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Rolf Jacobsen (1907-1994) | |
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Norwegian poet and journalist. Jacobsen's career as a writer spanned more than fifty years. He is one of Scandinavia’s most distinguished poets, who launched poetic modernism in Norway with his first book, Jord og jern (1933). Jacobsen's work has been translated into over twenty languages. Central theme in his work was the balance between nature and technology – he was called "the Green Poet" in Norwegian literature. "The special quality of Jacobsen's poetry has to do with his probing examination of the ways of the modern world. He may be critical of what he sees, but the rich implications of his poetic language show that there are no easy solutions, no simple attitudes. At times his language is almost clinical - the poems are simply a list of images, comparisons, contrasts; at times it is filled with compassion and love for the seemingly unimportant and small things around us, without which life would be even more lonely." (Hans H. Skei in Contemporary World Writers, ed. by Tracy Chevalier, 1993) Rolf Jacobsen was born in Oslo (then called Kristiania), as the son of Martin Julius Jacobsen, who had completed both medical and dental school, and Marie (Nielsen) Jacobsen, a nurse. At the age of six he moved with his family to Asnes, where Martin Jacobsen had obtained a post as a school dentist. Rolf was educated by his mother, who had completed one year of teacher's training. In 1920 he moved to Olso and entered a private school. During these years his uncle, who was a railway engineer, looked after him. Jacobson continued his studies at the University of Oslo for five years without graduating. In 1927 he served in the Norwegian army for six weeks. Jacobsen's Jord og jern, written in free verse, introduced the urban world, racing cars, airplanes, and electrical turbines. Because of the choice of his subjects Jacobsen's work was connected to Marineti and futurism, but his view was all but romantic. He did not share futurists euphoria over modern inventions, the beauty of "a roaring motorcar, which runs like a machine-gun," but saw the relationship between machines and human civilization more complex. Jacobsen's diverse literary and other artistic influences included the poetic Edda, Carel Capek's play R.U.R., and Carl Sandburg's poetry. The title of the collection, Earth and Iron, also suggest a cyclic relationship between nature and technology. In 1934 Jacobsen returned to Asnes to take care of his father. He had joined a socialist intellectual group, Clarté, and in Asnes he became a member of the Labor Party Leadership for Hedmark County. In Asnes Jacobsen worked for the daily newspaper Kongsvinder Arbeiderblad, which was supported by Labor. Jacobson's second collection of poems, Vrimmel (1935), revealed his underlying dismay at the modern civilization. Jacobsen rejected Marinetti's manifesto, "We wish to glory war...", but predicted the ominous emergence of the gas masks and machine guns. After Wrimmel Jacobsen was silent as a poet for 16 years. In 1940 Jacobsen married Petra Tendø; they had two sons. When his parents' marriage did not succeed, Jacobsen's own marriage was harmonious. His wife died in 1985 and in his last book, Nattapent (1995), Jacobsen published tender and mournful poems about their life together: "Whoever loves for years / hasn't lived in vain." World War II was a dark period in Jacobsen's life. Norway was invaded by Germany in 1940. Vidkun Quisling, who had close ties with German Nazi leaders, was appointed prime minister by the Germans. Norwegian population remained firmly anti-Nazi. Quisling was later executed for high treason. During the war Jacobsen signed and published in Kongsvinger Arbeiderblad editorials that supported the German occupiers. He was also a member of Norwegian National Socialist party. It is probably true that Jacobsen never accepted the cult of the Führer or the Holocaust. When Norway was again free from Nazi's, Jacobsen was convicted of treason and sentenced to three-and-a-half years at hard labor. He wasn't the only author condemned – the Nobel writer Knut Hamsun was arrested for some time, and transferred to a psychiatric clinic in Oslo. After the war and hardships Jacobsen settled in Hamar, a city about 60 miles north of Oslo. He worked as a bookseller for ten years, and then as a journalist and night editor for the newspaper Hamar Stifstidende. In 1950 he converted to Catholicism, and in 1951, Jacobsen published his third collection of poems, Fjertog. The poems were traditional in form. In this work and in Hemmelig liv (1954), Jacobsen expressed his troubled compassion of the world around him. A new theme was the rough and lonely Norwegian scenery. Jacobsen often expressed ironically his doubts about technology, and praised the blessings of little joys. Sometimes he used humor, sometimes his poems had hymnlike solemnity. In Hamar Jacobsen lived in an old wooden house near Lake Mjøsa and the railroad. These surroundings he also described in his poems. Jacobson's later books include Pass for dørene - dørene lukkes (1972), Pusteøvelse (1975), and Tenk på noe annet (1979). In the course of his long career, Jacobsen received many honors, among them membership in the Norwegian Academy of Language and Literature, the Doubloug Prize (1968), the Grand Nordic Prize (1989) from the Swedish Academy. – Jacobsen died on February 20, 1994. "There is no end to the stars and the wind. For further reading: Encyclopedia of the World Literature, vol. 2, ed. by Steven R. Serafin (1999) Rolf Jacobsen. En dikter og hans skygge by Ove Røsbak (1998); World Authors 1985-1990, ed. by Vineta Colby (1995); A History of Norwegian Literature, ed. by H.S. Naess (1993); Contemporary World Writers, ed. by Tracy Chevalier (1993); 'Interview with Rolf Jacobsen' by Olav Grinde, in South Dakota Review, 21;1 (1982). - Note: quotations from Jacobsen's poems are from Roger Greenwald's translation The Silence Afterwards (1985). - See also Finnish Fururism: Mika Waltari and Olavi Paavolainen. Selected bibliography:
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