In my experience, one of the best ways to appropriate the basics of a foreign language, is to read a lot of poetry and children’s literature. The two blend nicely in ”Snemand Frost” (Snowman Frost), a poem by beloved poet Halfdan Rasmussen (1915-2002). With this simple – albeit tragic! – love story I would like to wish you all a happy Valentine’s day!
The text itself should be pretty straightforward. Søndersø (’Southern Lake’) is the name of several Danish sø|er (lake|s). The Copenhagener poet might have had Søndersø in North Zealand in mind. kyssed’ is a poetic shortening of kyssede, ’kissed’. (The final e isn’t pronounced in the spoken language anyway. Likewise, ha’ is a written representation of the way [at] have, ’[to] have’ or ’[to] keep’, usually sounds.) Here we go:
Snemand Frost og Frøken Tø
gik en tur ved Søndersø,
fandt en bænk og slog sig ned,
talte lidt om kærlighed.
Snowman Frost and Miss Thaw
Took a stroll at Søndersø,
Found a bench and settled down,
Talked a bit about love.
Snemand Frost, som var lidt bleg,
spurgte: ”Må jeg kysse dig?”
Men da frøken Tø var varm
smeltede hans højre arm.
Snowman Frost, who was a little pale,
asked: ”May I kiss you?”
But as Miss Thaw was hot
His right arm melted.
Da han kyssed’ hendes kind,
svandt han ganske langsomt ind.
Da han kyssed’ hendes mund,
blev han væk i samme stund.
When he kissed her cheek
He shrank quite slowly.
When he kissed her mouth
he was gone at the same moment.
På en bænk ved Søndersø
sidder stakkels frøken Tø.
Snemand Frost er smeltet op.
Hun må ha’ ham i en kop!
On a bench at Søndersø
poor Miss Thaw is sitting.
Snowman Frost has melted away.
She has to keep him in a cup!
