A GROUP OF WINNERS--NOVELISTS AND POETS
HEIDENSTAM OF SWEDEN (1916)
PONTOPPIDAN AND GJELLERUP OF DENMARK (1917)
CARL SPITTELER OF SWITZERLAND (1919)
The prize of 1916 has been awarded:
Heidenstam, Verner von, born 1859: “in recognition of his
significance as spokesman of a new epoch in our literature.”[109]
“Sweden’s Laureate” is the name often given to Verner von Heidenstam
who won the prize in 1916. By public, competitive vote of his
countrymen he had been chosen as the most popular poet before he was
accorded this world honor. He is less familiar, by translation in
English, than his compatriot who preceded him in recognition by the
Swedish Academy, Selma Lagerlöf. His plays, novels, and poems are
gaining new appreciation through the translations in recent years by
Charles Wharton Stork, Arthur J. Chater, and Karoline M. Knudsen. He
was born of aristocratic family at the manor house of Olshammar in
Närke, July 6, 1859. As a boy he was never strong; he was shy and
loved to read, especially poetry and hero stories. When he was in
early adolescence, he developed such a condition that lung-disease was
feared and he was sent to the south of Europe for a milder climate.
For eight years he was away from Sweden, spending time in Italy,
Switzerland, Greece, Turkey, and Egypt. Some of his ancestors had
been in governmental positions in the Orient; he was lured by the
picturesqueness and freedom of these lands.
His first ambition was to be a painter; for a time he was a student
of Gêrome in Paris. Critics have often recognized this quality of
the painter’s skill in his poems, in selection of objects and colors
and in reproduction of life in Paris, in Italian carnival days, and
at Damascus. While Heidenstam was still a young man, he fell in love
with a Swiss girl of the people and married her. At an old castle of
Brunegg, estranged for a time from his parents, he lived in seclusion,
seeing few people except his wife and August Strindberg who had become
deeply interested in the young poet. Already he had decided that
literature, not art, must be his profession. He wrote many poems that
were gathered later as _Pilgrimages and Wander-Years_. In _Thoughts in
Loneliness_ one may read expressions of his moods of longing for home,
mingled with resentment against injustice. “Childhood Scenes” is an
example, beginning:
I’ve longed for home these eight long years, I know.
I long in sleep as well as through the day!
I long for home!
I seek where’er I go, not men-folk, but the fields
Where I would stray,
The stones where as a child I used to play.[110]
There are sundry references to his mother; a line that will arouse
sympathy reads,
She prayed my life might have a worthy goal![111]
In the poem, “Fame,” he is melancholy and laments:
You seek for fame but I would choose another
And greater blessing:
So to be forgotten
That none should hear my name;
No, not my mother.[112]
The death of his father, in 1887, called him back to Sweden; here,
with intervals of travel, has been his residence through his mature
life. A volume of his _Poems_, following those of _Pilgrimages and
Wander-Years_, increased his reputation among his countrymen. They
were of diverse types; some were emotional like “A Man’s Last Word to a
Woman”; others were scenic and dramatic narratives, like “The Forest of
Tiveden” and “The Burial of Gustaf Fröding.” The lyrical quality in his
songs adapts them to community singing; his “Sweden” is most familiar
and has been compared by Mr. Stork to John Masefield’s “August, 1914.”
The vibrant quality is strong; the patriotism is appealing:
Oh, Sweden, Sweden, Sweden, native Land!
Our earthly home, the haven of our longing!
The cow-bells ring where heroes used to stand,
Whose deeds are song, but still with hand in hand
To swear the eternal troth thy sons are thronging!
In later poems, as well as prose essays, Heidenstam has shown ardent
liberalism and a spirit of brotherhood. “Singers in the Steeple”
emphasizes
Not joy to the rich, to the poor men care;
Our toil and our pleasure alike we share.
