River Falls journal. [volume], January 10, 1901, Image 8

About River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019

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NORWEGIAN LITERATURE.
(An essay delivered before the Hudson Nor
den Aid Society New Year’s Eve by K. Ovre.
guard, a student in the River Falls Normal
published by request of his friends.]
We stand tonight on the verge of
the nineteenth century, ready to en
ter the unknown realm of the twen
tieth, and as we can scarcely escape
the solemnity of the impression of
passing from the labyrinth of the old
into the palace of the new we collect
our thoughts to take a retrospective
survey of the evolution of tne human
intellect and the results developed by
the genius of men.
Once more in the book of eternity a
new blank page is opened, but no one
knows what will be written upon it.
What strains and strophes of unwrit
ten verse pulsate thi ugli my sou)
as 1 think of the bright moon steal
ing silently out of one century into
another, while it glides smoothly over
the mountains towering up behind
the ancient house in which I was
born! As you are contemplating,
listen with me for a moment: We
may hear the sound of distant church
bells; wafted by the arctic wind across
the glistening glaciers and foaming
seas, reechoed and reenforced by the
grotesque mountain giants from a,
far away land across the sea. It is ■
Norway, the land of our fathers, ,
rock-bound Norway, ensconced by the i
ocean, buttressed by the rugged coast,
periodically bathed In the midnight i
sun. It is in remembrance of the |
songs and stories of her sons and •
daughters that we shall consecrate j
these few minutes In which I am per- ■
mitted to speak to you. Our affec- |
tion for Norway Is not only because it
is our fatherland but more because
her poets sing In a racy homelike '
tune recognized and loved by her j
children abroad.
The Norwegian isa modern nation. |
It is yet in the springtime of life, |
wiiile the visions of imagination are]
clear and vivid. During the fopr
centuries that Norway was united
with Denmark,king rule was so gentle
that the Norwegian people having a
limited Nobility with which to con
tend fell into a political and literary
slumber. The vital, active and ad
venturousspirit of the vikings seemed
to have departed from the Norse
people; but, when the receding waves
of the French Revolution broke the
ties and shook the boundaries of the
nations of Europe, and when the
powers forced Denmark to relinquish
Norway as a mere province toSweden,
then the Lion of Norway began again
to breathe.
In 1811 the Norwegian nation was
regenerated when the Eidsvold as
sembly gave it a constitution which
made Norway a free, self-existing,
Indivisible, and independent king
dom, united with Sweden under the
same king. As with an individual, •
soalsowitha nation, it seems as if
at different periods of its existence !
its intellectual life shows itself In-:
different ways. With reference to '
literature. Norway Is at present what
Germany was a hundred years ago:
and what America was fifty years ago.
but when Norse literature appeared
on the world’s stage it came with the
force, strength and thought which
characterized the revived viking.
Prior to 1811, Norway, being obliged
to send her students to Copenhagen
participated with Denmark In intellec
tual life. But as soon as Norway
could begin to educate her students
at home In its own national univer
sity, built in 1811, her writers began
to celebrate the virtues of the free
and independent peasant, and to
glorify the fjords, rocks and water
falls of their native land. Two dis
tinct parties were formed, the clash
of whose arguments may still be
heard.
Heinrich Wergeland, born at Kris,
tiansand, in 1808, may be designated
the first distinct Norwegian poet of
modern literature Wergeland was a
son of a patriotic clergyman, but had
imbibed the views of Rousseau, and
the poem, ' The Creation, Man and
Messiah," asagigantic lyrical drama
expressing the fermentation of the
French ideas of the Eighteenth cen
tury, Though lengthy and not well
arranged, it contains passages of
groat majesty and beauty: and the
author was hailed as the first expo-:
nent of a distinctly Norwegian liters-|
ture. Wergeland. a man of large
stature, had a marked personality,
and used his great abilities in promot- '
ing the education and welfare of the:
common people. Being strictly
Norse, he distinguished himself in op
posing everything having a Danish
origin. Some of his best productions
were: "The Jews,” which poems con
tributed much to the admission of
the Jews to the count ry. He was the |
help and counselor of the poor and
oppressed. Wergeland became the
leader of the political party called the
Ultra-Norweglana. It was through
his Influence that the seventeenth of
May. the date of the adoption of the
Norwegian constitution, was made a
national holiday. His zealous labors
in poetry and prose did not cease til)
hie death which occurred in 1845.
Johan Sebastian Welhaven, born at
Bergen in 1807, began his literary ca
reer in a sharp attack against what
he considered immature in the works
of Wergeland. Those who gathered
themselves to his standard distin
guished themselves as •■lntelligence.”
