Versos English Bj'rnstjerne Martinius Bj'rnson At Michael Sars's Grave

English poem

At Michael Sars's Grave

by

Listen in the reader

(See Note 44) Ever he would roam Toward th' eternal home; From the least life deep in ocean To each gleam of stars in motion, Worth of all he weighed. Now the Lord lends aid. Still he passed beyond, Softly dreaming; fond Nature met him as her lover. God with strength his soul shall cover 'Mid the starry throng Through the spheres' pure song. Even here on earth Harmony's sweet birth— When discovery new truth sunders, When the small reveals its wonders— Filled his soul with song For the ages long. Where his watch he kept, Eyes a hundred swept. Where millenniums sand assembled, Where the tiniest life-pulse trembled, There he sought the clue, Silent, wise, and true. In a water glass Searching he saw pass All the ocean's life; his thinking To unfathomed deeps was sinking; Where lay riddles locked, There he came and knocked. Fair our fatherland, While such faith shall stand! With an eye so true and tender, With a sense so fine for splendor In the small and still,— Great ends we fulfil!