_Poems_, published in 1902, contain appeals for democracy and universal
suffrage, in the verses, “Fellow-Citizens,” and other lines. Like
his predecessor, Björnson, he is both national and universal in his
idealism. With honor and love he has written the elegy of Björnson as
“Norway’s Father,” with the closing lines:
Yet the soul of the people deep within
Still breathes the eternal brother-song,
We stand and gaze at the sunset long
And grieve for thee as one of our kin.[113]
Verner von Heidenstam must be included on the lists of novelists as
well as poets. In 1889 he published his first romance, _Endymion_, a
new treatment of an old theme. With a painter’s glow of fancy he sought
to depict, through a love story of moderate interest, the atmosphere of
the East, when it is clouded by restraints of Western civilization. He
had registered rebellion against the growth of naturalism in fiction:
in _Pepita’s Wedding_ (1890) he urged idealism, and search for inner
truth. The term, “imaginative realist,” which has been used to classify
Heidenstam, is especially applicable to the fantastic, emotional
tale, _Hans Alienus_ (1892). As writer of fiction, however, the name
of Heidenstam will always be linked most closely with _The Charles
Men_ (_Karolinern_)--stories of Charles XII and his wars--a series of
prose-poems depicting Swedish heroism, written with fervor and artistic
finish. A translation by Charles Wharton Stork, with introduction
by Fredrik Böök, has been added to the _Scandinavian Classics_
(American-Scandinavian Foundation, New York, 1920). Among the best of
several dramatic tales are “French Mons,” “The Fortified House,” and
“Captured.” Like Rolland, Heidenstam is a pacifist yet he has written
a vigorous tribute to this “King who lived his whole life in the field
and died in a trench,” the man who was a genius in war but, like his
heroic men, gentle as well as brave, with lofty visions.
Other romances followed this major work, _The Charles Men_--tales
and folklore, sagas and modern applications in _Saint George and the
Dragon_, _Saint Briggitta’s Pilgrimage_, and _Forest Murmurs_. In
fiction and essays the writer has attacked naturalism that “lets the
cellar air escape through the house.” Some of his significant essays
are collected as _Classicism and Teutonism_. It is unfortunate that
so few of his works are adequately rendered into English. He has
contributed to liberal and reform journals. In 1900, marrying for a
third time, he bought a home near Vadstena, the place of his childhood,
and with his wife, a woman of broad culture and social charm, he has
exerted a wide influence upon Swedish life. In 1912 he was elected a
member of the Swedish Academy which honored itself, as well as him, by
the award of the Nobel prize four years later, after his candidacy had
been urged throughout Scandinavia and elsewhere.
Among his verses had been delightful “Cradle Songs”; he had written,
also, juvenile stories. He was asked by the Swedish educational
authorities to write a Reader for school use. He calls this “a work of
love.” Without the originality and glamour of Miss Lagerlöf’s books,
_The Wonderful Adventures of Nils_ and its sequel, this Reader contains
some absorbing tales of heroism, and poems and scenes of descriptive
merit. For older youths and adults he has embodied poetic legends with
modern teachings in two plays, translated into English by Karoline M.
Knudsen, _The Soothsayer_ and _The Birth of God_ (Boston, 1919, 1920).
The first play is located upon “An Arcadian Plain” with Apollo, the
Soothsayer, the Fates, and Erigone, wife of the Soothsayer, as leading
characters. There are sentences of subtle humor about “a man in love,”
and more serious counsel of Apollo, with modern meaning:
Son of dust!
Thou didst try to serve two gods; therefore, thy power became thy
doom!
_The Birth of God_ is founded upon Egyptian mythology, with symbolism
in the words of Dyskolus, an Ancient, to a modern merchant, A Stranger,
comparing “the altar-fire and the sacred hymn,” when “divine destiny
had not been forgotten,” with humanity of less pure standards.
_The Tree of the Folkungs_, translated from the Swedish into English
by Arthur J. Chater (New York, 1925), is a romance, mingling history,
sagas, fantasy, pageantry, action, and modern interpretation of some
of the deeds and ideals of the Vikings. It has been compared to _Peer
Gynt_. Two distinctive parts of the book, welded into one story, are
“Folke Filbyter” and “The Bellbo Heritage.” The elemental character
that gives title to the first part is Earl Birger, sacrificing to all
gods in adversity and pulling down all altars in days of prosperity.
