Swedish Poetry 1
ress me a wind Rut Hillarp, from Dina händers eko
n (The Echoes of Your Hands), 1948 Rut Hillarp A refined erotic mysticism, far from the primitive sexual romanticism of the 1930s modernists, characterises Rut Hillarp’s literary production. /Her/ poetry has proved profoundly unsettling – and deeply touching. /…/ The mystical method is of its time, a continuation of Joyce and Eliot for the 1940s. But the way it is applied is entirely Rut Hillarp’s. The flames of desire and self-abandonment, draining the well of the sun, seeking the man and finding the echo, a bow strung tight with expectation. From an article “Hör mitt blod bulta”, by Birgitta Holm in Nordisk kvinnolitteraturhistoria 3 (1996) Rut Hillarp (1914-2003) Dina händers ekon (The Echoes of Your Hands, 1948) With her stated aim of becoming “an erotic genius”, Rut Hillarp was an anomaly in Swedish literature. The temperament of her books is a great deal more intense, and she makes no bones about according theatrical elements considerable space within them. Mythological elements alternate in the poems with a peculiar natural symbolism, in which the world is animated in an erotically suggestive way. Categorical statements dominate, nuance is lacking: what counts is either misery or euphoria. Pain and happiness are accorded equal bargaining room. The poems in Dina händers ekon derive their force from Modernism while being firmly entrenched in the romantic idea of poetry as a transcendental experience. Selected Collections of Poetry: Solens brunn (1946) Dina händers ekon (1948) Båge av väntan (1949) Spegel under jorden (1982) Nattens språk (1995) 23 SWEDISH POETRY