I.
I, now awake, have dreamt.
Though ‘tis unclear if indeed ‘twas so.
Misty mountains, whose clouds veil
Unseeing eyes, but lift souls, lost souls,
To mythic havens, where hill-gods
And elven goddesses linger and live —
In these lofty godsteads myself I found.
Embraced by the cold breeze,
I, a vagabond, a dreamland roamed
Where naked Nature,
In the fairest form of her unsullied beauty,
Enclosed her towns of mirth,
Her hidden heaths and turfy mounds;
And looked upon her people,
Forever free and independent,
Unbothered by the world without.
She, with the peaceful waves of her pristine shores
Caressing ancient stones on steep slopes,
Slopes grazed by sheep and horses wild —
Verdant were the pastures, and so will they ever be –
She called the sun and moon,
And, hark, they played, and paused,
While anon and henceforth the birds did sing
Above candle-lit barnyards and steeples.
II.
There she was, further up the mighty mount.
Like the nightingale’s, her tale-like song,
Soft and sweet, resounded clear.
Near she was, yet quite afar,
Her melody to me flowed, however,
As river water smoothly runs
Tow’rds valley fields and dale downs.
Enchanted, awe-struck – such was I.
The daughter of the mountain,
Slowly did she reveal herself to me.
Calmly she came,
Forth into the frosty wind,
Her graceful stride ‘gainst the storm.
Elska was she called.
Not even winter’s woes, nor its grinding gales
Could quench her spirit, warm and kind:
For though her ocean eyes may see the deep,
And bore with them the burdens of years,
How yet did they meet mine with friendly gaze,
Captivating effortlessly.
Thus we walked,
Travellers alike,
Down towards the valley vast,
Where spring and summer dance away
The sunlit days.
During my brief stay in Iceland I was able to compose this poem. It is a fragment, a brief vision or dream from the speaker, an idyll; although the speaker is not certain whether it is a dream or whether it is actual reality. The speaker starts off by recounting himself being lost in “a dreamland”, a land which people may recognise as, or connect with, Iceland. All of these happen in Part I. Part II sees the full personification of the land, of Iceland, as Elska, which in Icelandic means “love”. Elska, though introduced and seen only in passing, embodies certain characteristics of Icelandic nature and those of her people. The readers – and the speaker – never really get to know Elska in depth, as it is a fragment of a dream; something that is obscured by the reality of waking up. But the fragmented memories of the speaker of Elska show enough of the essence of her being, but only enough as to leave her to remain as the mysterious being that she is perceived to be. After all, the fragments of our dreams that rest with us upon our waking up are memories most poignant, those which leave us in a state surreal yet wanting — a state that makes us long for the unattainable reality found only in dreams.
Galderbook 