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Workmen's March
By Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson
(See Note 74)
Left foot! Right foot! Lines unbroken!
Keeping time is power's token.
That makes one of many, many,
That makes bold, if fear daunts any,
That makes small the load and lighter,
That makes near the goal and brighter,
Till it greets us gained with laughter,
And we seek the next one after.
Left foot! Right foot! Lines unbroken!
Keeping time is power's token.
Marching, marching of few hundreds,
No one heeds it, never one dreads;
Marching, marching of few thousands,
Here and there wakes some to hearing;
Marching, marching hundred thousands, -
All will mark that thunder nearing.
Left foot! Right foot! Lines unbroken!
Keeping time is power's token.
Let us march all, never weaken
Time from Vardö down to Viken,
Vinger up to Bergen's region, -
Let us make one marching legion,
Then we'll rout some wrong from Norway,
Open wide to right the doorway.
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 74.
WORKMEN'S MARCH. Published in the third edition of 1890, and
written not long before for the Workmen's Union in Christiania. It
is a plea for the universal franchise and party organization.
Vardö = northernmost, Viken and Vinger = southernmost Norway.
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