Wednesday, 29 July 2026

Thor Sørheim: 'Lukta av regn'

Pilewort

 

LUKTA AV REGN

 

Sommerregn siver inn gjennom det åpne

vinduet, gardinene blafrer og røper at vinden

kommer fra sørvest. Den tradisjonelle regndansen

utfolder seg i vinduskarmen, jeg ser ikke dråpene

 

som trolig faller ned på syrinbusken og vårkålen,

men jeg lukter en mild vind som lokker regnrike

skyer over til den plassen jeg har inntatt

i morgenlyset, avventende og årvåken. Lukt

 

er det første hjelpemiddelet vi har for å finne

fram i denne tids forvirring. Glem øynene som ser

det de tror de ser, hørselen som er i ferd

med å bli døv for roen i stillhetens menuetter.

 

Det er lukta som taler med ekte troverdighet.

Luftdraget fra kuene som beiter på jordet forteller

at de trekker mot skuret de har til vern. Jeg værer

allerede regnet som trommer mot blikktaket deres.

 

 

THE SMELL OF RAIN

 

The summer rain seeps in through the open

window, the curtains flutter and reveal that the wind

is from the southwest. The traditional rain dance is

performed on the window ledge, I cannot see the drops

 

that are probably falling on the lilac and pilewort,

but I can smell a mild wind that is enticing rain-laden

clouds over to the spot I have taken in the

morning light, expectant and alert. The sense of smell

 

is the earliest form of aid we can use to find our way

in the confusion of our age. Forget your eyes, which

see what they think they see, your hearing, which is in the

process of becoming deaf to the minuets of quietness.

 

It is smell that speaks with true credibility.

The breathing of the cows grazing in the field tells you

they are making for the barn that shelters them. I already

detect the smell of the rain drumming against their tin roof.



Jens Peder Olrog: 'Violen från Flen'


 

Violen från Flen

 

Det står en vacker flicka i en bokhandel i Flen,

och drömmer ibland böcker så allén.

Där finns till salu smått och gott,

mest papper och kuvert,

men ändå annonserar man såhär:

Köp en Hjalmar Gullberg eller Vilhelm Moberg,

men köp den av Violen från Flen.

All bildning och kultur, verkligt rara djur,

får ni av Violen från Flen.

 

Äventyr och sagor finns uti vårt lager

där sånggudinnan går på lätta ben.

Prosa och lyrik, kanske romantik,

får ni av Violen från Flen.

 

När ortens unga glopar går på jakt så verkar de'

municipalsamhälls-jeunesse-dorée.

Och frågar de Violen om hon vill gå med dem ut,

så rodnar hon och svarar så till slut:

 

Allt kan ni begära, av det litterära,

ja allting av Parnassens fenomen.

Men praktisk romantik, eller erotik,

finns ej hos Violen från Flen.

Tag i stället för er, av små bokprimörer,

ta' småvarmt från den Bonnierska buffén.

Bildning och kultur, verkligt rara djur,

får ni av Violen från Flen.

 

 

The Violet of Flen

 

A lovely girl stands lonely in a bookshop out in Flen,

and dreams among the books of her domain.

On sale are paper, envelopes,

and mostly bibs and bobs,

despite this though advertisements proclaim:

Buy a Hjalmar Gullberg or a Vilhelm Moberg,

but buy it from the Violet of Flen.

All your cultural feasts, truly snuggly beasts,

you’ll get from the Violet of Flen.

 

We stock stirring stories, tales of former glories

here the muse of song delights to reign.

Poetry and prose, romance too who knows,

you’ll get from the Violet of Flen.

 

When local whippersnappers go out hunting or foray

they seem to be the town’s jeunesse dorée.

And if they ask the Violet if she’d like to join the guys,

she blushes and she finally replies:

 

All you could desire, literature entire,

and that which to Parnassus might pertain.

Though all cooing doves, and erotic love’s

not stocked by the Violet of Flen.

Take though for nutrition, early small editions,

from Bonnier’s buffet do not abstain.

All your cultural feasts, truly snuggly beasts,

you’ll get from the Violet of Flen.

 

To hear Sven Bertil Taube sing this, go to here.

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, 28 July 2026

Thor Sørheim: 'Lavmælt'

Melampyrum pratense (marimjelle)

 

LAVMÆLT

 

Det finnes en visdom der du

minst aner det. Lavmælt marimjelle

nederst i skogbunnen. Langs stier du ofte

har gått, uten å legge merke til gulhvite

blomster som vil si deg noe.

 

 

LOW KEY

 

A wisdom exists where you least

suspect it. Low-key cow-wheat deep down

in the forest floor. Along paths you have often

walked along, without noticing yellow-white

flowers that want to tell you something.



Thor Sørheim: 'På forvillede veger'

 

Sorbus Norvegica (whitebeam)

PÅ FORVILLEDE VEGER

 

Jeg går på skogsvegen ved havet omkranset

av ligusterbusker som trolig har grønne blader

gjennom hele vinteren. Jeg vandrer langs gule

jorder i oktober og ser de mørke skyene over hyttene

på odden, og når jeg snur meg er vesthimmelen blå

 

og optimistisk. Det finnes vippepunkter som avgjør

vår videre ferd gjennom historien. Jeg velger

forvillede veger framfor firefelts fartsfristelser.

Det er god motstand i ubedt berberis, rød krossved

og sjeldne asalbusker i møte med en snøfri vinter.

 

 

ON PATHS RECLAIMED BY NATURE

 

I walk along the woodland path by the sea surrounded

by privet hedges that probably have green leaves

throughout the winter. I walk past yellow plots of land

in October and gaze at the dark clouds above the cabins

on the spit, and when I turn round the western sky is blue

 

and optimistic. Tipping points exist that determine

our further course through history. I choose reclaimed paths

rather than four-lane high-speed temptations. There is

good resistance in unsolicited barberry, red guelder-rose

and rare whitebeam when meeting a snow-free winter.

 

Monday, 27 July 2026

Thor Sørheim: 'Skriften på veggen'

מנא מנא תקל ופרסין (or Mene, Mene, Tekel, Uphasin)

 

SKRIFTEN PÅ VEGGEN

 

Fra de første spede forsøk på å uttrykke noe

vesentlig, har menneskeheten levd med frykt

og håp og risset inn sine drømmer og sitt raseri

på veggene i mørke huler og på svabergene

langs elver og hav. Med hogde streker oppstår

symbolske figurer, og vi kan fremdeles tolke deres

budskap. Vi har lært oss å lese skriften på veggen

og tatt alvoret med oss etter hvert som bildene

 

la grunnlaget for de neste stegene i henvendelsen

mennesker imellom. Tegning ble til skrift, rette

streker i varierende lengde og posisjoner. Enetalen

fra skriften på veggen ble til samtaler mellom de

som kjente til koden, alfabetet. Men vi må aldri

glemme at ord er bilder som må tolkes. Evig liv

er et uttrykk for menneskeverd, ordet bønn

er et rop om at Gud må gjøre det umulige mulig.”

 

 

THE WRITING ON THE WALL

 

From the first tentative attempts to express something

important, humanity has lived with fear and hope 

and has scratched its dreams and its rage onto the

walls of dark caves and onto the smooth rocks along rivers

and seashores. Via hewn strokes symbolic figures

emerged, and we are still able to interpret their

message. We have learnt to read the writing on the wall

and have grasped its import as the images came to form

 

the basis of the next steps that were taken in interhuman

communication. Drawings turned into scripts, straight

lines of various lengths and positions. The monologue

of the writing on the wall became conversations between

those familiar with the code, the alphabet. But we must

never forget that words are images that must be deciphered.

Eternal life is an expression of human worth, the word

prayer is a call for God to make the impossible possible.

 

 

Thor Sørheim: 'Om å dikte'

 


OM Å DIKTE

 

Det er ikke jeg som skriver diktene. Bidraget

mitt er å sanse fritt i et vegkryss og nyte duften

av ryllik og honningblom og slippe ordene løs.

De springer ned i grøftekanten, noen ganger

kan jeg til og med høre dem mumle til kjøttmeisen.

De sørger for innhold og rytme, stort sett da, før de

forsvinner, og da er det jeg som må henge opp

sokker og truser på snora under en smilende himmel.

 

 

ABOUT FASHIONING A POEM

 

I’m not the one who writes the poems. My contribution

is to free my senses at a crossroads and enjoy the scent

of yarrow and musk orchid and let the words loose.

They jump down to the edge of the ditch, sometimes

I can even hear them mumbling to the great tit.

They take care of the content and rhythm, more or less,

before disappearing, and then I am the one who must

hang socks and briefs on the line beneath a smiling sky.



Thor Sørheim: 'Gamle piletrær'


 

GAMLE PILETRÆR

 

Gamle piletrær fletter seg sammen

ved vadestedet. Omfangsrike med kraftige

greiner som stikker ut i alle retninger. Tjukke

stammer har fått en knekk, to terner skriker

ute på sjøen mens de kretser rundt

en arrogant måke som overser klyngen

av trær som bøyer seg i ærbødighet

mot det lave blåveisalteret. Gjemmesteder

finnes i de hule stammene, og rotvelt åpner

surklende kjeften sin fra undergrunnen, mørk

sang overdøver måkeskrikene da jeg bøyer meg

ned til møtet med forråtnelse og fortrolighet.

 

 

OLD WILLOW TREES

 

Old willow trees intertwine at the

ford. Voluminous in girth and with powerful

branches protruding in all directions. Thick

trunks have opened up cracks, two terns are

screeching out on the lake while circling round

an arrogant gull that is surveying the clump

of trees which bow in deference towards

the low altar of blue anemones. The hiding places

are in the hollow trunks, and a windfall opens

its gurgling jaws from the subsoil, dark

song drowns out the shrieking gulls as I bow down

to meet with decomposition and intimacy.



