Thesis (doctoral)--Göteborgs universitet, 1981. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement inserted. Summary in English. Includes indexes. Includes bibliographical references (p. 285-294).

Thesis (M.A.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 1975. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2849. Abstract precedes thesis as 6 preliminary leaves. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [50]-51).

Thesis--Stockholm. / Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 144-147) and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Universitetet i Lund, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 409-425) and index.

Thesis (doctoral)--Uppsala universitet, 1985. / Abstract and summary in English. Errata sheet laid in. Includes bibliographical references (p. 185-196) and index.

Sigurd Agrell published six volumes of melancholic and highly stylised poetry between 1903 and 1912, and has since then been largely ignored in 20th century Swedish literary history. His writing shows influences from decadence and symbolism, and his frequent use of the sonnet, as well as other metrical devices, also connects him to an older tradition. In this essay I examine what tradition he belongs to, and in what ways his verse fits in with other writers of the turn of the last century. I analyse poems by Sigurd Agrell in order to identify what themes, motifs and literary techniques he shares with contemopary poets, and in what ways he differs from them. We will see that while Agrell shares many traits with the symbolist movement, he also stands out in certain important respects.

This dissertation examines Lennart Sjögren’s conception of life as revealed through his poetry and other written documents. Light is shed on his writings in three chapters, with an Introduction that opens the investigations, and a Conclusion that sums up the findings. His collection of poetry Ur männisovärlden (2008, From the world of the living) is commented upon in an epilogue. Chapter Two analyses the collection Havet (1974, The Sea), focussing on Sjögren’s view of nature and his imagery. A religious tone can be apparent throughout the poems. In earlier centuries, poems about migratory birds often gained in authenticity via their Christian context. In a secularised age, ecological insights add to the credibility of the poems. Chapter Three is an analysis and interpretation of Sjögren’s collection of poems Fågeljägarna (1997, The Bird Catchers), as well as of the intra- and intertexts that the reader meets in his writings and that, for various reasons, serve to make Sjögren’s poetic voice so distinctive. In a series of subsections the uniqueness of Fågeljägarna is defined by means of a comparison with ecology, secularisation (secularism), nihilism, religion and mythology. In addition, there is a discussion of the “poetry of place” and a final analysis of what unites and divides Sjögren and K. E. Løgstrup, regarding a poetic understanding of life. Independent of the ideological direction that is identi-fied, this cycle of poems is marked by an elegiac mood. The poem “Dagen före plöjarens kväll” (1984, “The Day before the Plough-man’s Evening”) from the eponymous collection of poems is an example of an ekphrasis (a transformation of images). Chapter Four makes a close reading of this poem, for which Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s picture “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” is a model. Four interpretative hypotheses are advanced: a moral, ontological, theological and a folkloristic one. The interpretation of the poem points out that the dialogue is not merely the poet’s private affair – the reader is also invited to take an active part in the discussion, now with the picture and the ekphrasis as prerequisites. The chapter contains a further three analyses of ekphrasis dealing with other poems from the collection Dagen före plöjarens kväll.

In the Anthropocene, a new approach towards nature in poetry is emerging. This change is closely related to ecocritical theory, which is a reevaluation of the human view on, and representation of, nature. It moves away from a more traditional anthropocentric perspective to a more critical one. This can for instance be in the spirit of Arne Naess or Timothy Morton, the two main theorists used in this essay. This essay is an ecocritical close reading of two Swedish contemporary poems on nature: “När jag går i skymningsmörkret” by Ingela Strandberg (from Att snara en fågel, 2018) and “(Strandförskjutningar)” by Gunnar D Hansson (from Tapeshavet, 2017). The focus of the reading is on the representation of wild, untouched nature. The formulated questions in the essay concern how untouched nature is represented in the poems, the human relationship towards it and how the differences and similarities between the two poems relate to and transform romantic representations of nature.  The conclusion is that these two very different poems exemplify the range of contemporary Swedish nature poetry. Strandberg’s poem is leaning towards a romantic or ecosofist representation of nature, whilst Hansson’s is more clear-cut ecocritical in line with Morton’s dark ecology.