‘My Self’ by Wergeland (Norwegian poet)

"My soul rejoices in the spring joys of Heaven

and shall partake of the Earth’s.

It glows more intensely than the spring stars, and it

Will soon blossom with the flowers.

Wondrous evening star. I bare my head.

Like a shower of crystals your radiance falls upon it.

There is a kinship between the soul and the stars".

Vigeland on Art

"People want to know 'the meaning'; they do not care about the rest. They want to be able to take out 'the idea' and 'the meaning' and put it back again like a book on a shelf. As though 'the meaning' were the most valuable aspect of a work of art. Look at the grandest of all works of art, Michelangelo's 'Dio crea il sole et la luna'.This work goves the impression of undiluted passion (aside from cracks, and so on) today as before, even though we all know that that was not how the solar system was created. - No, if one cannot allow oneself to be lifted, if one is not capable of being entranced by a work of art, transported by it, then one will never 'understand' it. People usually stand in front of a work of art with a stiff neck, rather than with bowed head. In fact, one must approach a piece of art with the mind of a child. Otherwise you will never understand it".