The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1973, Síða 28

26
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
BUMMER 1973
Humar aS mitt hinzta kvold,
horfi eg fram a vegina.
Grofin m6ti gapir kold,
gref eg a minn vonarskjold
rumir }iser, sem raSast hinumeginn.
FEYMAN’S FATE
transl. by Gudmund J. Gislason
’Tis growing harder rimes to write,
Fast my strength is waning,
Sleep forsakes me an the night,
Darkness reigns, I have no light,
Cold I quake and crippled limbs are
paining.
Through death’s lowering gloom
I gaze;
Straight my way is wending
Toward gaping tomb apace.
On my shield of hope I trace
Runes, that will be solved beyond
Life’s ending.
GuSmund J. Gislason was born in
Iceland, but came to America at the
age of five. He studied at the Univer-
sity of Manitoba, the University of
North Dakota, and the Illinois Med-
ical College. He also studied in Lon-
don and Vienna. He became a
practising physician in North Dakota.
Hjalmar Jonsson (Hjalmar of Bola)
“was endowed with great poetic
genius, which the most adverse cir-
cumstances tended but to strengthen.
His life-long struggle with poverty,
and the lack of understanding on the
part of his contemporaries embittered
him, however. His poems, therefore,
often take the form of laments and
denunciations of his age.” (Richard
Beck: Icelandic Lyrics, 1930).
“He was happily married and had
seven children, but his life was an un-
relenting struggle against harsh na-
ture and the callous indifference of
more prosperous brethren. To be sure,
his lot was no worse than that of many
of his other fellow sufferers, but he
was different being endowed with a
poet’s sensitivity, the temper of a Vi-
king and Icelandic word artistry at
its best. . . . He was among the
greatest folk poets that Iceland has
had.” (Stefan Einarsson).
TIL ISLANDS
SigurSur Julius Johannesson
Ef drottinn gerSi aS gulli tar
sem geymir hugur minn,
]ra vildi eg grata 611 min ar
til auSs i vasa J>inn.
TO ICELAND
Transl. by Christopher Johnston
If God would turn to gold the tears
With which my mind is blessed:
Then would I weep through all
my years
To fill thy treasure-chest.
• The translations of poetry from
Icelandic to English in this issue are
from Icelandic Lyrics, edited by Dr.
Richard Beck. (Ed.)