He maintained that a national litera
ture could not be constructed from
nothing, and that for many years
; Norway must depend on Denmark
i for art, culture and literary style, but,
, that she In time, by studying her an
j tlquities and giving expression to in
\ dividual life, would be able to de
i velop a culture of her own.
One of Welhaven’s first works was:
! "The Dawn of Norway,” a series of
■ sonnets in which he pointed out what
was partial, low and obscure in the
| national life. His writings caused a
j tremendous sensation. “Intelll
; gence” rallied around Welhaven,
while Wergeland and his adherents
shouted ‘ Treason!” Welhaven con
tinued his career as author and uni
j versity professor until his death, in
1873. By his lectures on Danish liter
ature, and his romances, founded on
\ popular tradition, he proved himself
: faithful to those principles which he
had advocated as the leader of “Intel-
: llgcnce.”
Andreas Munch, born at Christi
ania In 1811, and professor in the uni
versity of Christiania, wrote poetry
and dramas through which a mild,
soft and often doleful air prevails.
His poems of “Sorrow and Consola
tion” are dear to all Scandinavians.
His prose masterpiece is the History
of Norway.
The two fcreatesl poets of the North
are the Norwegians, Bjornson and
Ibsen. The former is an idy lie writer
of stories, songs, and dramas for his
people: the latter is the author of the
most remarkable psychological plays
ever portrayed by pen, or presented
upon the stage. Ujornstjerne Bjorn
son, the son of a Clergyman, was born ,
among the barren Doyre Mountains
in 1832, and removed with bis parents, ■
at the age of six to Komsdal. the re
glon of all Norway most celebrated .
for its beauty. To this may be at-!
tributed Bjornsen’s magnificent des-i
criptionsof natural scenery. In his i
early years he became a passionate j
admirer of Wergeland. He com- |
menced his life’s work by writing >
poems and dramas, but his first im-1
portant book was “Synnove Solbak- :
ken,” a story of peasant life which ;
captivated the hearts of his country-1
men. It was followed by other tales, I
poems and dramas, of which some are !
“Arne,” “A Happy Boy,” “The Fish
ing Girl,” and “The Bridal Air.” |
These storlesare true representations j
of the life and manner of thinking of |
the peasant. The Scandinavians!
then refrained from the materialistic j
spirit of the southern European [
lands. They perceived the muddy j
streams of the outside world and tried j
to keep pure the rivers of the North. I
Bjornson was the first to imbibe the j
foreign modern spiritual sentiment, I
and was for a while disliked by some |
for tills very reason. He read every I
variety of work, in every language, j
and he thus describes the influence: ’
“I am Norseman. I am human. Of ■
late I have been subscribing myself, I
j Man." Ills latest dramas, therefore
are full of the broadest humanitari
ianisrn. His modern plays are: “The
Bankrupt.” “The Editor,” “The
King.” The best of his later novels
is a profound and exquisitely written
story called “Dust.” Among the
shorter compositions of Bjornson,
the most remarkable is the mono
logue,” Bergllot” presenting the la
mentations of a chieftain's wire over
her murdered husband and son. Per
sonally, Bjornson is a genial giant,
with a charming and joyous presence.
He is the most eloquent and convinc
ing political orator in Norway.
Henrik Ibsen, the dramatist of pes
simism, was born at Skien, in Nor-
I way, In 1828. At a nearly age he had
| association with people of high stand
ing, but his father became a bank
| rapt, and the boy worked in one men-
I ial capacity after another. He was
' 22 years old before he had means, or
■ leisure, for study. His desolate
i youth, in which he did not have
I enough to eat, unquestionably soured
his disposition For many years he
toiled unsuccessfully as a newsoaper
publisher, a theater manager, and a
writer of poems and dramas which
were misunderstood. At the time o f
the Schleswig-Holstein troubles
lie fell into a profound melancholy,
tiecause Sweden and Norway failed to
stand by Denmark in that war. De
nouncing his countrymen for this,
lie turned his back on his native land,
and has since lived in Dresden, Mun
Ich, or Italy. He is always received.
In a public way in any city where he
happens to reside. Ills powerful and
gloomy dramas have at last brought i
him fame and fortune; and we are
proud to acknowledge him as our own.
