The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2003, Side 18

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 58 #2
cal leaders who speak of “cold wars “and
“wars” on social ills, such as poverty or
drugs, thereby desensensitizing their citi-
zens to the true horrors of modern warfare,
which then makes it easier for those same
political leaders to lead their nations to the
battlefield. Stephansson was uncompro-
mising in his pacifism and unwilling to
mince words when writing or speaking
about the evils of war:
In Europe’s reeking slaughter—pen
They mince the flesh of murdered
men,
While swinish merchants, snout in
trough,
Drink all the bloody profits off!34
In the aftermath of the First World
War, which had rallied most Icelandic
Canadians in support of the British
Empire, Stephansson published The Trail
of War (VIgslodi), a cycle of thirty-eight
poems, including such titles as “When
Christ was Army Chaplain” and “The
Protest of the Unknown Soldier.” But the
most moving and memorable poem in the
collection was the epic “Battle Pause”
(Vopnahle),35 which portrayed the carnage
of battle in stark realism. Two soldiers
from opposing armies talk to each other
across the battlefield during a pause to bury
the slain and clear the field before the next
encounter. In their unfolding stories,
Stephansson pointed to the political leader-
ship and vested interests on both sides that
fueled the so-called “war to end all wars.”
He spared no one, including the clergy
who had once “sung of peace on earth”
only to become pulpit cheerleaders for “the
cause” once hostilities began. With feelings
about the war still running high, the poem
provoked a very negative reaction among
Icelanders in Canada, even among
Stephansson’s friends; but in the end, the
greatness of his poetry and vision tran-
scends even the offense it may give to some.
In seeking the words to describe
Stephansson, Emil Gudmundson wrote
that he “accepted no consistent label, but
among those given him are freethinker,
atheist, humanist, materialist, and Unitari-
an. None really fully described him, and
each had a limited usefulness, but in his
poetry, letters, and prose he consistently
raised some daring and provocative ques-
tions about the issues of the meaning of life
and death.”36 It may well be that “daring
and provocative” are the most accurate
things we can say about this master poet
who lived out in the open air and who
beckons us to join him there. But even dar-
ing and provocative only describe one side
of his personality. One of his faithful
translators, Paul Sigurdson, observed that,
“humble in greatness, compassionate, lov-
ing, noble and forgiving, this simple-living
farmer-poet epitomized most of the finest
qualities that make up the mind, soul, and
spirit of the human being.” One thing
seems clear: years after the quarrels that
surrounded him in life, many of the issues
seem almost trivial, while the genius of his
insight and the inspiration of his words
continue to move us. And so it is that
Stephan G. Stephansson has managed to
capture the hearts and minds of generations
of readers, who see in his words and work
a commanding vision that leads us to fol-
low him out into the open air, even when
we would prefer to fall back on the comfort
and safe haven of our established ways.
We’re enriched by our vision not sto-
ries,
And mostly the truth is obscure,
But there is one standard prevailing
Which tells if an age will mature;
To live not for years but for ages
And not to claim all of one’s wages
For earth’s greatest good to endure.
Through seasons of winter and sum-
mer,
This truth we instinctively see,
To make what is good into better
And strive for the best that can be.37
FOOTNOTES:
1. Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The Poet”
(1843).
2. Richard Beck, History of Icelandic
Poets, 1800-1940 (Cornell University
Press, 1950), 203.
3. Watson Kirkconnell, “Canada’s
Leading Poet, Stephan G.
Stephansson (1853-1927), in The