He opposes the dynasty of the Folkungs but he ends his days in squalor
and piteous craving for the love denied him by his sons and grandsons,
a lesson to moderns of the futility of material miserliness. The second
section of the strange, impressive tale deals with the fortunes of the
Folkungs two hundred years later and the conflict between two brothers
and their differing standards, King Valdemar and Junker Magnus. The
latter considers his older brother a “good-hearted, sunny-eyed fool,”
compared with his own masterful ways. This legendary romance-pageant
has scenes of dramatic power--the battle between Valdemar and Magnus,
the love of the minstrel for an outcast maiden, and many customs of
historical and imaginative past. It is an elaborate, well constructed
revelation of Heidenstam’s imaginative insight and vigor, united with
his skill in interpreting the _past_, in history and sagas, to the
problems of the _present hour_. He is, in truth, “the herald of a new
epoch in our literature.”
HENRIK PONTOPPIDAN
The prize of 1917 has been awarded one half to:
Pontoppidan, Henrik, born 1857: “for his profuse descriptions of
Danish life of today.”[114]
The Swedish Academy had sprung several surprises in the awards of
the first fifteen years but they surpassed all previous records, in
1917, when the honor was divided between Henrik Pontoppidan and Karl
Gjellerup of Denmark. Danish writers, in general, were less known by
translation in France, Italy, England, and America than their neighbors
of Sweden and Norway. Outstanding exceptions are Hans Christian
Andersen and Georg Brandes. The Danish Royal Theatre was recognized
in contemporary life as an educational force; such playwrights of
earlier and later days as Holberg, Oehlenschlager, and Edward Brandes
had been studied by dramatic scholars in many countries. Bergström’s
play, _Karen Borneman_, translated by Edwin Björkman, is discussed by
Barrett H. Clark in _A Study of the Modern Drama_.[115] Another play
by Bergström, _Thora van Deken_ (1915) was a dramatization of a novel
by Pontoppidan.
An interesting note, regarding the reaction to this joint award
of 1917, is found in the _American-Scandinavian Review_.[116] The
first comment is upon the ages of the recipients--both were past
sixty--“another veteran medal” for writers whose productivity is
past. In addition, says the editorial writer, “Neither has mastering
genius that would entitle him to the prize.” Pontoppidan is the better
known; he stands for progress that will not forget tradition. Vilhelm
Anderson, literary historian, has said of Pontoppidan’s writings,
“Modern Denmark could be reconstructed entire from his books.” The
family had scholars, among them a bishop, Eric Pontoppidan, of the
seventeenth century, who published the oldest Danish grammar in Latin.
Henrik Pontoppidan was born at Frederica in Jutland, in 1857. His
grandfather and father had been clergymen. While he was a schoolboy the
family moved to Randers where he remained until he went to Copenhagen,
to the Polytechnic Institute, to study engineering. He made a visit
to Switzerland where he had his first love affair and wrote his early
sketches. In 1881, in Denmark, appeared _Clipped Wings_, a collection
of stories of which “The Church Ship” excels in imagination and
dramatic concentration, the mystical mingling with the realistic. In
1891 he lived for a time at Ostby but a few years later, after his
second marriage, he moved to Copenhagen where he has been a noted
leader in educational and literary life, a friend of Brandes and an
adviser of the younger dramatists and novelists. He has been called
an imitator of Ibsen; an echo of some of the melancholic effects of
_Brand_ and _Ghosts_ may be seen in Pontoppidan’s tales but he is
distinctive in his methods of portrayal. He is criticized sometimes as
narrow and localized, without spiritual vision.
A trilogy of novels (1892-1916) presents scenes and characters in
the rural life of Denmark. The first book, _The Promised Land_, is
depressing, strongly realistic in its hero, Emanuel, called by some
critics “a prose Brand.” It is a tale of disillusionment, a revelation
of the struggle of idealists in this world of material ambitions. It
is written with care--three years was devoted to it--and the note of
sincerity is marked. The second novel, _Lucky Peter_, to which the
author devoted four years, is partly subjective. The hero, like his
author, was son of a clergyman and studied as an engineer. _The Kingdom
of the Dead_, written during the war years, reflects such influences
with a stronger tone of patriotism than is dominant in the author’s
other tales; it is loosely constructed but it gives clear glimpses
of Copenhagen, both in city streets and outlying districts. _The
Apothecary’s Daughter_ has been translated by G. Nielsen (London, 1890).
