Lo, this land that lifts around it
Threatening peaks, while stern seas bound it,
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.
Björnstjerne Björnson (1832–1910) Norway
Translated by Arthur Hubbell Palmer
Source: Poems and songs by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Arthur Hubbell Palmer, The American-Scandinavian foundation, 1915
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