Dan Andersson (April 6, 1888 - 1920) was a Swedish poet, who wrote about sailors, emigrants and working folk in general. He also set some of his poems to music, and theyâve been continuously recorded by Swedish and Scandinavian musicians for more than 100 years. Songs like âJungman Janssonâ have been given treatments in pop, jazz, folk and rock settings...
Andersson unfortunately died quite young. He had taken a hotel room in Stockholm while visiting for a job interview with a major newspaper. However the hotel had just sprayed for bedbugs, using Hydrogen Cyanide, and had neglected to air out the room properly afterwards. Andersson and one other guest were found dead in their beds the next day...
Here is a lovely poem of his about spring, written in 1920:
VÀlkommen, o vÄr med din lovsÄng av ljus och solvÀrmda vind kring den ensammes hus. En urgammal spÄdom du skriver som ny med skÀlvande skrift i den eviga sky.
