Or the kernel in some fruit sent by a Persian trader. Perhaps I was a bird and flew all that long way. Perhaps I was a flower then, in the woods, or perhaps a beetle, with its home in some acacia tree. Ah well, I may have been there once before, perhaps, coming from another time and another land, where the woods and the woodland paths were the same. I walked through the woods, touched to the heart, and verging on tears for sheer happiness’ sake, and saying to myself all the time: God in heaven. All just as it is here, with the water still and heavy and iron grey as now. I call to mind a spot on the eastern shores of the Caspian, where I once stood.

When I go by the overgrown path, in through the woods, my heart quivers with an unearthly joy. But I have felt it some time, surely, since I go about now humming a little tune go about rejoicing, loving every straw and every stone, and feeling as if they cared for me in return. Twenty or thirty years, maybe or maybe it was in another life. It is many years now since I knew such peace. Indian summer on the island, mild and warm ah! But there is no sun. Smooth as glass the water was yesterday, and smooth as glass it is again today. Read books online for free at forgottenbooks. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the difficult to read text. For years past he has beett regarded as the greatest of Uving Norwegian turiters, and o ne or two attempts have beett made previously to introduce his work into this country, but it was not until this year 1920, with the publication of Growth of the Soil, that he achįorgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.įorgotten Books’ Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. This article, with some slight alteration, is now reprinted here, the proprietors of that journal having very kindly granted their permission, an act of courtesy which is the more to be appreciated considering the brief time which has elapsed since the original publication. In December, an article on Hamsun, giving a brief general survey of his works, appeared in The Fortnightly Review. Later in the year further interest was aroused by the news that Hamsun had been awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. INTRODUCTORY NOTE T HE publication of Growth of the Soil in the spring of last year 1920 set critics and readers asking for infornlation about the author and his works.

Tales of Love & Loss by Knut Hamsun