A Nation of Poetry
Iceland, it seems, is full of hidden poets. When they’re not at their jobs, many of the island’s 340,000 citizens try their hand at writing p【小题1】. Even David Oddsson, who used to be the country’s prime minister, is a well-known poet.
There are a【小题2】 businesspeople, zookeepers and scientists, among others, who share a love for poems. Kari Stefansson is a world-famous biologist. He talked about a poem he wrote a few months after the birth of Dolly the cloned（克隆的）sheep. “I f【小题3】 a little bit sad,” said Stefansson. “One of my ways to deal with that is to write a small poem.” He went on to recite the poem: “Where do I find, lost in the brightness of a sunny day, / The happiness of an unhappy man; / Fortunate only to be one copy of himself. / Everything else is terrible.”
Literature professors in Iceland agree that poetry has b【小题4】 a national pastime. It’s part of being an Icelander. In earlier times, writing poems was a key part of social gatherings. National competitions were regularly h【小题5】.
Icelanders are also great poetry readers. Books of poetry are very popular in Iceland. Far more poetry books are published in the country than o【小题6】 types of books.
It is believed that the cold weather and long winter nights may have something to do with Icelanders’ love of poetry. “It’s easy to get bored in Iceland. People often try to amuse each other,” said Sveinn Egilsson, a literature professor. “And one of those recreational（娱乐）a【小题7】 is reading poetry and writing poems.”
