ERIK AXEL KARLFELDT.
INTET ÄR SOM VÄNTANSTIDER.
This little poem holds a place alongside of Fröding's Vallarelåt as one of the sweetest lyrics of recent Swedish verse. Each writer has evinced, in his own way, a mastery of diction rarely equaled. Karlfeldt excels in the subtly sentimental strain.
UPPBROTT.
4. Avesta fors—this locates the scene of the poem near the old copper works at the great and little falls (Storforsen and Lillforsen) in Dalälven, the main river flowing through the poet's native province of Dalarna (Dalecarlia). The old works were recently replaced by a large steel plant, iron ore being also abundant in this old copper region. Cf. line 6, hällarnas järn.
15. As indicated here and in the title, this is a lyrical farewell to the poet's native scenes.
22. stenen—a monument commemorating the battle of Brunnbäck (also written Brunbäck). Here the peasant army of Gustav Vasa in 1521 gained their first victory over the Danish forces of King Christian sent from Stockholm under command of Gustav Trolle to put down the movement for Swedish independence. The victory was celebrated in a ballad (Dalvisan) which says:
Så körde vi jutar (Danes)i Brunbäcks älv, så vattnet dem porlade om. Vi sörjde däröver, att Kristian själv ej där tillika omkom.
JUNGFRU MARIA.
This is a selection from a group of poems, entitled Dalmålningar, utlagda på rim (Dalecarlian Paintings Interpreted in Rhyme), in which Karlfeldt describes old paintings in the churches of his native province with all the originality and quaintness that characterized these mural depictions by anonymous country artists.
1-4 form the introduction to the poem, the body of which is a direct address to the Virgin.
10. vit och lutad går has the force of a personification of the moon as an old man, white-haired and stooping, though the simile in line 9 has no such comparison in view, bågig there serving to describe the arched forehead.
12. akleja, a modification of the Latin Aquilegia, columbine.
18. The progressive mood is often thus expressed in questions by an interposed verb, like gå, stå, sitta, between the principal verb and its object, where English requires an adverbial clause in addition to the progressive form. Thus, vad sitter du och tänker på—what are you thinking of (as you are sitting there)? The sense of the line in the text is, what are you pondering on, while walking thus alone?
26. den slående björnen, in prose usually slagbjörnen, the large, man-eating bear.
33. tiljan, in apposition with strålen (line 30).
VINTERHÄLSNING.
3. Apoll, irregular form of Apollo.
5-6. The incongruous combination nordanvinden—eld och läge has the force of an oxymoron.
7. Cupid, regularly written Cupido or Kupido.
10. sexton grindar, the sixteen points of the compass familiar to navigators.
29. Hövding, ryck an—the North Wind here, as throughout, personifies the spirit and genius of the North, manifested in manhood and honor (lines 13-14), power and beauty (31-32), song and action (28, 34-36).