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Hamar-Made Matches (1877)
By Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson
(See Note 65)
"Here your Hamar-made matches!" -
Of them these verses I sang;
A thought to which humor attaches,
But yet to my heart sparks sprang.
Sparks from the box-side flying
Sank deep in my memory,
Till in a light undying
Two eyes cast their spell on me, -
Light on the fire that's present,
When faith blazes forth in deed.
Know, that to every peasant
Those eyes sent a light in need.
Sent to souls without measure
The flame of love's message broad,
Gathering in one treasure
Fatherland, home, and God.
For it was Herman Anker
Took of his fathers' gold,
Loaned it as wisdom's banker,
Spread riches of thought untold,
Scattered it wide as living
Seed for the soil to enwrap;
Flowers spring from his giving
Over all Norway's lap.
Flowers spring forth, though stony
The ground where it fell, and cold.
Never did patrimony
Bear fruitage so many fold.
Heed this, Norwegian peasant,
Heed it, you townsman, too!
That fruit of love's seed may be present,
Our thanks must fall fresh as dew.
"Here your Hamar-made matches!"
My thanks kindle fast. And oh!
This song at your heart-strings catches,
That kindling your thanks may glow.
The matches hold them in hiding, -
Scratching one you will find
The light with a warmth abiding
Carries them to his mind.
"Here your Hamar-made matches!"
Only to strike one here,
Our thanks far-away dispatches,
With peace his fair home to cheer.
His matches in thousands of houses,
In great and in small as well! -
The light that thanksgiving arouses
Shall scatter the darkness fell.
His matches in thousands of houses! -
Some eve from his factory
He'll see how thanksgiving arouses
The land, and its love flames free.
He'll see in the eyes so tender,
Through gleams that his matches woke,
The thanks that his nation would render,
His glistening wreath of oak, -
He'll feel that Norway with double
The warmth of other lands glows;
The harvest must more be than trouble,
When faith in its future grows.
"Here your Hamar-made matches!"
No phosphorus-poison more!
The bearer of light up-catches
The work of the school before: -
From home all the poison taking,
Hastening the light's advance,
Longings to warm light waking,
That lay there and had no chance.
Extra Info:
TRANSLATED FROM THE NORWEGIAN IN THE ORIGINAL METERS BY ARTHUR HUBBELL PALMER
Professor of the German Language and Literature In Yale University
Note 65.
HAMAR-MADE MATCHES. To this poem Björnson appended a note: "The
founder of Norway's first folk-high-school, Herman Anker, built
later in Hamar a match factory [the first large one in the country],
the product of which was quickly distributed in Norway and offered
for sale on the street with the cry: 'Here your Hamar-made matches!'
The poem is a sort of allegorical comparison of these two 'works of
enlightenment' from the hand of the same man." Herman Anker
(1839-96) studied theology, and after the death of his father, a
wholesale merchant, inherited a very comsiderably fortune, which he
applied mostly to cultural purposes. With O. Arvesen he founded in
1864 the first Norwegian folk-high-school at Sagatun, near Hamar.
Folk-high-schools are schools for adult men and women, where the
instruction aims directly at making good citizens. The method of
instruction is "historical," but the teacher's personality is all-
important in relation to the pupil's individuality. The subjects
are the country's language and history, history of the world,
mathematics and physics, besides the elementary subjects; physical
exercise is also made important. The home of these schools is
Denmark, whence they spread to Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the
Danes in North America. Originated by N. F. S. Grundtvig (see Note
57), who began to plan them early in the nineteenth century as part
of the national restoration of Denmark after 1813-14, the first was
opened in 1844 at Rödding in Jutland. Since 1861 these schools have
received women during the summer, May to August, and men from
November to April. Many were established after 1864, which have
flourished in the country, but not in the cities. Quite a few were
started in Norway, and all were highly successful for some years.
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