The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1956, Page 19

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
17
I long to be blest with friendship,
But am everywhere ever alone,
Ever a man without country,
A vagrant in every zone.
But my song is a song of parting.
Surf beats the ocean-wall.
I came from the south in summer
And sail in the fall.
On the other hand, he is deeply at-
tached to his native soil, to which his
hymn of praise to his scenic and be-
loved EyjafjorSur bear witness. His
strong and fruitful interest in Iceland-
ic folk-poetry and folk-lore, already
noted, has also furnished him with
the theme and inspiration for his bril-
liantly conceived and constructed play,
Gulina hliSiS (The Golden Gate,
1941), a theatrical triumph on the
Icelandic stage and also very success-
fully presented in Norway (both in
Oslo and Bergen), in Finland (Hel-
sinki), and in Great Britain (Edin-
burgh). Akin in theme and spirit is
his two-volume novel, Solon Islandus
(1940), a broad picture of Icelandic
national life, but particularly note-
worthy for its poetic style, narrative
skill and profound psychological in-
sight.
The national note, always pronounc-
ed, has grown increasingly stronger
in Davie'S Stefansson’s poetry, along
with his spiritual development, richer
idealism and wider sympathy. His
prize-winning cycle of poems com-
memorating the Millennial of the Ice-
landic Parliament (Althing) in 1930
is both highly lyrical and eloquent,
all in all a very impressive poem, in
which a large panorama of the history
of the Icelandic nation, together with
a deep insight into its life and fate,
are expressed in inspired and memor-
able passages, like the following,
quoted in Mr. Arthur Gook’s trans-
lation:
“Beneath the Aurora sky a valiant
nation
A thousand years has waged her bitter
strife,
Her star of faith an endless inspiration,
An everlasting miracle her life.”
Equally notable and challenging in
its alert and noble patriotism was the
poem which DaviS Stefansson wrote
for the tenth anniversary of the Ice-
landic Republic on June 17, 1954,
entitled “Avarp Fjallkonunnar” (The
Maid of the Mountain Speaks). It
amply reveals his undiminished vigor
of thought as well as his mastery of
the Icelandic language and metrical
form.
Nor has he been left untouched by
the storms and stresses of our turbulent
times; the impact of World War IT
upon him is clearly seen in his latest
book of poems published in 1947. His
love of liberty and deep-rooted sense
of justice flame forth in fearless at-
tacks on tyrants and their cohorts of
whatever ilk, on greed, injustice and
war-imongering. In particular has his
heart been touched by the fate of Nor-
way during the war, which is not sur-
prising, as he has ever been a cham-
pion of inter-Scandinavian co-opera,
tion being well aware of the basic kin-
ship, racially and culturally, between
the Northern nations.
The clash between freedom and
tyranny is also the central theme in
DaviS Stefansson’s second most im-
portant play, Vopn guSanna (The
Weapons of the Gods), 1943, which
in subject-matter is based upon Bar-
laams ok Josaphats saga, one of the
many Icelandic medieval romances,
but the poet uses the story primarily
as a starting point. In many ways a
noteworthy drama, this play contains
splendid lyric passages, and is frequent-
ly characterized by vigor, genuine