Lavendel duftende by Unknown — Analysis & Translation

Original Poem

Lavendel duftende knitrende og mjukt. Klærne henger oppe på klesstativet godlukta fulgte med i vasken -nå ligger den på bakken og lengter etter tørk Den glatte handa plukker opp den lille puta og putter den trygt ned i hjertelomma på forkleet Slik var det: Såg deg sjelden du fylte bare mor mi med morslukt Det var kjærligheta det Ho flytta lavendelputa alltid så varsamt Den var der bestandig, djupt inne i klesskapet Stikke handa ned i hjertet og henge morslukta til tørk.

Translation (English)

Lavender scented crackling and soft. The clothes hang up on the clothes rack the good smell followed in the wash -now it lies on the ground and longs for drying The smooth hand picks up the little pillow and puts it safely down in the heart pocket of the apron It was like this: Saw you rarely you only filled my mother with mother's scent That was love She always moved the lavender pillow so gently It was always there, deep inside the closet Stick the hand into the heart and hang the mother's scent to dry.

About the Poet

Unknown (Modern Norwegian Literature)

This poem is part of modern Norwegian literature, which emerged with a strong nationalistic romanticism in the 19th century and evolved into modernism in the 20th century. Notable Norwegian writers include Henrik Ibsen and Knut Hamsun.

Historical Context

Literary Form: Free verse
When Written: Contemporary
Background: The poem reflects on the nostalgic and intimate memories associated with a mother's scent, specifically the scent of lavender, which is a common motif in poetry for evoking memory and emotion.

Sources: https://dikt.org/Morslukt, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_literature

Detailed Explanation

This poem evokes a sense of nostalgia and emotional connection through the imagery of lavender and the scent associated with a mother. The lavender scent is described as soft and comforting, symbolizing the warmth and care of a mother's love. The poem describes the act of hanging clothes on a rack, with the lavender scent lingering from the wash, representing memories that cling and persist. The act of placing a small lavender pillow in the apron pocket symbolizes keeping cherished memories close to the heart. The poem reflects on the rare moments of seeing the mother, yet her presence is deeply felt through her scent, which is equated with love. The lavender pillow is a constant presence, carefully moved and stored, signifying the lasting impact of maternal love and memory. The final lines suggest an intimate gesture of reaching into one's heart to preserve and cherish the mother's scent, highlighting the enduring bond between the speaker and their mother.

Themes

Literary Devices

Word Dictionary

Word	Meaning	Translation	Transliteration
Lavendel	En plante med en behagelig duft	A plant with a pleasant scent	laa-vendel
duftende	som lukter godt	smelling good	duf-tende
knitrende	som lager en sprø lyd	making a crackling sound	kni-trende
og	samt	and	og
mjukt	mykt	soft	myukt
Klærne	tøyene	the clothes	klær-ne
henger	er opphengt	are hanging	henger
oppe	på toppen	up	oppe
på	ved	on	på
klesstativet	stativ for klær	clothes rack	kles-sta-tivet
godlukta	den behagelige lukten	the pleasant smell	god-luk-ta
fulgte	kom med	followed	fulgte
med	sammen med	with	med
i	inni	in	i
vasken	vaskingen	the wash	vas-ken
nå	for tiden	now	nå
ligger	er plassert	lies	ligger
den	det	it	den
bakken	jordoverflaten	the ground	bak-ken
lengter	savner	longs	lengter
etter	for	for	etter
tørk	tørking	drying	tørk
Den	Det	It	Den
glatte	jevne	smooth	glatte
handa	hånda	hand	han-da
plukker	tar opp	picks	plukker
opp	henter	up	opp
lille	små	little	lille
puta	puten	pillow	pu-ta
putter	legger	puts	putter
trygt	sikkert	safely	trygt
ned	nede	down	ned
hjertelomma	lommen nær hjertet	heart pocket	hjer-te-lom-ma
forkleet	forkleet	apron	fork-leet
Slik	Sånn	Like this	Slik
var	ble	was	var
det	det	it	det
Såg	så	saw	sawg
deg	du	you	deg
sjelden	ikke ofte	rarely	sjel-den
du	deg	you	du
fylte	gjorde full	filled	fylte
bare	kun	only	bare
mor	mamma	mother	mor
mi	min	my	mi
morslukt	lukten av mor	mother's scent	mors-lukt
Det	Det	That	Det
kjærligheta	kjærligheten	love	kjær-lig-he-ta
Ho	Hun	She	Ho
flytta	flyttet	moved	flytta
lavendelputa	lavendelputen	lavender pillow	laa-vendel-pu-ta
alltid	hver gang	always	alltid
så	veldig	so	så
varsamt	forsiktig	gently	var-samt
der	på det stedet	there	der
bestandig	alltid	always	be-stan-dig
djupt	dypt	deep	dyupt
inne	innvendig	inside	inne
klesskapet	skapet for klær	the closet	kles-ska-pet
Stikke	sette	Stick	Stikke
hjertet	hjertet	the heart	hjer-tet
henge	opphenge	hang	henge
morslukta	lukten av mor	mother's scent	morslukta
til	for	to	til