This is the Dream

Photo of Olav H. Hauge by Odd Nerbø BT

Olav H. Hauge is among my favorite Norwegian poets. He writes about the simple and universal with an honest and undecorated voice. This following translated poem from 1966 was first published in Norwegian as part of Hauge's collection Dropar i austavind with the title "Det er den Draumen", and it is now one of the most famous of his poems.

It's the Dream
Drops in the East Wind, 1966

It's the dream we carry in secret
that something miraculous will happen,
that it must happen –
that time will open
that the heart will open
that doors will open
that the rockface will open
that spring will gush –
that the dream will open,
that one morning we will glide into
some little harbour we didn't know was there.