In an English edition of Pontoppidan’s stories, _The Promised Land_
and _Emanuel, or Children of the Soil_, translated by Mrs. Edgar
Lucas, with several illustrations by Nelly Erichsen (London, 1896),
the illustrator explains the author’s purpose in the chapters of _The
Evolution of the Danish Peasant_. He has chosen a disturbing period in
educational and religious life after the Danish peasant was transformed
from a slave to a citizen, by the act of 1849. Political parties, “The
National-Liberal” and “Friends of the Peasants,” were formed and high
schools were established. Then, by a revision of 1866, the liberties of
the peasants were again threatened and despair settled on their minds.
In two remote villages, Veilby and Skibberup, prototypes of the places
where the author had lived and taught for a time and knew the people,
he has portrayed their customs and revolts in a vivid, descriptive
style.
In some of his short stories, like “Eagle’s Flight” and “Mimosas,”
Pontoppidan reveals himself at his best as narrator. He is deeply
interested in educational progress for his people; he urges freedom
from hypocrisy and weak compromises. Idealist in his aspirations and
photographer of Danish life in town and country, he is an author whose
writings will be appreciated as the years add to their interpretations
and translations.
KARL GJELLERUP
The prize of 1917 has been awarded, one half to:
Gjellerup, Karl, born 1857, died October 13, 1919: “for his
many-sided, rich, and inspired writing with high ideals.”[117]
Like Pontoppidan, Karl Adolf Gjellerup was the son of a clergyman. He
was born at Roholte in 1857. To please his father he studied for the
ministry, and took examinations in theology, but he was not willing to
accept any parish. He was deeply interested in “modernist doctrines”
and became a disciple of Darwin, Georg Brandes, and Spencer. Later he
recanted from some of these teachings and became less radical and more
historical in his studies. He delighted in the Eddas and had a natural
flair for literature even before he became a professional writer. He
has lived much of his life in Dresden, where his popularity seems to be
greater than in his home country. Said the commentator on Gjellerup, in
the _American-Scandinavian Review_,[118] after the prize was divided
between him and Pontoppidan in 1917, “his appointment has been
received with marked coolness in Scandinavia.”
As a writer, Gjellerup has traveled far afield for his subjects. He
has written books on art and music; he is an ardent Wagnerian and
has studied many aspects of this influence, as his writings testify.
He has tried his hand at plays in which he sought to reconcile the
modern spirit of Christianity with the Greek love of beauty. It is not
a new theme--nor is there much distinction in his treatment. He has
translated, in modern Danish language, several tales of the Eddas and
old Norse sagas. By translation into English he is known especially by
two stories, _The Pilgrim Kamanita_ and _Minna_; other novels, typical
of his style are _An Idealist_ and _Pastor Mons_, with satirical and
photographic passages.
_The Pilgrim Kamanita_, translated by John E. Logie (London and New
York, 1912), is subtitled _A Legendary Romance_. It is laid on the
banks of the Gunga, when Lord Buddha visits the “City of Five Hills”;
there is graphic description of locusts and coral trees and blossoms
in the grove of Krishna. The text is from Byron’s _Don Juan_--“This
narrative is not meant for narration”--an indication of its imaginative
quality. The opening pages are brilliant with colorful passages,
“billowy clouds of purest gold,” blossoming gardens and terraces and “a
long line of rocky eminences, rivaling in colour the topaz, amethyst,
and the opal, were resolved into an enamel of incomparable beauty at
this City of the Five Hills.” Kamanita was the son of a merchant in
the land of Avanti, among the mountains. He was rich, well educated,
could sing and draw, could color crystals and “tell whence any jewel
came.” At twenty he was sent on an embassy of business to King Udena in
Kosambi. Here began his “Pilgrimage” in love and memories that form the
trail of this story. Mysticism, and esoteric philosophy are _mixed_,
rather than _blended_, with realism.
