THE CORRESPONDENCE WITH VERHAEREN
Having written to Gerhart Hauptmann, the German, Rolland almost
simultaneously addressed himself to Emile Verhaeren, the Belgian, who
had been an enthusiast for European unity, but had now become one of
Germany's bitterest foes. Perhaps no one is better entitled than the
present writer to bear witness that Verhaeren's hostility to Germany was
a new thing. As long as peace lasted, the Belgian poet had known no
other ideal than that of international brotherhood, had detested nothing
more heartily than he detested international discord. Shortly before the
war, in his preface to Henri Guilbeaux's anthology of German poetry,
Verhaeren had spoken of "the ardor of the nations," which, he said, "in
defiance of that other passion which tends to make them quarrel,
inclines them towards mutual love." The German invasion of Belgium
taught him to hate. His verses, which had hitherto been odes to creative
force, were henceforward dithyrambs in favor of hostility.
Rolland had sent Verhaeren a copy of his protest against the destruction
of Louvain and the bombardment of Rheims cathedral. Concurring in this
protest, Verhaeren wrote: "Sadness and hatred overpower me. The latter
feeling is new in my experience. I cannot rid myself of it, although I
am one of those who have always regarded hatred as a base sentiment.
Such love as I can give in this hour is reserved for my country, or
rather for the heap of ashes to which Belgium has been reduced."
Rolland's answer ran as follows: "Rid yourself of hatred. Neither you
nor we should give way to it. Let us guard against hatred even more than
we guard against our enemies! You will see at a later date that the
tragedy is more terrible than people can realize while it is actually
being played.... So stupendous is this European drama that we have no
right to make human beings responsible for it. It is a convulsion of
nature.... Let us build an ark as did those who were threatened with the
deluge. Thus we can save what is left of humanity." Without acrimony,
Verhaeren rejected this adjuration. He deliberately chose to remain
inspired with hatred, little as he liked the feeling. In _La Belgique
sanglante_, he declared that hatred brought a certain solace, although,
dedicating his work "to the man I once was," he manifested his yearning
for the revival of his former sentiment that the world was a
comprehensive whole. Vainly did Rolland return to the charge in a
touching letter: "Greatly, indeed, must you have suffered, to be able to
hate. But I am confident that in your case such a feeling cannot long
endure, for souls like yours would perish in this atmosphere. Justice
must be done, but it is not a demand of justice that a whole people
should be held responsible for the crimes of a few hundred individuals.
Were there but one just man in Israel, you would have no right to pass
judgment upon all Israel. Surely it is impossible for you to doubt that
many in Germany and Austria, oppressed and gagged, continue to suffer
and struggle.... Thousands of innocent persons are being everywhere
sacrificed to the crimes of politics! Napoleon was not far wrong when he
said: 'Politics are for us what fate was for the ancients.' Never was
the destiny of classical days more cruel. Let us refuse, Verhaeren, to
make common cause with this destiny. Let us take our stand beside the
oppressed, beside all the oppressed, wherever they may dwell. I
recognize only two nations on earth, that of those who suffer, and that
of those who cause the suffering."
Verhaeren, however, was unmoved. He answered as follows: "If I hate, it
is because what I saw, felt, and heard, is hateful.... I admit that I
cannot be just, now that I am filled with sadness and burn with anger. I
am not simply standing near the fire, but am actually amid the flames,
so that I suffer and weep. I can no otherwise." He remained loyal to
hatred, and indeed loyal to the hatred-for-hate of Romain Rolland's
Olivier. Notwithstanding this grave divergence of view between Verhaeren
and Rolland, the two men continued on terms of friendship and mutual
respect. Even in the preface he contributed to Loyson's inflammatory
book, _Êtes-vous neutre devant le crime_, Verhaeren distinguished
between the person and the cause. He was unable, he said, "to espouse
Rolland's error," but he would not repudiate his friendship for
Rolland. Indeed, he desired to emphasize its existence, seeing that in
France it was already "dangerous to love Romain Rolland."
In this correspondence, as in that with Hauptmann, two strong passions
seemed to clash; but the opponents in reality remained out of touch.
Here, likewise, the appeal was fruitless. Practically the whole world
was given over to hatred, including even the noblest creative artists,
and the finest among the sons of men.