The long, long road
over the moors and up into the forest--who trod it into being
first of all? Man, a human being, the first that came here.
There was no path before he came. Afterward, some beast or
other, following the faint tracks over marsh and moorland,
wearing them deeper; after
these again some Lapp gained scent of the path, and took that
way from field to field, looking to his reindeer. Thus was
made the road through great Almenning--the common tracts without
an owner; no-man's land.
(Knut Hamsun, Growth of the Soil)
---
In old age we are like a batch of letters that someone has
sent. We are no longer in the past, we have arrived.
(Knut Hamsun, source unknown?)
---
A singular sense of confusion suddenly darted through my
head. I stumbled on, determined not to heed it; but I grew
worse and worse, and was forced at last to sit down on a step.
My whole being underwent a change, as if something had slid
aside in my inner self, or as if a curtain or tissue of my
brain was rent in two.
(Knut Hamsun, Hunger)
---
There are emergent, bizarre mental stories, distorted feelings,
quite strange disturbances in the life of the will, for example,
remarkable nervous activities of which science can only posit
the existence.
(Knut Hamsun, Psykologisk Literatur)
---
As one man stopped and set me to rights rather sharply for
my behaviour, I turned round and screamed a single meaningless
word in his ear, clenched my fist right under his nose, and
stumbled on, hardened by a blind rage that I could not control.
(Knut Hamsun, Hunger)
---
In the corridors and galleries choirs of musicians march
by, and rills of perfume are wafted towards me.
I clasp her hand in mine; I feel the wild witchery of enchantment
shiver through my blood, and I fold my arms around her, and
she whispers, "Not here; come yet farther!" and we enter a
crimson room, where all is of ruby, a foaming glory, in which
I faint.
Then I feel her arms encircle me; her breath fans my face
with a whispered "Welcome, loved one! Kiss me ... more ...
more...."
I see from my seat stars shooting before my eyes, and my
thoughts are swept away in a hurricane of light....
(Knut Hamsun, Hunger)
---
It seemed beyond all measure dense to me, and I felt its
presence oppress me. I closed my eyes, commenced to sing under
my breath, and tossed to and fro, in order to distract myself,
but to no purpose. The darkness had taken possession of my
thoughts and left me not a moment in peace. Supposing I were
myself to be absorbed in darkness; made one with it?
(Knut Hamsun, Hunger)
---
I raise myself up in bed and fling out my arms. My nervous
condition has got the upper hand of me, and nothing availed,
no matter how much I tried to work against it. There I sat,
a prey to the most singular fantasies, listening to myself
crooning lullabies, sweating with the exertion of striving
to hush myself to rest. I peered into the gloom, and I never
in all the days of my life felt such darkness. There was no
doubt that I found myself here, in face of a peculiar kind
of darkness; a desperate element to which no one had hitherto
paid attention. The most ludicrous thoughts busied me, and
everything made me afraid.
(Knut Hamsun)
---
It struck five o'clock! Again I sank under the weight of
my prolonged nervous excitement. The hollow whirring in my
head made itself felt anew. I stared straight ahead, kept
my eyes fixed, and gazed at the chemist's under the sign of
the elephant. Hunger was waging a fierce battle in me at this
moment, and I was suffering greatly.
(Knut Hamsun, Hunger)
---
If one only had something to eat, just a little, on such
a clear day! The mood of the gay morning overwhelmed me, I
became unusually serene, and started to hum for pure joy and
for no particular reason. In front of a butcher's shop there
was a woman with a basket on her arm, debating about some
sausage for dinner; as I went past, she looked up at me. She
had only a single tooth in the lower jaw. In the nervous and
excitable state I was on, her face made an instant and revolting
impression on me - the long yellow tooth looked like a finger
sticking out of her jaw, and as she turned toward me, her
eyes wee full of sausage. I lost my appetite instantly, and
felt nauseated.
(Knut Hamsun, Hunger)
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Actually, in my opinion,
a man didn’t have to be insane to be sensitive. There
were people who could be wounded by trifles and whom a single
hard word could kill.
(Knut Hamsun)
---
When good befalls a man he calls it Providence, when evil
Fate.
(Knut Hamsun)
---
"What am I to do in the presence of such gracious, such
overwhelming generosity? I no longer have my feet planted
on the ground, I am walking on air, my head is spinning. It
is not easy to be myself right now. I have had honours and
riches heaped on me this day. I myself am what I am, but I
have been swept off my feet by the tribute that has been paid
to my country, by the strains of her national anthem which
resounded in this hall a minute ago.
It is as well perhaps that this is not the first time I have
been swept off my feet. In the days of my blessed youth there
were such occasions; in what young person's life do they not
occur? No, the only young people to whom this feeling is strange
are those young conservatives who were born old, who do not
know the meaning of being carried away. No worse fate can
befall a young man or woman than becoming prematurely entrenched
in prudence and negation. Heaven knows that there are plenty
of opportunities in later life, too, for being carried away.
What of it? We remain what we are and, no doubt, it is all
very good for us!
However, I must not indulge in homespun wisdom here before
so distinguished an assembly, especially as I am to be followed
by a representative of science. I will soon sit down again,
but this is my great day. I have been singled out by your
benevolence, chosen amongst thousands of others, and crowned
with laurels! On behalf of my country I thank the Swedish
Academy and all Sweden for the honour they have bestowed
on me. Personally, I bow my head under the weight of such
great distinctions, but I am also proud that your Academy
should have judged my shoulders strong enough to bear them.
A distinguished speaker said earlier tonight that I have
my own way of writing, and this much I may perhaps claim and
no more. I have, however, learned something from everyone
and what man is there who has not learned a little from all?
I have had much to learn from Sweden's poetry and, more especially,
from her lyrics of the last generation. Were I more conversant
with literature and its great names, I could go on quoting
them ad infinitum and acknowledge my debt for the merit
you have been generous enough to find in my work. However,
coming from a person like me, this would be mere name-dropping,
shallow sound effects without a single bass note to support
them. I am no longer young enough for this; I have not the
strength.
No, what I should really like to do right now, in the full
blaze of lights, before this illustrious assembly, is to shower
every one of you with gifts, with flowers, with offerings
of poetry - to be young once more, to ride on the crest of
the wave. That is what I should wish to do on this great occasion,
this last opportunity for me. I dare not do it, for I would
not be able to escape ridicule. Today riches and honours have
been lavished on me, but one gift has been lacking, the most
important one of all, the only one that matters, the gift
of youth. None of us is too old to remember it. It is proper
that we who have grown old should take a step back and do
so with dignity and grace.
I know not what I should do - I know not what is the right
thing to do, but I raise my glass to the youth of Sweden,
to young people everywhere, to all that is young in life.
Prior to the acceptance, Professor Oscar Montelius addressed
Mr. Hamsun: ĢI know that you prefer to be talked about as
little as possible; but I cannot refrain from assuring you
that all of us who admire your Growth of the Soil rejoice
in having made your personal acquaintance."
(Knut Hamsun's acceptance speach when accepting the Nobel
Prize in 1920)
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