_Minna_, the novel translated into English by C. L. Nielsen (London,
1913), has Dresden for its background. There are songs from Wagner and
music by Chopin and Beethoven, interspersed with the tale of Minna
and her tragic life, after her _mariage de convenance_. In a note,
dated Dresden, August, 1912, the author confesses, “I have often
felt a homesick feeling for the Danish _sund_.” He adds that he has
been reading Thomas Moore’s _Irish Melodies_, bequeathed to him by
his deceased friend, Harald Fenger. This love story, in manuscript
form, was entrusted to Gjellerup before Fenger died in London, after
he had lost “Minna” and developed a fatal illness of the chest. With
these memories before him, he narrates this romance of the hero who
comes into the country, near the Elbe and, crossing the ferry, meets
a pretty governess and Lisbeth, whose chief distinction was that
of wearing a veil, “at a time when veils are out of fashion.” The
character of Minna is revealed largely through letters with emotional
tones. There are disillusionments as well as emotional joys in this
tale, justifying the motto chosen from Moore’s line, “To live with them
is far less sweet than to remember them.”
The Nobel honor to Gjellerup was appreciated much in Germany because
his influence upon art and literature had been strong, especially
in Dresden. He interpreted, to Danish readers, certain factors in
German life and philosophy. While his Danish compatriots recognize
his scholarly work, his literary insight, and subtle wit, they do not
rank him as a genius nor essentially as a Danish writer. Some leaders
in that country would have much preferred to be represented, among
Nobel prize winners, by a versatile, world-honored writer like Georg
Brandes, or a playwright like Bergström (before his death in 1914)
or a poet like Drachmann (before his death in 1908) or a writer of
localized scenes but broad vision like J. V. Jensen. There are elements
of poetic insight and analytical skill in the romances by Gjellerup;
and translation into English will increase appreciation of his literary
influence.
CARL SPITTELER
The prize of 1919 has been awarded:
Spitteler, Carl, Switzerland, born 1845; died 1925; “having
especially in mind his mighty epic _Olympischen Frühling_.”[119]
Another small country and an author, little known outside France and
Germany and his own land, was the choice for the award of 1919--Carl
Spitteler of Switzerland. There was no prize given in 1918, in
literature. In spite of the fact that Nietzsche had written of
Spitteler as “perhaps the most subtle æsthetic writer of Germany,”[120]
his name was not familiar to international readers. Born in Liestal,
a canton of Basel in 1845, he was nearly seventy-five years old. His
work had been idealistic in trend, thus fulfilling one condition of the
prize; his epic for which he was honored had been completed fourteen
years before--_Olympian Spring_. He had suffered from disappointments
and lack of appreciation by critics until his later years. He had never
lost his zeal for literature and desire to promulgate ideals of truth
and freedom.
He was fortunate in opportunities for travel and study as a youth.
His father was in the post-office service at Basel and later was
Secretary of the Treasury at Berne. While at Basel University, Carl
Spitteler came under two influences of lasting results on his life
and writing--Wilhelm Wackernagel, the German philologist, and Jacob
Burckhardt, the historian of the Italian Renaissance. He loved
music, especially Beethoven, and showed taste for art. Later he went
to the Universities of Zürich and Heidelberg, to study history and
jurisprudence. He took courses in theology--thinking he might be a
minister--but decided wisely that his bent was towards philosophy
and literature. His ambition was to become an epic poet; he essayed
to write _John of Abyssinia_, _Atlantis_, _Theseus and Heracles_ but
he pushed aside these pioneer efforts as puerile. For eight years
he was tutor in Russia, in the family of a Russian general. While
there, he was writing slowly the poem that he had planned in student
days at Heidelberg, _Prometheus and Epimetheus_. It was issued first
under the pseudonym of “Felix Tandem” and ten years later with his
own signature.[121] His Prometheus is “an exalted soul,” suffering
rather than proving untrue to his spiritual ideals. By contrast is his
brother, Epimetheus, receiving Pandora’s gifts and material honors but
losing his soul until he recalls Prometheus from exile, to drive away
“the powers of evil.” There is depth of philosophy mingled with modern
ideas in this poem of grace and beauty. He was charged with imitating
Nietzsche’s _Also sprach Zarathustra_ so he wrote a pamphlet, _My
Relations with Nietzsche_, emphasizing his ignorance of the latter’s
work when he wrote his poem on Prometheus.
