Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/316

298 was still more blamed for another philanthropic freak. Out of compassion for a poor printer he anonymously undertook the editorship of a few numbers of a very low journal called "Statsborgeren," until a new editor could be found; but when he was discovered and a general outburst of indignation followed, he added fuel to the flames by resolving to retain the paper and turn it into a decent organ of the opposition, a resolution which he, however, failed to realize. His relations to King Carl Johan were also a fruitful source of ill-will and gross misunderstanding, though he here, too, was as pure and innocent as in the other instances described. Wergeland was sincerely devoted to the king, and did not therefore hesitate to accept the support which was granted to him by his majesty, but on the other hand he was not afraid of speaking the truth boldly to the king's face, when the latter, in Wergeland's estimation, was unfaithful to his trust as guardian and defender of Norwegian liberty. But Wergeland had a peculiar knack for putting all his acts in such a light that it was exceedingly difficult not to misinterpret them.

All these conflicts did not, however, hinder him from developing a vast literary activity. Farces, plays, epic and lyric poems followed in quick succession, and his work steadily improved in character and style. Many of the poems, dating from his ripe age, have a beauty and clearness which it would be vain to look for in his earlier works, while the deep, intense feeling and the gorgeous imagery, which characterize the earlier poems, are also found in his later ones, and that in a purer and nobler form. Among his most excellent productions are "Jan van Huysums Blomsterstykke," "Jöden" and "Den engelske Lods." Among his lyric poems there is also to be found many a gem. When he died in 1845, it was generally acknowledged that Wergeland had been a great man, endowed with a rare poetical talent, nay, that he might have become the greatest man that the North ever produced had it not been his lot to be engaged on all sides