Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/351

Rh tion of a really artistic poetic literature. "It must be admitted," says Atterbom, "that his works evince, to a higher degree than he was himself conscious, un-Swedish, especially German, associations, but at the same time they show a view of life, a vigor of intellect, a style and character, in which the antique and Swedish elements are blended in harmony and beauty." He possessed abundantly all the conditions required for the solution of the problem of the age, which consisted in creating for Sweden a poetry on the basis of the culture which the humanistic movement had produced, and which had taken its principal nourishment from the old classical literature. For he was not only himself thoroughly imbued with this culture, but he was also the true poet, intimately familiar with the popular life and natural scenery of his country. In his poems he knew how to strike a chord, which by its national and homely ring was intelligible to all, and which at once secured him a generous recognition. His language is marked by great purity, and his poems reveal the perfect master of style. They may seem discursive and insipid to us, but still they are pervaded by a peculiarly fresh breath of life, and it is not difficult to understand why they enjoyed the unqualified admiration of the poet's own generation, and were for a long time regarded as unsurpassed models of perfection. This particularly applies to his epic-didactic poem, written in hexameters, "Hercules," in which "Lady Pleasure" and "Lady Virtue" vie with each other in enticing the hero to their side. There is no lack of allusions to the noblemen of Queen Christina's court, and this fact must have furnished an added charm for the readers of that period. Another poem also written in hexameters, "Bröllopsbesvärs ihugkommelse" (Recollections of wedding vexations), is more in harmony with the taste of our own time. It is the first of those humorous, lyric compositions, which are peculiar to the literature of Sweden and which constitute one of its chief ornaments. For the court festivals of Queen Christina he wrote several ballets and "processions," of which "then fångne Cupido " is the most