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

248
Hence this monument’s erection
to a masterpiece ill-starred;
shrewdness fails, a botched confection, —
I salute his imperfection,
pen my knight this proud reflection:
he was all too great a bard.
Written in 1869 to King Charles XV, whom Ibsen had met that summer in Stockholm.
AT PORT SAID
Orient the day,
and the harbour glittered;
the whole world on display,
the ensigns flittered.
Music abounded,
borne to those listening;
massed cannon sounded
the canal’s christening.
Steam-ships on cruise
passed the obelisked region.
They brought me news
from back home, in Norwegian.
The play I had polished
to mirror male misses,
back home was demolished
by stinking claque-hisses.
Gadfly had struck;
a reminder, a cold one. —
Stars, you’ve brought luck, —
my home is the old one!
Our river-boat hooted
the frigate a greeting;
hat raised I saluted
the ensign, competing.
Relax, that’s best,
despite the snake-sting!
An honoured guest
on a Bitter Lakes fling!
When day’s unwound
I’ll dream here in clover
of Pharaoh drowned
while Moses passed over.
Ibsen was the Norwegian representative at the opening of the Suez Canal 17 th November
1869. The play was ‘The League of Youth’.