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Fjordscene Poetry

Poetry, writing and translations by K-M Skalkenæs

  • English poetry
    • 30 after thoughts (2021)
    • divisive / dismissive / missive (2018)
    • Light Requires Darkness (2018)
    • Seen From a Distance People Lose Their Eyes (2017)
    • Confessions of the Cold Light of Dawn (2014)
    • What Bits of Peace My Life’s Ensured (2014)
    • Poems Inspired by Paintings (2014)
  • Danish poetry
    • De spor man efterlader sig (2017)
  • Translations
    • Edith Södergran
      • Poems
      • The September Lyre
      • The Rose Altar
      • The Shadow of the Future
      • The Land Which Is Not
    • Gustaf Munch-Petersen
      • naked human
      • The Lowest Country
      • Towards Jerusalem
      • Nineteen Poems
    • Edvard Søderberg
  • Info
    • About My Poetry
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    • Poetry
    • Translations

I primarily translate poetry, and primarily from the languages: Danish, Swedish and German – into English.

I originally started translating poetry in order to make the works of Gustaf Munch-Petersen available in English – both so that I could share it with friends (and later, by extension, with the world at large), and as a sort of tribute. After translating his entire oeuvre, I went ahead with translating Edith Södergran in the same manner.

My other translations are more sporadic, and count poems that are meaningful to me – intended to stand on their own as they are.

I try my hardest to maintain the content of the poems without sacrifizing rhyme and meter – but if small alterations of the former are necessary in order to get the latter to work, I may choose to do so. I am, after all, a poet before I am a translator.

Category: Translations

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: Letter From My Sister

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

Letter from my sister.What can letters saywhen I see you!Does the hair not fall lightly around you in golden waveswhen you enterto tell me about your life?Do the awestruck folds of your dress not harden when you leave?The Earth carries […]

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: Spring Mystery

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

Sister,you come like a spring wind to our valleys…The violets in the shadow smell sweetly of fulfillment.I will lead you to the loveliest spot in the forest:Here we will confess to each other how we saw God.

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: The Martyr

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

The martyr is pale.His eyes burn.Pitying he looksdown at you. What do you know aboutwhat swarms here and therewith grim movements,what do you know about your welfare,how does it feel to raise your head freely. He is acquittedwhom the rest […]

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: The Statue of Beauty

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

I saw beauty.It was my fate! It explains everything.How thank for it?Fresh roses, picked with warm hands,I lay every single dayin front of your statueso your smile can find rest.Where do I find rosesthat don’t offend my dreams?It is my […]

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: The Ring

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

Facing the eyes of all the worldsyou must decide…Will you enter the ring…?Nobody enters the ring lightly.The gods come to fetch you –you stepped aside,your hour hadn’t come.When the hour comesyou will give up the heart in your chestand silently grasp […]

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: The Torches

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

I will light my torches all over the Earth.My torch shall standon each and every nightly farmin the Alps, where the air is a blessing,in the tundra, where the sky is melancholy.Oh my torch, shine for the shocked,the teary-eyed, the […]

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: Questions

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

I need nothing but God’s mercy.Through life I go as if intoxicated.– – – – – – – –Oh, you strangely sparkling reality –— is there a bowlfor my few drops of rose oil?

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: The Song About the Ocean

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

Careful, careful,what do you press to your chest?Do they resemble youlike these seas resemblethe ocean that cries in anger? Ocean, ocean,you throw yourself from beach to beachin insatiable longing,you pound during the nighton the iron plates of the Earth till […]

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: On the Stairs of Himalaya

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

On the stairs of Himalayathe great Vishnu sitsdreaming. Infinite is the evening in Himalaya. Whitecladstands the tiny pilgrim in the violet glow.Almighty,take my lifein exchange for just a moment of your dreams…I will see what you want – and perish…

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: The Incantation

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

How shall I speak to you from the depths of my heart?How do the gods cover their words, irresistibly and lightly,how shall I speak, so human weakness doesn’t fell my words?I will speak, so I open up all of my […]

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: Transformation

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

What blessedness on the wind…The kiss of infinity…How my life has changed, how silent it has become,deceitfully silent…Happy fairytale princess,your heart storms wilder than the heart of the ocean.Do one carry in vain this heart in one’s breast?Time, listen to […]

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: The Gods Are Coming…

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

Humans know but little of themselves,they believe they are as poor as they show themselves in life,they know not at all that the gods live in their chests,unrecognized. The gods laugh. Life is theirs.They drive the wagon with the glowing […]

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: The Lament of the Tools

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

For me life sank into blue smoke.I stand up straightwith nothing else above me than the threatening copper sky over which I rule.Why is this burden lifted onto human shoulders?Why does iron armour enclose my heart?Am I not allowed to […]

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: Where Do the Gods Live?

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

Where do the gods live? In my heart,in my worn-out, tenderly intoxicated heart,when the song rises. Oh gods, what is a human capable of in its few moments!I have felt all of your power… Gods, come to me…and I lie […]

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: My Fairytale Castles

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

I visited the philosopher’s houseand understood that he was happy…But my fairytale castlesstandon fragile inexplicable pillars.Oh, fairytale castles,crash, crashinto golden gravelI love you way too dearly – die! I’ll rebuild youtremblingto kill you – way too beautiful.Fairytale castles,once you will […]

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: The Earth Was Turned Into a Pile of Ashes

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

The Earth was turned into a pile of ashes.In garments of penitenceI sit on it in a light mood and dream.Oh my ecstatic dreams!I am strong,for I have arisen from the marble bed of death.Death – I looked into your […]

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: The Chalice of Suffering

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

The chalice of suffering must be grasped by weaker handsand led to paler lips,my victory lips don’t miss it. But – no.In my heart dark giants still sitwith hard fists of stone.Once they’ll step out of their twilight darkness –they […]

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: To The Strong Ones

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

Flee into loneliness! Be men!Do not become dwarfs with crippled limbs.Do not become prisoners with gritted teeth.Do not become sick eagles in bonds and chains.Teach yourselves to stand like firs on the cliffs in the fire of the surf.Teach yourselves […]

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: The Penitent

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

We must make penance in the lonesome forests.We must lights single candles over the moors.We must rise – one after the other. When once we resemble each other like siblingsin force and nobility –then we go to the people.

  • Edith Södergran
  • The Rose Altar
12 Jan, 202012

Edith Södergran: On Foot I Had To Walk Through Solar Systems

Posted By K-M Skalkenæs

On footI had to walk through solar systemsbefore I found the first thread of my red garment.I already sense myself.Somewhere in space my heart hangs,it sprinkles sparks and shake the airon its way towards other endless hearts.

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  • 30 after thoughts
  • divisive / dismissive / missive
  • Light Requires Darkness
  • Seen From a Distance People Lose Their Eyes
  • De spor man efterlader sig
  • Confessions of the Cold Light of Dawn
  • What Bits of Peace My Life’s Ensured
  • Poems Inspired by Paintings
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