Evert Taube: 'Den glade bagaren i San Remo' (1937)


 

Den glade bagaren i San Remo

 

Text och musik: Evert Taube, 1937

 

Min vän, den glade bagarn uti San Remo stad,

ja, om ni kände honom, skulle ni bli glad.

Han sjunger framför ugnen sin glada ritornell

så stolt som om han vore en löjtnant John Forsell.

 

Den glade bagarn bakar det bästa bröd som fås,

det bakas inte bättre ej ens i Alingsås.

Han sjunger när han bakar, och arbetar med fröjd

det ökar varans värde och köparen blir nöjd.

 

San Remos sköna damer beundrar hans figur,

han liknar till det yttre en ung och kraftig tjur.

Och när han knådar degen och sjunger högt i dur,

då ryser det i damer med sinne för skulptur.

 

Min vän, den glade bagarn, som sprudlar av musik,

han har en vacker hustru, som står i hans butik.

Från ungnen langas brödet till disken där hon står,

ju mera bagarn sjunger dess mer hon sälja får.

 

Men om den glade bagarn vill svalka sig nån gång

bland damer i butiken, som lyssnar till hans sång,

då säger hustrun vänligt och klappar bagarns bröst:

”Kom inte ut Florindo, det drar, och du förstör din röst!”

 

 

The cheerful baker of San Remo

 

Lyrics and music: Evert Taube, 1937

 

My friend, San Remo’s baker, who’s cheerful through and through,

ah, if you only knew him, then you’d be cheerful too.

He sings there by the oven his cheerful ritornelle

proud as the opera singer once known as John Forsell.

 

The cheerful baker’s bread is the best bread one can buy,

not even Alingsås with such bread could ever vie.

He sings while he is baking, with joy he pounds the dough,

which makes the bread worth more and the buyer’s pleasure grow.

 

San Remo’s lovely ladies his figure much admire,

his bull-like strong physique does each one of them inspire.

And when he kneads the dough and they hear his merry trills,

Those ladies keen on sculpture feel oh such wondrous thrills.

 

My friend, the cheerful baker, whose tunes will never stop,

he has a lovely wife who stands daily in his shop.

Fresh bread’s tossed to the counter, where she inhales its smell,

the more the baker sings, the more bread she gets to sell.

 

But if the cheerful baker would come into the shop

and join the ladies listening, his wife will tell him stop,

though in a friendly fashion, and pat him on the chest:

‘It’s draughty here, Florindo, your voice knows what is best!’


Try listening to the man himself, or maybe his son Sven-Bertil in a live performance

 

 

Friday, 24 July 2026

G.J.Resink: 'Vrouwenfiguur op een tjandi'

 


 

Vrouwenfiguur op een tjandi

 

Regens zijn aan haar voorbijgegaan,

weerlicht en zon, nachten met volle maan,

schaduwen, wind, - en mensen,

wier vingers langs haar voeten zijn gegleden,

haar wreven van de welving hebben beroofd,

en die hier misschien hebben gebeden

en in andere werelden geloofd.

 

Ik heb haar alleen maar aangeraakt,

haar lichaam afgetast met de gedachte,

dat zij niet door goden is gemaakt,

maar door een mens. En in haar tederste leden

tintelt mijn vingertoppen de druk tegemoet der zachte

handen van iemand van duizend jaar geleden.

 

The word Tjandi or Candi for a temple in Indonesia is a word of Sanskrit origin. The word refers to any religious structure, most often Hindu or Buddhist, with a pyramidal tower.

 

 

Female figure on a candi

 

Rains have for centuries passed her by.

Sheet-lightning and sun, nights of a full moon,

shadows, wind, - and humans,

whose fingers have glided along her feet,

her insteps from their arching have deprived,

and who perhaps for prayer here used to meet,

convinced this world from elsewhere is derived.

 

Only by touch have I ever tried 

to probe and explore her body with the notion

she was not wrought by gods but by

a human. And in her softest parts I sense

my fingertips tingle with counter-pressure, motion

of gentle hands that date from a thousand years hence.

 

 

Wednesday, 22 July 2026

G.J. Resink: 'Avondregen'

 


Avondregen

 

De regen ruist als oerwoud om het huis

en drijft de dieren van het duister binnen,

duizendpoten, spinnen, torren, een muis,

zelfs een visitevlinder, die vriendinnen

voorspelt, waarop ik voor de nacht mijn zinnen

had gezet. Maar de koelte maakt mij kuis

en kinderlijk - ‘o, regen, regen ruis’

en houdt de beesten uit mijn donker binnen.

 

 

Evening rain

 

The rain soughs like a jungle round my house

and drives the creatures of the dark inside,

centipedes, spiders, beetles and a mouse,

even a butterfly to prophesy

some lady friends my senses have supplied

for the night. But coolness my ardour’s doused

and I’m a child – ‘o, rain, rain till I drowse’

and keeps the creatures from my dark inside.