Analysis of Hamar-Made Matches
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson 1832 (Kvikne) – 1910 (Paris)
'Here your Hamar-made matches!'-
Of them these verses I sang;
A thought to which humor attaches,
But yet to my heart sparks sprang.
Sparks from the box-side flying
Sank deep in my memory,
Till in a light undying
Two eyes cast their spell on me,-
Light on the fire that's present,
When faith blazes forth in deed.
Know, that to every peasant
Those eyes sent a light in need.
Sent to souls without measure
The flame of love's message broad,
Gathering in one treasure
Fatherland, home, and God.
For it was Herman Anker
Took of his fathers' gold,
Loaned it as wisdom's banker,
Spread riches of thought untold,
Scattered it wide as living
Seed for the soil to enwrap;
Flowers spring from his giving
Over all Norway's lap.
Flowers spring forth, though stony
The ground where it fell, and cold.
Never did patrimony
Bear fruitage so many fold.
Heed this, Norwegian peasant,
Heed it, you townsman, too!
That fruit of love's seed may be present,
Our thanks must fall fresh as dew.
'Here your Hamar-made matches!'
My thanks kindle fast. And oh!
This song at your heart-strings catches,
That kindling your thanks may glow.
The matches hold them in hiding,-
Scratching one you will find
The light with a warmth abiding
Carries them to his mind.
'Here your Hamar-made matches!'
Only to strike one here,
Our thanks far-away dispatches,
With peace his fair home to cheer.
His matches in thousands of houses,
In great and in small as well!-
The light that thanksgiving arouses
Shall scatter the darkness fell.
His matches in thousands of houses!-
Some eve from his factory
He'll see how thanksgiving arouses
The land, and its love flames free.
He'll see in the eyes so tender,
Through gleams that his matches woke,
The thanks that his nation would render,
His glistening wreath of oak,-
He'll feel that Norway with double
The warmth of other lands glows;
The harvest must more be than trouble,
When faith in its future grows.
'Here your Hamar-made matches!'
No phosphorus-poison more!
The bearer of light up-catches
The work of the school before:-
From home all the poison taking,
Hastening the light's advance,
Longings to warm light waking,
That lay there and had no chance.
Scheme | Abcb dede fgfg hxhx hihi djdj eiei fkfk Alal dmdm Axcx Ancn Aece hoho pqpq Arar dsds |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (88%) |
Metre | 1101110 1111011 011110010 1111111 1101110 1101100 1001010 1111111 11010110 1110101 11110010 1110101 1110110 0111101 1000110 10101 1111010 111101 111110 1101101 1011110 110111 1011110 10111 1011110 0111101 101100 111101 111010 111101 111111110 10111111 1101110 1110101 11111110 1101111 01011010 101111 01101010 101111 1101110 101111 101101010 1111111 110010110 0100111 01110010 1100101 110010110 1111100 11110010 0101111 11001110 1111101 011110110 1100111 1111110 0111011 010111110 1101101 1101110 1100101 01011110 0110101 11101010 1000101 1011110 1110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,100 |
Words | 384 |
Sentences | 26 |
Stanzas | 17 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 68 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 100 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:57 min read
- 85 Views
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"Hamar-Made Matches" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4348/hamar-made-matches>.
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