smile, a friendly nod:
“I see you’re still, now you’re a man, applying
your childhood vow to be the whole world’s rod.
“I well remember many a time at school
when we immersed ourselves in saga-study,
its pain, injustice, violence raw and bloody,
contributing more stories from our pool; —
with solace, help, you made no contribution,
you set no bar to progress evil made;
you let the worst befall; the retribution
came after, with your keen and vengeful blade.
“You’re driven now, by that same thought you bruited,
to turn the world, regardless, on its head; —
but bear in mind, each seedling you’ve uprooted
demands a better seedling in its stead.
Don’t quench the torch of pine, for all its reeking,
before you’ve lit the lamp to guide the herd; —
don’t scrap the language’s old way of speaking
before new thought commands its own new word.
“Remember, too, one’s call can often stand
at odds with life. A curate on probation
is hardly placed to lead a Reformation; —
a voice can’t carry in a rock-bound land.
Make no mistake. Poor circumstance sent many
a giant forth, I know, who faced the test; —
but this folk has been minted as a penny; —
don’t falsify the stamp that God impressed.”