The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1957, Side 17

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
15
I do not feel entirely free from bias
in commenting on the quality of the
versification of LjoS fra liffnu sumri.
Perhaps the fact that I enjoyed DaviS’s
poetry even before I met him and have
enjoyed it still more since knowing
him as a person blinds me to any
defects in his verse. At any rate, there
seem to be thousands who snare my
opinion that he has complete mastery
of the language and the technique of
versification. As was alluded to earlier,
however, his poetry is characterized less
by subtlety of technique than by rich-
ness of imagination and precision in
delineation. It is difficult to refrain
from adducing many examples of his
art in this repsect, but since space per-
mits of mentioning only a few. I shall
merely refer to “Leda og Svanurinn”,
“Vindhaelisbdndinn”, or “Visur Fjalla
Eyvindar.”
Perhaps the poem that will dwell
longest in the minds of the readers of
Icelandic descent will be “SegiS Jrad
moSir minni” which seems to express
what every Vestur Islendingur wishes
he could say:
SegiS }ra<5 moSur minni,
aS mer se hennar tunga
songur, er letti longum
lifsharm, snjojrunga.
Sa eg i orcJum og anda
Island ur sas risa
og hlaut 1 volvunnar veSrum
vernd goSra disa.
It is fitting that a footnote on the author of the above article should follow.
Loftur Bjarnason, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., is the son of Loftur Bjarnason of Salt Lake City. His
mother is an American of English and Scottish descent. His grandparents on the father’s side,
who migrated from Iceland, were Gisli Einarsson Bjarnasonar from Hrifunesi in Vesturskapta-
fellssysla, and Fru HalldSra ArnadSttir Asgrimssonar from MeSallandi.
Loftur Bjarnason obtained a B.A. degree and an M.A. degree from the University of Utah
in 1934 and 1936. He holds an M A. degree from Harvard University received in 1939. In 1951
he obtained his doctorate from Stanford University. In between Loftur Bjarnason managed to
take courses in European universities: Heidelberg in 1937, University of Berlin in 1938 and the
University of Iceland in 1930-31 and again in 1937-38. Dr. Bjarnason has specialized in philology
but, as he says, “because of my heritage”, he enjoys literature just as much. At present he
is teaching English rhetoric, English Literature and World Literature at Hartnell College in
Salinas, California
It is even more fitting that the article on DaviS Stefansson fra Fagraskogi should be ac-
companied by translations of some of his poems. The first one selected is a translation by the
author of the article himself: “Klausturvfn”, Cloister Wine. The second consists of five verses
out of eight of “A fostudaginn langa”, translated by Rev. Kolbeinn Saemundsson under the title:
Through Mist of Many Ages.
Rev. Kolbeinn S:emundsson is well known to many old time Winnipeggers. He is at present
serving a Lutheran Congregation in Seattle, Wash.
The Cover Poem is the third selection.
CLOISTER WINE
by DaviS Stefansson fra Fagraskogi
Translated by Loftur Bjarnason
In wine are kept the fires of springtime
Winterlong in oaken tuns;
And they take on winter evenings
The cloister chill from monks and nuns.
Wine that’s white and wine that’s red
Awaken love and song and verse.
The abbot and the lovely abbess
Take deep draughts to quench their thirst.
KLAUSTURVIN
eftir DaviS Stefansson fra Fagraskogi
I vini geymast vorsins eldar
vetrarlangt i eikartunnu,
og peir taka A koldum kvoldum
klausturhroll ur munk og nunnu.
ViniS hvita, viniS rauSa
vekur Astir, song og kvaeSi.
AbStinn og abbadisin
erti pyrst og drekka bteSi