He continued his teaching in Switzerland at Berne and at Neuenstadt,
spending thirty hours a week in the classroom; then he did some
journalistic work at Basel. In 1883 he married and soon after
published _Extramundana_, in which he told, in verse, cosmic myths of
the history of creation. A collection of his lyrics, _Butterflies_
(_Schmetterlinge_), excel in rhythm and love of nature. In 1891, he
inherited a small fortune; from that time he was relieved from routine
teaching and writing; he went to Lucerne where the scenic beauty
increased his literary inspiration. He experimented in various forms--a
series of essays known as _Laughing Truth_ (_Lachende Wahrheiten_),
with irony and earnestness mingled, a prose idyl, _Gustav_, and
a juvenile _Mädchenfeinde_, translated by Mme. la Vicomtesse Le
Roquette-Buisson as _Two Little Misogynists_ (New York, 1922). There
are clever illustrations by A. Helene Carter. This is an amusing tale,
perhaps more appealing to adults than to children readers by its
subtle wit and modern educational problems; but it is entertaining
and lively. Two boys, aged ten and nine, Gerold and Hänsli, “fine,
healthy boys,” are returning to a military school after a vacation.
If only some great event might save them--a flood or earthquake or
epidemic among the teachers, or “a declaration of war.” Their feelings
towards the girls, Theresa and Marianelli, are natural and amusing.
There is irony in the warning given to Gerold lest “he should think
for himself,” a process that is both popular and unpatriotic, as many
people consider.
After the publication of some poems as _Balladen_ in 1905, Carl
Spitteler wrote _Imago_, which he declared was “an explanation of
Prometheus and Epimetheus--what really happened.” “Prometheus shows
what a poet made of it.”[122] Autobiography, as in many of his books,
reappears in the young man, Victor, the poet in _Imago_; in the
discussion or analysis of Frau Doktor and German womanhood, the author
has shown the _provincial_ attitude, in many conditions of life outside
Germany as well as within.
_Der olympische Frühling_, which is known by translation as _Olympian
Spring_, was the mature expression of Spitteler as poet. It appeared
from the press at intervals from 1900 to 1905. It has five parts,
with more than thirty cantos, written in iambic couplets. Four lines,
describing Apollo, from _Olympian Spring_, have been freely translated
by Thekla E. Hodge:
Threefold is thy royal crown of fame:
Thou hast conceived it: that shows thy lofty aim.
Thou hast dared it: that tells the hero’s valor.
Thou hast achieved it: from thousands thou art chosen.
The poem mingles classic mythology with satire, contemporary problems,
humor and idealism. With high praise, it has been called “The Divine
Comedy of the New Century.”[123] It has been compared to Shelley’s
_Prometheus Unbound_, to Keats’ _Endymion_ and other epical poems.
Ananke, ruler of the universe, is a vitalized character from mythology
who imprisons the gods in Erebus. He permits them to start on a journey
to visit the distant world while Moira, daughter of Ananke, gives
springtime and peace to the world. Their joy is turned into discord and
suffering as they come near;--
And from the yawning cleft the echoes’ thunder rolled,
For aye no spot on earth but witnessed grief untold.
The blue flower of Memory has a vital part to play. The angels chant
their message of hope, their assurance of “a coming morn” when cocks
will crow at the advent of a Saviour, and Part I ends in a climax of
idealism. The “Winning of Hera,” Queen of the Amazons, and the choice
of Herakles as wanderer on the earth, suffering any tortures for the
sake of Truth, are larger themes in Part II. Marguerite Münsterberg has
made an interpretive translation of parts of this epic poem which won
for its author the Nobel prize.[124] There is drollery and satire, as
in the plan of Aphrodite to lead mankind away like children, and the
frustration by rain and burlesque features. The poetic climaxes are
vigorous and the complete work is masterly and epical.
