Swedish Poetry 1
The music is a glass-house on the slope From Toma
s Tranströmer, Den halvfärdiga himlen (The Half-Finished Heaven), 1962 Tomas Tranströmer There is an extraordinary inner disquiet in his poetry, a restrained impatience. And like the Christian poet he is, he always transforms this restrained, enclosed life in nature to a kind of sign. Of what? That time will one day end? That God exists? That Nature, too, is awaiting the Resurrection? Lars Gustafsson, from Strandhugg i svensk poesi (1977) Tomas Tranströmer (1931-2015) Den halvfärdiga himlen (The Half-Finished Heaven, 1962) What characterises the poetry of the Nobel laureate Tomas Tranströmer above all is his inventive use of metaphor. Memorable phrases abound in the form of potent expressions that resemble aphorisms or maxims. Nature is brought to life in his poems by a peculiar kind of animation, and the world is lent mystical features. Astonishment at the mysterious nature of existence is mediated by unpretentious imagery that offers the reader new and astounding insights. Tradition and renewal are equally powerful components in this poetic world that often provides illumination in a kind of wonder at what remains unexplained, although not incomprehensible. All superfluous words have been pared away in these concentrated and condensed poems. In the depth of understanding they show for the individual human being it is taken for granted that humans form part of a wider community. In Den halvfärdiga himlen the tranquil tone is replaced by a greater degree of engagement in poems that open windows onto a larger and richer world. Selected Collections of Poetry: 17 dikter (1954) Hemligheter på vägen (1958) Den halvfärdiga himlen (1962) Klanger och spår (1966) Mörkerseende (1970) För levande och döda (1989) Sorgegondolen (1996) Den stora gåtan (2004) 25 SWEDISH POETRY