Long ago, the Visby defensive walls encircled a city full of merchants and workers, even pirates and enemy soldiers some decades.
But these (summer) days, rosebushes instead encircle you, as does their alluring scent of quiet, gentle romance. Obviously, love is in the Midsommarafton air.
Many thoughts arose, mostly about flowers
SWEDISH LESSON
Midsommarafton
mid (trad.) = middle
sommar = summer
afton = eve
Make sure you stay an inordinate amount of time on the “ms” of sommar, like you’re stuck on a thought right in the middle of your word.
MIDSOMMARAFTON
This mid-summer eve is a Swedish celebration that takes place on the Friday evening closest to the shortest night of the year. That’s tonight!
And so the sun is shining longer on the flower-strewn fields, all gently swaying in a cooling June breeze.
Det går en vind över vindens ängar - Here travels a wind over the wind’s meadow
According to the legends, the magic of this short night helps unmarried girls picture their future husbands in their dreams. First however, they must collect seven different flowers at dusk in complete silence. These wild flowers are then put under their pillows and the girls are off into their motion-picture dreamland.
A bouquet for the van works also, but don’t sleep at the wheel!
Every swede picks flowers on Midsommarafton. The day’s magic is felt in many ways, some very simple, likes spending time in nature and enjoying the almost never ending evening. That of course, brings out the poet and singer out of many sensitive souls:
Och jag ska skriva en sommarvisa - And I will write a summer ballad
Med sol och blomdoft i melodin - With sun and the scent of flowers in its melody
And is there a better setting for such a song than the Visby botanical gardens ?
Jag ville sjunga om Katarina - I wanted to sing about Katarina
Till träklangsflöjter och alcymbal - To the tune of wooden flutes and copper cymbals
This song “Visa vid vindens ängar” was written in 1966 by Swede Mats Paulsson, born in Linköping, just accross the water from Gotland. A great Swedish songwriter who lived to enjoy mid-summer eves all the way until his last in 2021.
Med åren blev hon en dröm en saga - But with the years she became a dream, a fairytale
En ensam vandrares sympati - A lonely wanderer’s comfort
As the poet puts it, ‘tis a bittersweet feeling every year that replaces the Midsommarafton cheer, as once it is passed, the days will get shorter and shorter. Which in Sweden is quite the challenge let me tell you.
Not for children though, they always find creative ways to entertain themselves.
By the way, would any eagle-eyed readers be able to figure out why the song footage is so non-sensical and shaky ?
Classic case of Paulsson being misheard as “pull some!”