ANGST - EMIL AARESTRUP

One of the best Romantic poems in Danish literature was written by the physician and viveur Emil Aarestrup, who was an elegant versifier with a taste for women, and it is about a couple who must take their leave of one another.

The poem has the title "Angst."

ANGST

Hold fastere omkring mig

med dine runde arme;

hold fast, imens dit hjerte

endnu har blod og varme.

Om lidt, saa er vi skilt ad,

som bærrene paa hækken;

om lidt, er vi forsvundne,

som boblerne i bækken.

¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨

ANXIETY

Hold tighter now around me

your round arms in the storm;

hold tight, as long as your heart

is full of blood and warm.

Soon, we two will be parted

like bubbles in the stream,

like berries on the same bush,

like wakened from a dream.

Translated from the Danish by Sandra Dermark