This poem, written shortly before his death, was the poet's farewell to
life. The title is characteristic, being a traditional form of greeting
when guards were dismissed from duty and replaced by others.
9. _Georg Stiernhielm_ (1598-1672), philologist and poet, was the
foremost Swedish savant of his time. His noted place among Swedish poets
was won through priority rather than by any great creative genius.
_Hakvin Spegel_ (1645-1714), archbishop of Sweden, was a noted religious
poet, many of whose hymns are found in the present hymn book of the
Church of Sweden.
39-40. The sentiment contained in these lines is fully borne out in the
foregoing poem, _Mitt döda barn_, a touching expression of intense
parental affection.
43-46. Though never suffering actual want, the poet for several years
after his marriage in 1847 made a very meager living as a journalist,
and the lines may be more poetic than true. "During these years his
bread was not infrequently more than scarce, and want was often on the
point of crossing his threshold," says J.A. RUNSTRÖM.
53-56. The poet faintly alludes to an attack of blindness in his youth
which left traces for life.