Sunday 1 September 2024

Hans Christian Andersen: 'Mørket' (1832) - an adaptation of Byron's poem 'Darkness'

 


Mørket

Efter Byrons: ’Darkness’

 

Jeg drømte - dog en Drøm var det ei ganske!

Udslukt var Solens Glands, og Stjernerne

Gik uden Straaler, uden fastsat Vei

I Mørket i det grændseløse Rum,

Hvor Jorden, som en død og sortgraa Klump

Hang i en Luft, hvor ingen Maane lyste.

Og Morgenstunden kom, gik – kom, men uden Dag.

I denne Jammer glemte Mennesket

Hver Lidenskab, og hvert et Hjerte bad

Allene kun om Eet: om Lyset atter.

Man levede ved tændte Blus – og Throner,

Selv Fyrsternes Paladser, Hytterne,

Hvert lille Skuur, hvor Dyrene fandt Ly,

I Flammer lyste; Byerne blev’ Aske,

Men mens de brændte stod man rundt omkring,

For dog endnu engang at see hinanden.

Man tændte Skovene – men Stund for Stund

De styrtede og svandt – og Stammerne

I Gnister slukkedes – og Alt var sort.

Paa Mandens Pande, hvor hiint Rædselsblus

Som Lynglimt zittred’, læste man kun Rædsel. –

En Deel laae tause, skjulte deres Ansigt

Og græd – en Deel krampagtigt knytted’ Haanden,

Og hviled’ Kinden paa den mens de loe;

Her sværmed nogle om og nærede,

Med hvad de fandt, de sidste Flammebaal,

Vanvittig’ saae de til den mørke Himmel,

Liiglagnet for en uddød Verden her,

Og kasted’ sig igjen i Støvet, bandte

Og hylede i deres Tænders Gnidsel.

Rovfugle skreg’ og flagred’, slog’ med Vingen;

De vilde Dyr kom bævende og tamme,

Og Slangerne i Hobe samled’ sig,

Kom, hvislede, men uden Braad og Gift.

Man dræbte dem til Spise. Snart igjen

Brød Krigen ud, der for en Stund var ophørt;

Sin Føde kjøbte man for Blod, og hver,

Imens han mætted’ sig, sad mørk og harmfuld,

Der var ei Kjærlighed; een Tanke kun

Beherskede den hele Jord og den var: »Død«,

Død uden Hæder. Hung’ens vilde Qval

Aad Alles Indre; Menneskene døde;

Ujordet henlaae deres Kjød og Been;

Den Magre blev et Bytte for den Magre,

Og Hunde anfaldt’ deres egne Herrer;

Kun een blev troe et Liig og afholdt Fugle

Og Dyr og Mennesker fra dette ene,

Til Hungeren afkræftede den selv

Og Liget blev et Aadsel. Dog endnu

Den Intet aad, men under dybe Hyl

Og Jammersskrig den slikkede den Haand,

Der ei gjengjældede med Klap – og døde.

Snart dræbte Hung’ren alle. Ikkun to,

Fra een og samme mægtig Stad, var’ til;

Men de var’ Fjender. Begge traf hinanden

Ved Al’trets halvudslukte Kul,

Hvor det Indviede var til vanhellig Brug

Lagt i en Hob. De greb’ deri;

De nøgne, knokkelmagre, tunge Hænder

Med Zittren rørte kraftesløse i

Den tynde Aske, deres svage Aande

Oplivede den halv udslukte Flamme,

Der spottende belyste dem; og da

Det nu blev klart, de hæved’ Øiet,

Og saae hinanden Ansigt imod Ansigt –

De saae –der lød et Skriig og de var’ døde.

Af Afsky mod hinanden døde de,

Uvidende om hvem af dem det var,

Hvem, paa hvis Pande Døden ridsed: »Djævel.«

– Død, øde, laae den folkerige Verden,

En mægtig Klump, der eied ingen Aarstid,

Og ingen Urter, Træer, Mennesker!

Nei, intet Levende; Alt her var dødt;

Et Chaos af et tørt, et livløst Leer.

