History & Politics
Master or Slave
Translated by Arthur Hubbell Palmer (1915) · From Poems and Songs (1870; Palmer 1915)
Lo, this land that lifts around it
Threatening peaks, while stern seas bound it,
With cold winters, summers bleak,
Curtly smiling, never meek,
'Tis the giant we must master,
Till he work our will the faster.
He shall carry, though he clamor,
He shall haul and saw and hammer,
Turn to light the tumbling torrent,--
All his din and rage abhorrent
Shall, if we but do our duty,
Win for us a realm of beauty.
Cite this poem
MLA
Bjørnson, Bjørnstjerne. “Master or Slave.” Translated by Arthur Hubbell Palmer. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/bjornson/125/.
Chicago
Bjørnson, Bjørnstjerne. “Master or Slave.” Translated by Arthur Hubbell Palmer. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/bjornson/125/.
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