Here you will find thePoemBergenof poet Bjornstjerne Bjornson
As thou sittest there Skerry-bound and fair, Mountains high around and ocean's deep before thee, On thee casts her spell Saga , that shall tell Once again the wonders of our land. Honor is thy due, 'Bergen never new,' Ancient and unaging as thy Holberg's humor; Once kings sought thine aid,- Mighty now in trade,- First to fly the flag of liberty. Oft in proud array, As a sunshine-day Breaks forth from thy rain and fog wind-driven, Thou didst come with men Or great deeds again, When the clouds were darkest o'er our land. Thy soul was the ground, Wit-enriched and sound, Whence there sprang stout thoughts to make our country's harvest, Whence our arts exist, In their birth-hour kissed By thy nature, somber, large, and strong. In thy mountain-hall Learned our painter, Dahl ; Wand'ring on thy strands our poet dreamed, Welhaven ; All thy morning's gold Ole Bull ensouled, Greeted on thy bay by all the world. With thy sea-wide sway Thou hast might for aye, Fjords of blue convey thy life-blood through our country. Norway's spirit thou Dost with joy endow,- Great thy past, no less thy future great.
