Edith Södergran (1892-1923)

Edith Irene Södergran (1892-1923) was a
Swedish-speaking Finnish poet. She didn't receive
much recognition in her lifetime, but is now regarded
one of Finland's foremost poets. She was one of the first
modernists within Swedish-language literature
and her influences came from French Symbolism,
German expressionism and Russian futurism

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Claude Monet:
'Rouen Cathedral, Full Sunlight', 1894
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'The Hope'

I want to let go -
so I don't give a damn about fine writing,
I'm rolling my sleeves up.
The dough's rising...
Oh what a shame
I can't bake cathedrals...
that sublimity of style
I've always yearned for...
Child of our time -
haven't you found the right shell for your soul?

Before I die I shall
bake a cathedral

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Edith Södergran was a keen photographer...
here her cats were photo models...
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'On Foot I Had to Cross the Solar System'

On foot
I had to cross the solar system
before I found the first thread of my red dress.
I sense myself already.
Somewhere in space hangs my heart,
shaking in the void, from it stream sparks
into other intemperate hearts

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Edith Södergran died on Midsummer Day 1923 - age of 31.
Having contracted tuberculosis as a young teenager the
rest of her life was marked by fits of coughing, long stays
in sanitariums, and long stays in bed. She did not live to
experience the world wide appreciation of her poetry.

Read about her life here

Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller:
'Old Tree in Prater', 1831
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'My Childhood Trees'

My childhood trees stand tall in the grass
and shake their heads: what has become of you?
Rows of pillars stand like reproaches: you’re unworthy

to walk beneath us!
You’re a child and should know everything,
so why are you fettered by your illness?
You have become a human, alien and hateful.
As a child, you talked with us for hours,
your eyes were wise.
No we would like to tell you the secrets of your life:
the key to all the secrets lies in the grass by the
raspberry patch.
We want to shake you up, you sleeper,
we want to wake you, dead one, from your sleep

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Edith Södergran (1892-1923)
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Lauren Tilden: 'March Tree'
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