(1764-1826)
Jens Baggesen was born in the little Danish town Korsör in 1764, and
died in exile in the year 1826. Thus he belonged to two centuries and to
two literary periods. He had reached manhood when the French Revolution
broke out; he witnessed Napoleon's rise, his victories, and his fall. He
was a full contemporary of Goethe, who survived him only six years; he
saw English literature glory in men like Byron and Moore, and lived to
hear of Byron's death in Greece. In his first works he stood a true
representative of the culture and literature of the eighteenth century,
and was hailed as its exponent by the Danish poet Herman Wessel; towards
the end of the century he was acknowledged to be the greatest of living
Danish poets. Then with the new age came the Norwegian, Henrik Steffens,
with his enthusiastic lectures on German romanticism, calling out the
genius of Oehlenschläger, and the eighteenth century was doomed;
Baggesen nevertheless greeted Oehlenschläger with sincere admiration,
and when the 'Aladdin' of that poet appeared, Baggesen sent him his
rhymed letter 'From Nureddin-Baggesen to Aladdin-Oehlenschläger.'
[Illustration: Jens Baggesen.]
Baggesen was the son of poor people, and strangers helped him to his
scientific education. When his first works were recognized he became the
friend and protégé of the Duke of Augustenborg, who provided him with
the means for an extended journey through the Continent, during which he
met the greatest men of his time. The Duke of Augustenborg meanwhile
secured him several positions, which could not hold him for any length
of time, nor keep him at home in Denmark. He went abroad a second time
to study pedagogics, literature, and philosophy, came home again,
wandered forth once more, returned a widower, was for some time director
of the National Theatre in Copenhagen; but found no rest, married again,
and in 1800 went to France to live. Eleven years later he was professor
in Kiel, returning thence to Copenhagen, where meanwhile his fame had
been eclipsed by the genius of Oehlenschläger. Secure in the knowledge
of his powers, Oehlenschläger had carelessly published two or three
dramatic poems not worthy of his pen, and Baggesen entered on a violent
controversy with him in which he stood practically by himself against
the entire reading public, whose sympathies were with Oehlenschläger.
Alone and misunderstood, restless and unhappy, he left Denmark in 1820,
never to return. Six years later he died, longing to see his country
again, but unable to reach it.
His first poetry was published in 1785, a volume of 'Comic Tales,' which
made its mark at once. The following year appeared in quick succession
satires, rhymed epistles, and elegies, which, adding to his fame, added
also to the purposeless ferment and unrest which had taken possession of
him. He considered tragedy his proper field, yet had allowed himself to
appear as humorist and satirist.
When the great historic events of the time took place, and over-threw
all existing conditions, this inner restlessness drove him to and fro
without purpose or will. One day he was enthusiastic over Voss's idyls,
the next he was carried away by Robespierre's wildest speeches. One year
he adopted Kant's Christian name Immanuel in transport over his works,
the next he called the great philosopher "an empty nut, and moreover
hard to crack." The romanticism in Denmark as well as in Germany reduced
him to a state of utter confusion; but in spite of this he continued a
child of the old order, which was already doomed. And with all his
unrest and discord he remained nevertheless the champion of "form," "the
poet of the graces," as he has been called.
This gift of form has given him his literary importance. He built a
bridge from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century; and when the new
romantic school overstepped its privileges, it was he who called it to
order. The most conspicuous act of his literary life was the controversy
with Oehlenschläger, and the wittiest product of his pen is the reckless
criticism of Oehlenschläger's opera 'Ludlam's Cave.' Johann Ludvig
Heiberg, the greatest analytical critic of whom Denmark can boast,
remained Baggesen's ardent admirer; and Heiberg's influential although
not always just criticism of Oehlenschläger as a poet was no doubt
called forth by Baggesen's attack. Some years later Henrik Hertz made
Baggesen his subject. In 1830 appeared 'Letters from Ghosts,' poetic
epistles from Paradise. Nobody knew that Hertz was the author. It was
Baggesen's voice from beyond the grave, Baggesen's criticism upon the
literature of 1830. It was one of the wittiest, and in versification one
of the best, books in Danish literature.
Baggesen's most important prose work is 'The Labyrinth,' afterwards
called 'The Wanderings of a Poet.' It is a poetic description of his
journeys, unique in its way, rich in impressions and full of striking
remarks, written in a piquant, graceful, and easy style.
As long as Danish literature remains, Baggesen's name will be known;
though his writings are not now widely read, and are important chiefly
because of their influence on the literary spirit of his own time. His
familiar poem 'There was a time when I was very little,' during the
controversy with Oehlenschläger, was seized upon by Paul Möller,
parodied, and changed into 'There was a time when Jens was much bigger.'
Equally well known is his 'Ode to My Country,' with the
familiar lines:--
"Alas, in no place is the thorn as tiny,
Alas, in no place blooms as red a rose,
Alas, in no place is there couch as downy
As where we little children found repose."