5 Must-Read Norwegian Poems

Norwegian poetry tends to reflect the beauty of its landscapes, blending rugged fjords, mountains, and forests with deep emotional expression. It often explores themes of nature, folklore, and human resilience. Rooted in history yet modern in tone, it captures both melancholy and the timeless connection between humanity and the natural world.

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Gone

by Henrik Ibsen

‘Gone’ by Henrik Ibsen is a sad but moving poem that illustrates the melancholy that arrives after one’s company has departed.

Ibsen was a famous Norwegian writer whose most famous works were written for the stage. These include 'A Doll's House' and 'Rosmersholm,' though he also published a single collection of poems in 1871. Much of his poetry can be found within this book 'Digte'. This poem is an exemplary piece of verse that highlights his interest in domestic life.

The last, late guest

To the gate we followed;

Goodbye — and the rest

The night-wind swallowed.

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Wildflowers and Hothouse-plants

by Henrik Ibsen

‘Wildflowers and Hothouse-plants’ by Henrik Ibsen begins as a defense of an individual’s attraction to another, revealing in the process the beauty standards imposed on women and the splendor of what is arbitrarily deemed ordinary.

Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director, known for his implementation of realism into drama. Although his poetry is lesser known than his incredibly famous works of drama, they exist as a testament to the writer's talent for probing the complexities of human relationships.

"Good Heavens, man, what a freak of taste!

What blindness to form and feature!

The girl's no beauty, and might be placed

As a hoydenish kind of creature."

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Loving Someone You Can't Have

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With a Water-lily

by Henrik Ibsen

‘With a Water-lily’ by Henrik Ibsen is a poem that effuses affection and apprehension in equal measure, revealing a subtle but critical truth about the people we choose to love.

As both a playwright and theatre director, Ibsen ushered in a wave of modernism, eventually earning the title of "the father of realism." He is also the most performed dramatist after William Shakespeare. Apart from his colossal status in the theatre, he is also responsible for equally moving poems such as this one, which capture the tension and wonder at the heart of love.

See, dear, what thy lover brings;

'Tis the flower with the white wings.

Buoyed upon the quiet stream

In the spring it lay adream.

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A Brother in Need

by Henrik Ibsen

‘A Brother in Need’ explores betrayal during the Second Schleswig War, urging unity against adversity with a tone of desperation and hope.

NOW, rallying once if ne'er again,

With flag at half-mast flown,

A people in dire need and strain

Mans Tyra's bastion.

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Mountain Life

by Henrik Ibsen

‘Mountain Life’ by Henrik Ibsen describes a paradise separate from the outside world and that plays host to isolated, peace loving farmers.

IN summer dusk the valley lies

With far-flung shadow veil;

A cloud-sea laps the precipice

Before the evening gale:

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5 Must-Read Norwegian Poems

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5 Must-Read Norwegian Poems

Gone

by Henrik Ibsen

Wildflowers and Hothouse-plants

by Henrik Ibsen

With a Water-lily

by Henrik Ibsen

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