Rolf Jacobsen day

Well, an almost completely non-technical item this time.

Last summer I renewed my acquaintance with the poems of one of Norway's finest modernist poets, Rolf Jacobsen (1907-1994). I remember him quoted as saying, "I like best the words that I can leave out". This statement would strike a chord with every software programmer!

I believe he has been sparingly translated, probably due to the difficulty of transferring the qualities that makes his poems so special: the conciseness, the word rhymes, and some Norwegian language idioms that simply translate poorly, if at all. I found one reference to a collection of translations here, I'll try to chase that one down later.

Nevertheless, I wanted to give it a try of my own, feeling foolishly confident in my ability to translate from my mother tongue to English. So here's my first serious shot at translating Rolf Jacobsen's beautiful "Skytsengelen":

GUARDIAN ANGEL

I am the bird that knocks on your window in the morning,
and your companion, whom you cannot know of,
the flowers that shine for the blind.

I am the blinding crown of glaciers above the forests,
and the ringing voices from the cathedral tower.
The thought that suddenly dawns on you in the middle of the day,
and fills you with strange happiness.

I am someone you have loved, long ago.
I walk next to you in the daytime and watch you incessantly
and lay my mouth on your heart,
but you don't know it.

I am your third arm and your second
shadow, the white one,
the one you cannot bear,
and which cannot forget you.

- from Hemmelig Liv (Secret Life) , (1954)

(I translated it to Dutch as well).

Addendum: Some more research taught me that Rolf Jacobsen is translated more than I had initially thought! After first publishing this, I found Roger Greenwald's translation of the same poem, which seems to confirm that I'm not too far off the mark here.