Kvinna i huset
Etter eit halvt livs førebuing
syntest kvinna at ho visste mangt om stjerner,
fjerne stjerner
over eit einsamt hus.
Så kom varslet om storstjerna.
Etter eit halvt livs vonbrot
var det no verkeleg:
Ei stjerne av utenkt styrke
var i koming
og for henne,
for å sprenge grenser og mål.
Kvinna i huset vaska seg
og batt opp håret
i vill hast og spaning
kvifor kvifor
framfor den stumme spegelen.
Spegelen viste henne fram i sanning
som ho var,
medteken og merkt
etter eit halvt livslaup i vent.
Og ho ville og ville ikkje,
men ikkje vart ho spurd.
Vegen bakover
var alt avklipt.
Då den store stjerna nådde fram
og sprengde grenser og mål,
brast òg kvinna
i sin svimre lengselsgrad,
og løystest frå huset for alltid.
All bere-evne vart oppbrukt
i ein sæl sekund.
Hennar andre halve levealder vart
eit glimt,
eit hav av ljos.
The woman in the house
After half a life of preparation
the woman thought she knew a lot about stars,
distant stars
above a lonely house.
Then came the signal of the big star.
After half a life of disappointment
it now became real:
A star of unsuspected strength
was on its way,
was coming for her,
to blow apart limits and aims.
The woman in the house washed herself
and tied up her hair
in frantic haste and expectation
why why
before the mute mirror.
The mirror showed her in truth,
as she was,
worn out and marked
after half a lifetime of waiting.
And she did and did not want to
but she was not asked.
The way back
was already cut off.
When the big star got there
and blew apart limits and aims,
the woman burst too
in her dizzy longing
and was released from the house forever.
All her perseverance was spent
in one ecstatic second.
The second half of her life was
a glimpse,
an ocean of light.
Tarjei Vesaas
(1897-1970)