Norway's Quiet Hour
after Henrik Wergeland
in the stillness of a summer evening the sun’s last rays upon the fjord’s dark face a lone boat drifts without a sound its occupant lost in thought or perhaps asleep the water’s edge a tangle of seaweed and worn stones the air thick with the scent of salt and damp earth
in this quiet hour the nation’s struggles seem far away the cries of rebellion the din of war fade into the distance as the stars begin to appear one by one like diamonds in the vast expanse of a sky that stretches out to meet the sea and in this peacefulness a sense of longing stirs a yearning for a time when life was simpler when the land and its people were one
I took from Henrik Wergeland his fascination with Norway's natural landscapes and his use of long, winding lines to create a sense of breathless urgency, and applied it to a more subdued and introspective tone. I aimed to capture the stillness and quiet of a summer evening in Norway, while still evoking the land's profound influence on the human spirit.