other human beings. For him Norway's scenery is filled with the
glory of the nation's past, the promise of its future, or the needs
of the present. The poems that contain nature descriptions are
primarily patriotic. In the national hymn _Yes, We Love_, it is the
nation, its history and its future, which with the land towers as a
whole before his vision; in _Romsdal_ the scenery frames the people,
their character and life. More personal poems, as _To Molde_ or
_A Meeting_, are not merely descriptive; in the former childhood's
memories and the love of friends fill the scene, while in the latter
the freshly and tenderly drawn snow-landscape is but the setting for
a vivid picture of a deceased friend.

The contents of this volume befit the verse-form, as if each were
made by and for the other. The subjects are simple, large, weighty;
the form is compact, strong, suggestive. Björnson is distinctly not
subjectively lyrical, but has a place in the first rank "as a choral
lyric poet and as an epic lyric poet." (Collin.) Georg Brandes
wrote of him many years ago: "In few [fields] has he put forth
anything so individual, unforgettable, imperishable, as in the lyric
field."



POEMS AND SONGS
BY
BJÖRNSTJERNE BJÖRNSON



SYNNOVE'S SONG