Søe, Flod og Verdens-Hav, Alt stod nu stille,

Og intet rørte sig i Dybets Afgrund;

De stolte Skibe raadnede dernede,

Og stykkeviis faldt Masten ned og laae

I Dybet, hvor der nu var ingen Bølger;

De vare døde; Draaben selv var død,

Og Vindene, thi Luften var et Stille;

Og der var’ ingen Skyer meer – thi Mørket

Ei mere brugte dem, – det var nu Alt.

 

 

Darkness

Adaptation of Byron’s poem of the same name

 

I dreamed – though no dream did it seem at times!

The sun’s bright gleam was gutted, and the stars

Were without rays, without their pre-set path

In darkness in the endless tracts of space,

Where Earth hung like a dead and black-grey lump

In air in which no moon afforded light.

And daybreak came and went – but no day came.

And in this misery man now forgot

Each trace of passion, and each heart prayed but

For just one thing: the swift return of light.

Man only lived by what was lit – and thrones,

Even the palaces of princes, huts,

Each shed where animals some shelter found

Now was aflame; where cities turned to ash,

But while they burned folk stood around in crowds

So as to see each other one more time.

They lit the forests, but as time passed by

They dwindled and collapsed – until the trunks

Lay gutted there – and everything was black.

On every brow, where this horrific blaze

Quivered like lightning, all one read was dread. –

Some lay there without speaking, hid their face

And wept – some clenched their fist in great despair

On which to rest their cheek while there they laughed;

And others swarmed around and sought to feed

The final flames with everything they found,

Distraughtly gazing at the leaden sky,

The winding sheet for an extinguished world,

Then threw themselves down in the dust and cursed

Out loud and howled while they did gnash their teeth.

Birds of prey screeched and loudly flapped their wings;

The tame and savage beasts came shivering,

And crowds of coiling, hissing snakes appeared

Possessing though no venom and no bite.

They were all killed for food. And then the war

That for some time had stopped broke out once more;

Man bought his food for blood, and everyone

While eating sat there grim and full of hate,

No sign of love was found; one single thought 

Ruled over all the world and that was: ‘Death’,

Death without honour. Hunger’s savage pangs

Devoured all entrails; human beings died;

Their flesh and bones unburied lay about,

The meagre for each other were now prey,

And dogs attacked their masters unprovoked;

And only one did guard a corpse from birds

And beasts and humans from among them all,

Until from hunger it no longer could

And then the corpse was carrion. And yet

It still refused to eat, emitting howls

And wails of woe, it sought to lick the hand

That now no longer stroked it – and it died.

Soon famine killed all humans. Only two,

Who came from one great city still remained;

But they were enemies. They chanced to meet

At the low embers of the altar stone

Where what was sanctified lay in a heap

For use profane. There they had raked;

Their naked, bony, heavy hands stirred through

With ineffectual quaking movements what

Of ashes still remained, and their weak breath

Brought life back to the half-extinguished flames

That mockingly illuminated them;

And when it thus grew clear, they raised their eyes

And looked directly at each other’s face,

They saw – a cry rang out and they were dead.

Of mutual repulsion they did die,

Not knowing which of them had scratched the name

Of ‘Devil’ on the adversary’s brow.

– Dead and deserted lay the densely peopled world,

A mighty lump where seasons held no sway,

No single plant, tree, form of human life!

No, nothing living; everything was dead;

A chaos of a dry and lifeless void.

Lakes, rivers and great oceans, all stood still,

And nothing stirred within the great abyss;

Proud ships began to fall apart down there,

And one by one the masts collapsed and lay

There in the depths, where waves no longer stirred;

They were all dead, and every drop was dead,

The winds too, for the air was motionless;

And there were no more clouds – for darkness had

No further need of them, since it was all.

 

 

In a letter to Henriette Hanck, completed on 14 Jan. 1832, Andersen mentions ’en Bearbeidelse af Byrons ”the Darkness”, der ret er lykkedes mig’ (an adaptation of Byron’s ’Darkness’ I have been quite successful with).

 

 To see the original poem, go to here.


 

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