Spitteler is often ranked as representative of German literature in
Switzerland, in company with Gottfried Keller, Conrad Meyer, author
of _The Monk’s Marriage_, and Joseph Victor Widman, author of _Saints
and Beasts_. He showed influences, in prose and verse, of Goethe and
Schiller but he had originality in his approach to his subject and
its treatment. He endured much loneliness of spirit from neglect of
his literary messages and from political bitterness. During the war
he urged the neutrality of German Switzerland and so lost favor with
the people who had stimulated and encouraged him; in return he gained
popularity in France and was given the greeting of the French Academy
when he was seventy years old. His poems vary much in tones and
measures; there are musical _Bell Songs_ (_Glockenlieder_, 1906) and
light, joyful _Butterflies_ of earlier years. In the later _Ballads_
he often struck a note against commercialism, with a ring of robust
idealism in behalf of spiritual values, and denunciation of those
“Prudes to the bone”--
For what of old our fathers virtues made
They’ve chaffered for in markets or betrayed.
The death of Carl Spitteler at Lucerne, in the current year,
revived interest in his life and writings, and evoked recognition
of his influence towards revival of the best in classicism, and his
aspirations for freedom and sincerity in modern life and letters.
Among many tributes to the work of this poet a few may be cited from
the monograph, compiled by Eugen Diederichs Verlag in Jena, translated
for this book by Thekla E. Hodge. Michael Georg Conrad, often compared
with Spitteler as a leading exponent of modern German literature,
writes: “The marked superiority of Spitteler over his contemporaries
in the realm of _belles-lettres_ is due to his brilliant creative
genius, and the rare combination of deep feeling and keen humor.”
Widman, another author-critic, writes of _Prometheus_: “In this poem
he blends poetry with religion (mythology) and thought (philosophy).
Unfortunately, we can draw no comparison for nothing like it is found
in literature.” The same critic is enthusiastic about the poems,
_Butterflies_ (_Schmetterlinge_). “The fate of these wondrous little
creatures, whose transformation has ever brought to the human mind a
mysterious and touching symbolism, was wrought by the poet’s touch into
scenes of dramatic tragedy, and irresistible charm.”
Several commentators have stressed the qualities of vigor and
grotesqueness, combined with idyllic poetry in the epics and lyrics by
Spitteler. One of the most sincere tributes was that of Romain Rolland,
written soon after he had received the Nobel prize and before that
honor was given to Carl Spitteler. He regrets that it was not bestowed
upon the Swiss writer and adds: “Spitteler is to my mind the greatest
European poet, the only one today who approaches the most famous names
of the past.... Strange blindness of the world to pass by the living
flame of the genius of the most inspired poet without even divining its
splendour.” The award of 1919 was the fulfilment of Rolland’s desire.
FOOTNOTES:
[109] Inscription with the Nobel Prize Award in Literature, 1916.
[110] _Sweden’s Laureate: Selected Poems_ translated by Charles Wharton
Stork, New Haven, 1919. By permission of Yale University Press.
[111] _Ibid._, “Mother.”
[112] By permission of Yale University Press.
[113] _Sweden’s Laureate: Selected Poems_, translated by Charles
Wharton Stork, New Haven, 1919. By permission of Yale University Press.
[114] Inscription with the Nobel Prize Award in Literature, 1917.
[115] New York, 1925, p. 27.
[116] Vol. VI, p. 109.
[117] Inscription with the Nobel Prize Award in Literature, 1917.
[118] Vol. VI, 1918.
[119] Inscription with the Nobel Prize Award in Literature, 1918.
[120] _Carl Spitteler_; monograph compiled by Eugen Diederichs Verlag
in Jena.
[121] _Studies from Ten Literatures_ by Ernest Boyd, New York, 1925.
[122] _The German Classics_, edited by Kuno Francke, New York, 1914,
_Carl Spitteler: Life and Works_, Vol. XIV, pp. 493-515.
[123] _Contemporary Review_, January, 1920, article by J. G. Robertson.
[124] _The German Classics_, edited by Kuno Francke, New York, 1914,
Vol. XIV, p. 515.