150 years have passed since the birth of the poet Einar Benediktsson. In 1892 Einar and Þorleifur H. Bjarnason undertook the publishing of a new journal which they named Útsýn (View). The journal was meant to increase the Icelanders´ knowledge of foreign literature and was scheduled to be published 6 times per year. However, only one issue appeared , dedicated to American writing.  In this issue there are, apart from prose, five translations of poems by Einar Benediktsson, three of which are translations of poems by the romantic poet Longfellow, Einar´s well known translation of the historic poem Hrafninn (The Raven) by Edgar Allan Poe,  and, which is most important, his translation of a part of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. The last one is a free verse poem and Einar´s translation is the oldest example of a free verse poem in the history of Icelandic literature in later years.

 The book can be read here: http://baekur.is/is/bok/000403361/Utsyn