The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.1955, Side 46

44
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Spring 1955
answered: “Beautiful this maiden
certainly is, and many are likely to
suffer for it; but I don’t know whence
thief’s eyes have come into our kin!”
★
From Chapter 159 (the closing
chapter)
This is the story told of Flosi’s end.
When he had become an old man he
sailed abroad to fetch timber to build
himself a hall. That winter he stayed
in Norway, but the following summer
he was late in getting ready to sail.
People said that his ship was not sea-
worthy, but Flosi said it was good
enough for an old man who was soon
to die. He went on board and sailed
cut into the sea and nothing was ever
again seen of the ship.
★
“All the Icelandic sagas, and this
one in particular, spoil one for the
reading of contemporary tales.” (a
prominent novelist’s comment).
•
EFTIRLEIT
P. S. Palsson, Reykjavik
1954, 92 pages.
The number of Icelandic poets in
this country to whom the
Astkaera, ylhyra maliS,
og allri rodd fegra
is still the melodious and powerful
medium they choose for expressing
their inmost thoughts and feeling, is
rapidly decreasing as the grim reaper
takes his toll. It is, therefore, very ap-
propriate that any gems of poetry
which have not appeared in print
should be put on the record to become
a part of a living memory of a passing
period in the history of the Icelanders
of the West. i
In this category can be placed a
booklet of verse by Pall S. Palsson
which he fittingly calls “Eftirleit”*,
(Searching). The first and the leading
poem in the group is the answer to his
search and in that poem the author’s
depth of feeling is brought to light in
a way that grips the reader. It is “Til
konunnar minnar”, “To my Wife”,
composed in 1950, on the occasion of
their fortieth wedding anniversary. In
a few touches, which only a poet could
pen, Pall reveals the aim in life he had
set himself and his disappointment
when it was not given to him to find
the correct path. But in the hour of
darkest struggle he finds solace in the
love of his wife:
En avallt, er hrellingin huga minn
i helfjotra lagSi, var svipur jrinn
i ]>okunni vorSur og viti.
Svo jafnvel i myrkrinu svartasta eg sa
silfur- og gullbjarma a jrokuna sla,
sem gafu henni guSborna liti.
In the twilight of life the poet
feels the mutual love they have shared
which sheds' a glow of sunset upon
what remains of life on earth:
Svo eigum viS kvoldroSann eftir aS
sja
og aftan-skin friSandi og blitt.
Eg veit, Jregar kvoldar {m verSur mer
hja,
jra verSur allt fagurt og hlytt.
ViS norSur-ljoss birtu ]ia btium viS for
und blahimins stjarnanna fjold.
Og Jrogul viS ytum ur Jmeytunnar vor.
—Ja, JraS verSur yndislegt kvold.
Life has been as if at the crossroads
to the men and women who migrated
to Canada in the latter years of their
youth. They have looked back even as
they looked forward. The sentiment
* The word “eftirleit” usually refers to the
last search for sheep in the fall. Here, as the
poet admits, he plays on the meaning of
the word and extends it to include the search
for what he has sought all his life.