Poetry
Herdedikter
Not translated into English
Lars Huldén · 1973
Synopsis
Poems that take up the old pastoral tradition, that of the shepherds of the ancient poets, in order to bring into it present-day love poems and a sharp social critique. The poet advances in various ironic disguises; the critique works through irony and through detours that do not lessen its force, and attention to everyday things gives thought its material.
Context
The collection belongs to the peak of its author's poetry, in the decade when he was varying classical forms: the following year, another book took up the model of the Greek epitaphs. The themes it brings together, love and the critique of society, recur throughout his work. His humour, his taste for pastiche and his literary allusions, which he himself regarded as a kind of rhyme, had been noted from his debut. There is no French edition.
Who it is for
A collection, in Swedish; it helps to know a little of ancient pastoral poetry to see what the author does with it.
Prizes and reception
A prize-winning collection, which the encyclopaedia of Swedish-speaking Finland counts among its author's main ones.