The Icelandic Canadian - 01.09.1964, Side 31

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
29
The following is an attempt to trans-
pose the second verse into free verse
couplets.
“On thy bosom is thy infant
Nourished by his mother’s blood.
“1, your son, have sworn to serve thee
Always true, whate’er befalls.
“He, who harms thee, false, unworthy
May he, poisoned, rot in anguish!”
To all three the homeland was an
ideal through which they bared their
souls to humanity.
W. J. Lindal
FORMAL! A JORBU
By STEINN STEINARR
tit f verold heimskunnar,
dt i verbid ofbeldisins,
ut i verbid dauSans
sendi eg hugsun omina
iklasdda dularfullum,
oskiljanlegum
orSum.
Oegnum myrkur blekkingarinnar,
MeSal hraevarloga lyginnar,
i bloSregni morSsins
gengur sorg min
gengur von min
gengur trii min
bseS af ollum
Drjup sar og brennandi
OseiS af ollum.
Svo aS ljoSiS megi lifa,
Svo aS andinn megi lifa,
Svo aS guS megi lifa.
PREFACE ON EARTH
By STEINN STEIN ARR
Translated by CAROLINE GUNNARSON
Into a world of stupidity,
A world of aggression,
A world of death,
I send my thought
Clothed in mysterious,
Opaque
Words.
Through the murk of deceit,
Among death-dealing lies,
In murder’s bloody rainfall,
My sorrow walks
My hope walks
My faith walks
Unseen by all
Deep wounds and burning
Unseen by all
That the poem may live
That the spirit may live,
That God may live.