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Poem of the Week, week 12: Aslaug Vaa "Fragment"

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Enjoy a weekly poem by authors from Norway, throughout the year.

FRAGMENT

When we went out on the road
it was like stepping on a new earth.
Did the buttercup really look like this?
Had the birchlegs so many shoots before?
Did the gravel under our feet ever grate so happily?
Did ever the travelling salesman have so blue eyes?
Look how the hazelbush moves on the slope
and waves with its branches
and when you put a hand on your breast
it was like touching the taut strings of the harp.
Did you hear that?

Aslaug Vaa (1889-1965)

Translated by Fritz König

From Scandinavian Love Poems, An Anthology by Fritz König and Randi Marie Røsnes, Eget forlag, Drammen 2007, p. 132.

See the poem in Norwegian

Poem of the Week

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Norway as Guest of Honour at Frankfurter Buchmesse

Norway was Guest of Honour at the Frankfurter Buchmesse 2019. Please visit our website Norway2019.com for information about the project.

Frankfurt 2019