Two Poems by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

The Hare and the Fox

The fox lay still by the birch-tree’s root
In the heather.
The hare was running with nimble foot
O’er the heather!

The fox laughed low by the birch-tree’s root
O’er the heather.

I am so happy for everything!
Hallo! Why go you with mighty spring
In the heather.
The hare dashed to him with reckless foot
O’er the heather?

Poem originally published in Synnøve Solbakken in 1857

The Dove

I saw a dove fear-daunted,
By howling storm-blast driven;
Where waves their power vaunted,
From land it had been riven.
No cry nor moan it uttered,
I heard no plaint repeated;
In vain its pinions fluttered —
It had to sink, defeated.

Poem originally published in Halte-Hulda in 1858

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About the Author:

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer and laureate of the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature.