Non Serviam is a 1945 poetry collection by the Swedish writer Gunnar Ekelöf

Gunnar Ekelöf

Gunnar Ekelöf was a Swedish poet and writer. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1958. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy by Uppsala University in 1958...

. The title comes from the Christian phrase "Non serviam

Non serviam

Non serviam is Latin for "I will not serve". The phrase is generally attributed to Lucifer, who is said to have spoken these words to express rejection to serve his God in the heavenly kingdom....

", which is Latin for "I will not serve" and is attributed to Lucifer

Lucifer

Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...

. In the poems Ekelöf criticises the contemporary political climate of Sweden; in the titular poem he describes himself as "a stranger in this land", and in the satirical poem "Till de folkhemske" he attacks the Folkhemmet

Folkhemmet

Folkhemmet is a political concept that played an important role in the history of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Swedish welfare state. It is also sometimes used to refer to the long period between 1932-76 when the Social democrats were in power and the concept was put into practice...

concept.

A sculpture by Ernst Nordin, with the name Non Serviam, stands at Malmskillnadsgatan 25 in Stockholm since 1980, and features the first four lines of Ekelöf's poem.