His best known dramas are “Brand,” j
' PerGynt;” "A Model Home" or“Et
Dukkebjem; "The Pillars of Society;" |
"Apparitions;” “Hedda Gabler;" and
"Little Eylof.” Like the early
Romanticists he insists on each man's
right to live, think and act as he 1
please* His dramas have caused an
Intellectual tumult throughout
Europe, (
1 would hardly be Justified in closing
this essay without calling your atten
tion to Jonas Lie. I must confess,
that he is my favorite story-teller, j
Being raised by the sea, influenced
and environed by the same life,
■ thought elements and sceneries as he,
I I cannot but fall into a literary ec
i stacy, when I sit down to read his,
I almost by me experienced, stories,
| poetically interwoven with descrip
i tions of landscapes, which 1 have be-
■ held in their various array of nature.
His works; “Den fiemsynte,” ‘ The
! Future,” “The Pilot and his Wife,”
! and his socalled “Eventyre,” are as
i salt to the literary world.
Not only Europe, but also thiscoun
try has already begun to drink from
the literary fountains of the North,
and. a« the Norse anthers will be bet
ter understood, it is destined to do so.
even more in the future. When
students in the eastern universities
study Norwegian for the sake of
reading Bjornson and Ibsen, it should
put you to shame, who are of Norwe
gian descent, if you do not read them
in the original tongue. This modern
Norse literature could not possibly
have sprung from a race of mere shep
herds and fishermen, but, though in
fluenced by these, its origin is due to
the free democratic spirit in its
strength and purity, reenforced by all
the elements which nature of the
North can exhibit in the form of
beauty, romanticism, and majesty.
Norway offering the best conditions
to produce great authors and high in
tellectual life, is today, politically,
socially and intellectually, among the
leading nations of the world.
May we, as Norwegians in this land,
not misrepresent her by low aims
and mean conduct. May we love,
cherish, prosper by, and be loyal to
her songs, whether secular or sacred.
Then shall we, in the next century,
see even more glorious things than
those that have appeared to us here
tofore.
QUARRIES OF OLD EGYPT.
Where Stone For Pyramids of the
Desert Wn» Procured.
On the way to Philae and the head of
the cataract, a short distance south of
Assouan, we come upon the ancient
quarries which supplied the granite
for the columns, statues and obelisks
throughout Egypt for many centuries.
An obelisk which we saw lies in its
native bed. It is 93 feet in length, ami
three sides have been carefully cut.
but for some unknown reason it was
never separated entirely from tW par
ent rock. The surface bears the tool
marks of the workmen. The grooves
in it show that it was to have been re
duced at the sides. It vans supposed
that the stone was split from its bed
by drilling holes in the rock and filling
them with wooden wedges, which were
afterward saturated with water, the
swelling wood furnishing the power.
From Illustrations in the temples it is
clear that these great monuments were
floated down the river on tlatboats and
rafts and then carried inland by arti
ficial canals or dragged overland by
thousands of slaves. In one o? the
tombs at Beni-Hassan is a picture Il
lustrating the process. The great stone
is loaded upon a huge sled drawn by a
multitude of workmen. One man is en
gaged in pouring water upon the run
ners to prevent friction; another stands
at the left of the statue and beats time,
that the men may work in unison,
while overseers, provided with whips,
urge the laborers to their task. What
king desired to extricate this block
from the quarry, why it was left here,
what it was to commemorate, we can
never know. The riddle of the sphinx
is solved, but the riddle of the obelisk
in the quarry will no doubt remain
with us forever.—Chautauquan.
To Avoid a Total Losa.
A Pittsburg man tells of a visit he
made at a thrifty home in a nearby
town. The call was quite a pleasant
one and during the evening “Abey.”
the hopeful son of the family, was
sent to the cellar for refreshments for
the guests. He could be heard grop
ing his way through the dark, and
then came the noise of something fall
ing and the crash of glass. “Abey’s”
mother was plainly uneasy, but she
assumed the unnatural composure
which her society duties demanded.
Soon “Abey” came up with an armful
of bottles.
“What was that noise we heard,
‘Abey’?” asked the mother.
“Nothing much," replied “Abey.”
“I knocked over a bottle of milk and
It rolled down the steps and spilled.”
"Did you call the cat, ‘Abey’? - ’ asked
the thrifty woman.—Pittsburg News.
Frequent Vaccination.
Although almost absolute immunity
is secured for a period of six months
by vaccination, there is no certainty
that its effects will continue beyond
that time. In the majority of cases It
does, but the interval for which this
additional benefit is enjoyed Is variable.
Hence those who have studied the
matter most carefully recommend a
fresh operation If more than six
months have elapsed since the last one.
If a pea-son Is liable to be subjected
to perlS. as In time of an epidemic.—
New Y)ork Tribune.
Aot Wholly a Misfortune.
The Widow—Yes, Henry's death is a
great loss to me, but 1 am thankful for
one thing—bo .died before he could get
his patent y<-tected.
