Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/244

226 a journey abroad, without reaching his native land, where he had wished to breathe his last.

Besides the works of Baggesen already described, we must make mention of his numerous lyrical poems and his numerous rhymed letters, all of which are marked by a refined and graceful style and a charming rhythm. The form of this kind of poetical composition had already been introduced by Wessel in his comical tales, but by Baggesen it was developed to perfection, and here his wonderful command of language shone in its greatest splendor. Particularly interesting is his witty æsthetical satire “Gjengengeren og han selv, eller Baggesen over Baggesen” (The ghost and himself, or Baggesen on Baggesen), which dates from the time when his mind was in its greatest fermentation (1807). In this production the poet makes an attempt to break with the olden time and to rise to the heights of the new era, which was dawning victorious on all sides, and the legitimate claims of which Baggesen was thoroughly able to appreciate. But his poem provoked decided opposition on account of its violent attack on persons and principles that enjoyed general recognition, and to which Baggesen had himself formerly paid his homage, and his prophecies concerning the new epoch which he was going to found were not fulfilled. Among his prose works we must not omit to mention his graceful translation of Holberg’s Niels Klim.

Baggesen has been called “the poet of the graces,” a surname which he well deserves, for all his writings are marked with a rare grace and beauty of form. But his poetry lacks marrow, it lacks a definite concise view. It is full to overflowing with longing and desire, but that is all. On the other hand he moves with a grace and confidence never equalled by any of his predecessors in the most varied poetical moods, from the most sublime pathos to the most wanton humor. This in connection with an entirely exceptional intellectual tendency, gives him a very distinct position in Danish literature. He does not belong to the old time, for