A Havlandic poem by Mikæl Ravn, written in 1952 and translated into English by Katie Collins in 1989. Gloss provided in the 1992 Norton Critical Edition of Havlandic Poetry by James Glade and reproduced with supplementary context by our editors.
Midnight comes to the roofs
To the ruined palace [1], to the drunks and to the serpentine streets [2]
Midnight comes to the sleeping, to the drowned, to the dancers loud and gay [3]
Midnight does not come to me
To be in the city is to face the locked door, the closed alley
The unwelcome face, the shuttered house [4]
To be in the city is to wander alone
There is no home within the city
There is no home in earth and ash and bone
City takes up living dying breathing crying
Wraps it up in light, light to ward against the dark
Light, tis how you know the night has come
But that light is not for me
My eyes are hungry as I wander these streets
Looking for a sliver of friend or foe
But the lights show me nobody [5]
Give me dark instead, for in the dark [6]
I might run up against an old acquaintance, and pass unknowing
Rather than risk the unturned face
The unanswered word
The unnatural fact that I am singular, indivisible, discrete
Alone [7]
[1] “the ruined palace” - Absalonsborg Slot, the seat of the royal family and the centre of political power in Auldhabn during the royal era of Havland’s history, was burned to the ground by revolutionaries in 1922 when the monarchy was overthrown. [Ed. After the revolution the site was intentionally preserved for historical purposes and the administrative capital of Havland was moved to Orienshabn, which is why it was possible for Ravn to visit the site at night in 1952.]
[2] “serpentine streets” - Likely a reference to the streets in the historic section of Auldhabn known as Kalmartorv, named after the Kalmar Union which colonised the island by around 1400 A.D. [Ed. During that period the city was known as Tandhafn, literally “tooth-harbour”, which may add to the snakelike imagery. Later it would be renamed to Kongenshabn when Havland became an independent kingdom and finally Auldhabn after the revolution.]
[3] “dancers loud and gay” - During the period of HF single-party rule, 10 p.m. curfews were sometimes enforced to maintain civil order during times of material shortage or civil unrest. The last of these periods ended in 1951. As such, nightclubs and night-life in Auldhabn was still a relatively new phenomenon. [Ed. HF refers to the Havlandic People’s Party, or Havske Folkesparti in Havlandic. Despite their name they occupy a centre-right political position, similar to the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Until recently they were the dominant party in Havlandic politics before they were displaced by the Danish Party or Det Danske Parti (DDP) in the 2023 elections. HF ruled as a single-party government during a post-revolution “period of transition” between 1922 and 1955, after which elections were established in the face of persistent pressure from citizens and activist groups.]
[4] “the unwelcome face, the shuttered house” and “there is no home in the city” - Ravn had a famously tortured relationship with his wife, the Englishwoman Elizabeth Algar. The two clashed over Ravn’s conservative and anti-democratic political opinions and would file for a mutual divorce in 1954. [Ed. Despite these conservative tendencies, Ravn was also a republican, unlike some right-wing political figures at the time who looked to a return to royal rule under the Danish model, or directly under the Danish crown. This is possibly why midnight gives solace even to the “ruined palace”.]
[5] Throughout his life Ravn was exceedingly private and had few friends. His polemical articles in the newspapers were published under pseudonyms and he often refrained from discussing politics in person. [Ed. This would change later in his life, see footnote 6.]
[6] While it is unknown if Ravn had already begun work on Mirkenlof at this time, it certainly cannot be discounted. [Ed. Mirkenlof (lit. “love of the dark”) was Ravn’s most famous work, a political and philosophical essay published under his name in 1955 praising “the dark” of Old Havland against the modern, rapacious “light” of modern urban life. It caused an immediate stir in Havlandic culture and is still in print today.]
[7] Ravn would die via a sleeping pill overdose in 1960, eight years after this poem was written. “Midnight in Auldhabn” (Auldhabn-Midnat) was discovered in his private journal by examiners at the University of Auldhabn, to whom he entrusted his literary and financial estate.