A woman with a cat (1910 - 1920)

A woman and a cat photographed by the Finland-Swedish poet Edith Södergran some time between 1910 and 1920. My partial colorization of a photo in the Svenska Litteratursällskapet collection in Helsinki.

Södergran was a cat lover and wrote many poems which included cats. She also photographed a great numer of cats.

In one of her last poems, "There is no one who has time" ("Det finns ingen som har tid i världen"), she writes:

"Och Gud är med i alla sammanhang.
När gumman oväntat mötte sin katt vid brunnen
och katten sin matmor.
Det var en stor glädje för dem båda
men allrastörst var den att Gud hade fört dem samman
och velat dem denna underbara vänskap
i fjorton år."

"And God is present in every context.
When the old woman unexpectedly met her cat by the well
and the cat his housemistress.
That was a great joy for them both
but greatest of all was that God had led them together
and wished upon them this wonderful friendship
that lasted fourteen years."

"Edith Irene Södergran (4 April 1892 – 24 June 1923) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish poet. One of the first modernists within Swedish-language literature, her influences came from French Symbolism, German expressionism, and Russian futurism. At the age of 24 she released her first collection of poetry entitled Dikter ("Poems"). Södergran died at the age of 31, having contracted tuberculosis as a teenager. She did not live to experience the worldwide appreciation of her poetry, which has influenced many lyrical poets. Södergran is considered to have been one of the greatest modern Swedish-language poets, and her work continues to influence Swedish-language poetry and musical lyrics, for example, in the works of Mare Kandre, Gunnar Harding, Eva Runefelt and Eva Dahlgren." (Wikipedia)