Benni Hemm Hemm: Saddest Song

As I reconstruct my blog, and get back into a posting routine, I'll start out with something I've been looking forward to sharing. Thanks to friend Thor, of Reykjavík, I now have a translation to share of Til Eru Frae.

          Til eru fræ
Til eru fræ sem fengu þennan dóm
að falla í jörð en verða aldrei blóm
eins eru skip sem aldrei landi ná
og iðgræn lönd er sökkva í djúpin blá

Og von sem hefur vængi sína misst
og varir sem að aldrei geta kysst
og elskendur sem aldrei geta mæst
og aldrei geta sumir draumar ræst

Til eru ljóð sem lifna og deyja í senn
og lítil börn sem aldrei verða menn

(Davíð Stefánsson)

          There are seeds
There are seeds that carry a doom
To fall to earth but never get to bloom
Ships that terra firma never make
And green land the dark seas take

And hope that wingless sorry sits
And lips that never feel a kiss
And lovers that can never meet
And dreams that fade in sad defeat

Some poems at once live and die
And children that never see the sky

(David Stefansson from Fagraskogi
Transl: ©Thorgeir Lawrence, 22 August 2007)


We heard Benni Hemm Hemm in concert in San Francisco, and they sang this poem. They introduced it as the "Saddest Song."  By the way, they will release a new recording this month.  Listen to some of their music here.

I'm feeling guilty about having neglected my blog so long, and also feeling bad about all the elements that I need to reconstruct (links, Icelandic trip journal, and more). So, I am offering free, to the first person who asks, my Benni Hemm Hemm tee. It is a women's size M, and is too small for me. It is more like a size for a junior Viking ... runs pretty small. I'd be happy if another Benni Hemm Hemm fan were to enjoy it!