Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/195

Rh dictionary, but he never got beyond merely preparatory work on it.

This also applies to the lexicographical work which was undertaken on a grand scale by the privy councillor (1647-1719), first secretary to Christian V. He devoted many years and much profound criticism to the work and had the cooperation of all scholars who took an interest in the work and had the ability to contribute to its progress. The exceptionally rich collections which he left in manuscript were used in the compilation of the very complete dictionary of the Danish language published by the royal society of sciences, but the materials of Moth's collection were by no means exhausted. They still contain much that is of value, and the linguists of to-day may gather from them many facts with which to elucidate the vocabulary and history of the Danish language.

Poetry was by no means neglected during the learned period. On the contrary, there were many poets both in Danish and in Latin, but with few exceptions they were nothing but rhymesters and they dealt largely with religious themes. Among the few genuine poets of this age we may mention the following:

(1544-1603?) whose drama "Kortvending" has already been mentioned, composed religious songs, which frequently betray a genuine poetical sentiment and in which there are numerous passages that remind us of the popular ballads. We also have from him a didactic poem "Lykkens Hjul" (the wheel of fortune), the contents of which resemble his drama.

(1587-1637), a man of genuine poetic talents, first published a few occasional historical poems,