Poem

Jon Fosse

Side by side

ONLY KNOW

the song, the song of the sea
slides down the steep mountains
and across sky

in blue flight, like a shimmering
in towards where we are together
and where we never say anything

and only know

GEWOON WETEN

de zang, de zang van de zee
glijdt neer langs de steile rotsen
en verder langs hemel

in blauwe zweefvlucht, als een schemeren
naar waar wij samenzijn
en waar wij nooit iets zeggen

en gewoon weten

BERRE VEIT

songen, sjøens song
glid nedover dei bratte fjella
og utover himmel

i blått svev, som ei skimring
innover mot der vi er saman
og der vi aldri seier noko

og berre veit

Jon Fosse

(Norway, 1959)

“Flotsam and jetsam” is how the Norwegian author Jon Fosse labels his poetry – something that happens to float past in the course of the writing process. It’s an image that fits with Fosse; he grew up on the banks of the Hardangerfjord, a landscape full of undulating lines, water and wind, rocks and rain. This scenery is a recurring motif in his work.

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Poems of Jon Fosse

ONLY KNOW

the song, the song of the sea
slides down the steep mountains
and across sky

in blue flight, like a shimmering
in towards where we are together
and where we never say anything

and only know

ONLY KNOW

the song, the song of the sea
slides down the steep mountains
and across sky

in blue flight, like a shimmering
in towards where we are together
and where we never say anything

and only know