Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/382

364 simultaneously in its many-hued concrete reality and in its insignificance, we must not only read his poems, but we must also hear them sung; it is only through the melody, or rather through the words and melody combined, that we are able to get a complete impression of what the poems mean to convey. No one else has like Bellman understood how to blend both in an indissoluble unity. Whether he composes the melody himself or, as is frequently the case, adapts his words to some old song, he always attains the highest possible result, a complete harmony between the words and the melody, so that they materially illustrate and enrich each other.

There are a few other poets of this period who were on friendly terms with him and were called "Bellman's cousins," and they have, at all events, the comical element in common with him, but they wholly lack the other feature of his poetry, the earnest and essentially religious tone, which in its fusion with the comical-realistic vein is so striking and effective. Two of these poets Kexél and Hallman were particularly intimate with him, whence they, the three, were called the "clover leaf." (1748-96) appeared as an author already in his twentieth year and wrote chiefly political pamphlets. This caused him prosecutions which ended in heavy pecuniary fines. In other respects his affairs became so embarrassed that in 1770 he found it necessary to leave the country. But after the coup d'état by Gustav III he returned to Sweden, where his political enemies could no longer harm him. He henceforth led a merry, reckless life and gave the impulse to the foundation of the jovial order still existing, called "Par Bricole," which gathered together all the best talents of the time, and of which Bellman was also was a zealous member. What Kexél wrote from this time on was chiefly a faithful picture of his own life and