Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/409

Rh Napoleon, is not equal to his former efforts. His strength was at that time already broken.

(1800-48) is to be mentioned as the most conspicuous representative of that legion of poets, who, filled with admiration for Tegnér and his style, followed blindly in the footsteps of their great leader. The majority of them were mere amateurs. A few of them had talent, but carried their devotion so far that they sacrificed their own independence, and simply strove to imitate their master. This sort of Tegnérism could not fail to exert a noxious influence on Swedish literature. The faults of Tegnér, which his many great merits outshone, and which were to some extent dignified by the eminent personality of the poet, found the most ready imitators, and were even offered as virtues. Rhetoric began to make itself conspicuous at the expense of poetry. Fortunately a strong reaction soon set in against this humbug, and talented poets made a decisive resistance. Before discussing any of the latter, we must name a few others who belong to this epoch, but who cannot well be classified.

(1790-1866) is chiefly known as the author of "Noaks Ark," which, though not completed, ranks as Sweden's most celebrated humoristic poem. It vigorously attacks the vagaries of the various schools, sparkles with humor and stinging wit, and contains passages of great beauty. His lyric epic, "Ansgarius," in fourteen cantos, gives evidence of a fertile imagination, and is pervaded by a warm, noble sentiment, but it suffers in several passages from a certain didactic dryness, and is overloaded with historical materials. Many of his shorter poems are distinguished by grace of form and vigorous diction.

One of the strangest phenomena, a character who stands utterly alone in the history of Swedish literature is. He was born in 1793, took the master's degree in 1815, and then lived as an official in Stock-