Henry Adams Bellows · stanza 10
1923A better burden may no man bearFor wanderings wide than wisdom;It is better than wealth on unknown ways,And in grief a refuge it gives.3 translations are aligned to this passage.
A better burden may no man bearFor wanderings wide than wisdom;It is better than wealth on unknown ways,And in grief a refuge it gives.A better burthenno man bears on the waythan much good sense;that is thought better than richesin a strange place;such is the recourse of the indigent.Byrþi betri berrat maþr brautu at,an sé manvit mikit;auþi betra þykkir þat í ókunnum staþ,slíkt es válaþs vera.A better burden can no man bearon the way than his mother wit;‘tis the refuge of the poor, and richer it seemsthan wealth in a world untried.Hávamál, translated by Henry Adams Bellows, in The Poetic Edda (1923). Public-domain transcription sourced from Project Gutenberg ebook 73533.
A better burden may no man bear For wanderings wide than wisdom; It is better than wealth on unknown ways, And in grief a refuge it gives.
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