Rocks and Dreams

Lenten thoughts on two poems by Olav H. Hauge

Olav H. Hauge is one of the most beloved and quoted poets in Norway. He saw the beauty and glory in ordinary things and  transformed them into inner realities. He lived in Ulvik by the Hardangerfjord, just a few miles further inland, to the east, along the fjord from where I live. The landscape there is steeper and narrower. The fjord divides into smaller fjord arms, and this causes avalanches to come down in many places. Some of these come most often during certain seasons and have been given names by the inhabitants. When an avalanche comes rushing down, a farmyard or the road or whatever is in its way is hit and buried under dirt, snow, water, and stones. A house might escape the destruction — just about. Such harsh conditions are reflected in Hauge’s poetry. For example, we see this in his poem, “Under the rockfall”: