The Church of Hallgrímur

The fairest church in Iceland?

Is it Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavík,
Iceland's biggest church,
on the day of consecration,
embracing its seventeen
hundred in a sacred hour,
the hour of joy?

A church built upon the rock in memory of
the Rev. Hallgrímur Pétursson
(1614-1674), one of Iceland's greatest religious
poets, who from 1656 to 1659 wrote his
internationally known Passíusálmar
(Hymns of the Passion)
on Christ's suffering and death.

Had another poet, Steinn Steinarr (1908-1958),
been among us during this hour he would never,
in his poem "Hallgrímskirkja (model),"
have opposed the plan to build the church:
"State architect!
No more, no more!"