2023-03-27
Poem of the Week, week 13: Åse-Marie Nesse "The Harps"
Enjoy a weekly poem by authors from Norway, throughout the year.
THE HARPS
Our harps still hang from the trees
where we sat weeping by the river
in Babylon
the strings untuned in the wind
like severed nerves
or outstretched branches tapping
an unseen lattice
O our shattered harps –
once we were exiles
in vibrant grief.
We are back home now
lighting fires on the hearth
almost as of old
but we sing no longer
Åse-Marie Nesse (1934-2001)
Translated by Åse-Marie Nesse and Pauline Stainer
From The No-Man’s Tree, Selected Poems translated by Åse-Marie Nesse and Pauline Stainer, Making Waves, Guildford, Surrey, 1994, p. 23.
See the poem in Norwegian
Poem of the Week
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