Barnetro (Part II of II)

In the following verse, entitled, "Mitt hjerte" ("My heart"), the heart's isolation is accompanied by a material and spiritual poverty that has no reference to religion. In the absence of meaningful attachment we find a bleak wilderness of despair with no access to the warmth of bed and childhood security.

Mitt hjerte det er et foreldreløst barn,
det har hverken hjem eller sted å bo,
det har ikke klær, ikke mat og sko,
det har hverken seng eller barnetro.
Det har ingen ro.

My heart it is an orphaned child,
it has neither home or place to live,
it has not clothes, not food or shoes,
it has neither bed nor barnetro.
It has no peace.

The song goes on to elaborate on this theme of separation from childhood. The memory of mother and father having abandoned it, the heart clings to only to the traces of the question that disturbs it . Having once been embedded in the loving grasp of its own progenitors, the heart now aches only after the vague sensation.

Mitt hjerte det er et foreldløst barn.
Det har glemt sin mor. Det har glemt sin far.
Men det spør etter dem overalt hvor det drar.
Og det spørsmål er alt hva det eier og har.
Og det får ikke svar.

My heart it is an orphaned child.
It has forgotten its mother. It has forgotten its father.
But it asks after them everywhere it goes.
And the question is all that it owns and has.
And it gets no answer.

Taking this ache and desolation further to the point of nostalgic gratitude is this song dedicated to a man's mother. Though he claims responsibility for "throwing his barnetro into the fire," his mother has at last abandoned him in death, leaving him to salvage what he can. Expressing regret for growing up too early, he blames himself for depriving his mother of her potential for more.

Min fot gikk egnen nye tider andre mål
din livsgjerning og barnetro kastet jeg på bål.
Nå står jeg selv med ansvaret for nye skudd for de
graver jeg aska etter noe av verdi.

Jeg takker deg for livet og for sanger jeg formår
for matpakka jeg bar i alle lange skoleår.
For alt du ville være, som jeg aldri lot deg bli,
more jeg tror jeg elsker deg mest av alt for de.

My foot went suited to new times and other goals