Sympatlii Friend—Pardon me.
The WlAosv- You don’t understand!
Why. tn that. case, yon know, all the
money he had would have gone sooner
or late*-.—Bo stoa Transcript-
A Dress Barjrstn.
Wife—Oh, guch a bargain I I reached
Blgft Drive & Co.’s ahead of the crowd
this moral-ag. and got enough stuff for
a perfectly elegant dress for $1.90.
Husban 1—Hoopla! You're an angel!
What wil j tt cost to get it made up?
Wife-’ iso.-Nrw
b j , I U- HI
SEVERAL FRAMES
of different styles suitable for En
gravings, Water-Colors or Prints, can
be bought here for
95c.
These are well made and stylish, but
being of standard sizes we can afford
to offer them at this low figure.
Frames to order for any kind of
picture car: be supplied at 'minimum
cost. Come in and look at the assort
ment of Mouldings.
G r A. RASMUSSEN’S.
INSURE!
YOUR
PROPERTY
+ IN +
THE RIVER FAILS CITY
MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE CO
Insures property on the
mutual plan in any of the
cities or villages of the
counties of Pierce, St.
Croix, Dunn and Pepin.
G. W. CHINNOCK, President,
N. P. HAUGEN, Secretary,
F. I). ENSIGN. Treasurer.
w/iAfreo?
To exchange extracted honey for
liver dimes, oats, corn, eggs and
potatoes. A. D. SHEPARD.
THE FARMERS’ WEEKiY.
A Special Offer
TO NEW SUBSCRIBERS.
The Milwaukee Weekly Sentinel
and The Land and a Living
(A Monthly Magazine),
ONLY
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FOR ONE YEAR.
A TRIAL ORDER TO
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FOR SIX MONTHS,
25 c
Send this Advertisement to
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m mis mm
and the
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J. JELLINCS,
CARRIAGE jFI • x
. ..ydjsiGN. t Painter.
SPECIAL GRAINEB.
The Finest Pictures Painted and for Sale.
Shop, South River Falls.
| Market! '’’’"’Jp-1
I Fresh and Salt Meals
BEST QUALITY
A YS ON HAND.
Fish, Game £& Vegetables
Kept in their season.
(OOP* OKIJVEHEb FREE
T ) ALL PART* OF THE CITY.
j
MsuTnßAppn
ju.sttok | UDHUUU
We quote the following prices during the month
of January, or as long as they last:
Regular Price. Cut Price L
“J- T.” 40 35 fc
“Tara Boom,” - - 20 15
“Fast Time” - - 20 15
“Sweet Laurel,” - - 50 45
“Captain Kidd,” - 20 15
“Jess,” - - 30 25 Si
“3 Black Crows,” - 30 25
“Biggest and Best,” - - 20
Smoking Tobaccos at correspondingly reduced prices.
S:- HENOEBSON & SAOMIFF.
DON’T
Annoy your neighbors with that
distressing cough. Take our
White Pine
Expectorant^ - **
and be cured.
Beware of cheap imitations. See that you get the
j original with our name on label.
Barnard & Clough J
J ....THE WEEKLY INTER OCEAN.... |
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r Best Republican Weekly F
J" In the United States I •UU
PER YEAR. fe
The Weekly inter Ocean %
? Is the Brightest Family Newspaper in the St
country, containing all the news and high- p
j grade current literature.
A Few of Ils Excellent Literary Features Are:
k Able Editorials on Live Topics. Well Written Original fc
Stories. Answers to Queries on all subjects. Essays on J:
J 3 Health. Articles on Home Topics, on New Books, and p
L on Work in the Farm and Garden. Also Short Stories J
of City Life, Army Life, of Life Everywhere.
The Inter Ocean is a member of the Lallan News Bu- a
Jj rcau and tlie Associated Press, giving a news service Z
r that is absolutely unsurpassed in the world. “
r Ofc 1 OO 52 RAPERS OFIZ LARCE FACES <& 4 U
J I ■WO As much good reading matter as a large niagaziue. «]> I C
Daily Inter Ocean, $4 per Year. Daily and Sunday, $6 per year. gj
\ THE RIVER FALLS JOURNAL QO 00 I
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world written and
the finest art and the best
literature, then you must read
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WEEKLY
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Illustrated Journal
Hall Caine’s Latest and Greatest Novel,
‘ The Eternal City,” begins soon. Send
for free copy of the opening chapters
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H.LORD’S
A. ■
: : x
LIVERY i FEED STABLE,
Main Street. River Falls,
arSlngle anu Double Riga, with or
without drivers, at any hour of the day
;or night. Single horses for ladies,
j Prices modarata.