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Master or slave

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson 1832 (Kvikne) – 1910 (Paris)

Lo, this land that lifts around it
Threatening peaks, while stern seas bound it,
With cold winters, summers bleak,
Curtly smiling, never meek,
'Tis the giant we must master,
Till he work our will the faster.
He shall carry, though he clamor,
He shall haul and saw and hammer,
Turn to light the tumbling torrent,-
All his din and rage abhorrent
Shall, if we but do our duty,
Win for us a realm of beauty.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

23 sec read
327

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCCCCDDEE
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 400
Words 78
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12
Full analysis for Master or slave »

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished by both the freshness of its inspiration and the rare purity of its spirit", becoming the first Norwegian Nobel laureate. Bjørnson is considered to be one of The Four Greats (De Fire Store) among Norwegian writers, the others being Henrik Ibsen, Jonas Lie, and Alexander Kielland. Bjørnson is also celebrated for his lyrics to the Norwegian National Anthem, "Ja, vi elsker dette landet". more…

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