You who hold the fire in your heart.txt

You, Who Hold the Fire in Your Heart - Davíð Stefánsson, 1919


You, who hold the fire in your heart,
unhesitant and brave you go
into the abyssal, black darkness,
like a noble hero.
- The bright glow always beams
from the innovator's sacred ember.
Your words, they blaze, and all your blood;
you forge ahead and beat a path.
They do not need to complain of cold,
who know all their songs of the sun.


Alone you climb upwards,
as others fall into the chasms;
you don't retreat, though enemies threaten,
but push your way toward the goal.
Though a spear of death is pointed at you,
you flinch not nor look behind you;
you ask no god for mercy;
the light defeats the dark of night.
Against all evil spirits
you fight alone - making peace.

You charge far ahead of the crowd.
Your poems are cause for love and fear.
You are Hekla, you are Geysir, -
you melt the snow and glaciers cold.
You unleash freedom,
quicken the spiritually destitute,
build a bridge between worlds,
witness to the people a new religion.
To the spirit you build a city of fire.
- You will be immortal.

You are king of arts and poems,
immortal swan of life,
you sing of the good and noble,
you make night into the bright of day,
you offer joy to the crying,
gold to the poor,
relief to those who carry loads,
direction to those who are lost.
The wishing-stones of every nation
you carry in your heart.

And you hear the sacred songs
sound through the darkness black,
smell the scent of withered flowers,
find the hidden flame of frozen hearts.
You see the stars of life shining,
point the people to their light,
quench man's thirsts and desires,
salvage nations from disaster,
you know life's secret laws,
- you hear god's heart beating.

Yours are the lands to the farthest deltas,
rivers, falls, and highest peaks.
Yours are the volcanoes which erupt,
the awesome power of sea and wind,
the scent of red roses,
the greening force of rain and sun,
the heartbeat of happiness,
the breathing of the ideal,
dreamful nights, and bright days,
the gold of the deep, and the blue sky.

- You, who hold the fire in your heart,
still make warmth, and light, though you may die.
Your power increases and your hopes glimmer,
your actions speak, though you are silent.
Men will always see the bright glow
shining through the curtains of dusk.
The fire holds the highest power;
its harvest is one-thousandfold.
Man's soul and the darkness black
would be, without it, dead and cold.