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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16416-8.txt b/16416-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0b7c12f --- /dev/null +++ b/16416-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6014 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of An Essay Toward a History of Shakespeare in +Norway, by Martin Brown Ruud + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: An Essay Toward a History of Shakespeare in Norway + +Author: Martin Brown Ruud + +Release Date: August 2, 2005 [EBook #16416] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN ESSAY TOWARD A HISTORY OF *** + + + + +Produced by Louise Hope, David Starner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + The University of Chicago + + + AN ESSAY TOWARD A HISTORY + OF SHAKESPEARE IN + NORWAY + + + A Dissertation + + Submitted to the Faculty + of the Graduate School of Arts and Literature + in Candidacy for the Degree of + Doctor of Philosophy + Department of Germanics and English + by + + MARTIN BROWN RUUD + + + + Reprint from + Scandinavian Studies and Notes + Urbana, Illinois + 1917 + + + + + The Collegiate Press + George Banta Publishing Company + Menasha, Wisconsin + + * * * * * + + +PREFATORY NOTE + +I have attempted in this study to trace the history of Shakespearean +translations, Shakespearean criticism, and the performances of +Shakespeare's plays in Norway. I have not attempted to investigate +Shakespeare's influence on Norwegian literature. To do so would not, +perhaps, be entirely fruitless, but it would constitute a different +kind of work. + +The investigation was made possible by a fellowship from the University +of Chicago and a scholarship from the American-Scandinavian Foundation, +and I am glad to express my gratitude to these bodies for the +opportunities given to me of study in the Scandinavian countries. +I am indebted for special help and encouragement to Dr. C.N. Gould +and Professor J.M. Manly, of the University of Chicago, and to the +authorities of the University library in Kristiania for their unfailing +courtesy. To my wife, who has worked with me throughout, my obligations +are greater than I can express. + +It is my plan to follow this monograph with a second on the history of +Shakespeare in Denmark. + + +M.B.R. + +Minneapolis, Minnesota. +September, 1916. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +Shakespeare Translations In Norway + + +A + +In the years following 1750, there was gathered in the city of Trondhjem +a remarkable group of men: Nils Krog Bredal, composer of the first +Danish opera, John Gunnerus, theologian and biologist, Gerhart Schøning, +rector of the Cathedral School and author of an elaborate history of the +fatherland, and Peter Suhm, whose 14,047 pages on the history of Denmark +testify to a learning, an industry, and a generous devotion to +scholarship which few have rivalled. Bredal was mayor (Borgermester), +Gunnerus was bishop, Schøning was rector, and Suhm was for the moment +merely the husband of a rich and unsympathetic wife. But they were +united in their interest in serious studies, and in 1760, the last +three--somewhat before Bredal's arrival--founded "Videnskabsselkabet i +Trondhjem." A few years later the society received its charter as "Det +Kongelige Videnskabsselskab." + +A little provincial scientific body! Of what moment is it? But in those +days it was of moment. Norway was then and long afterwards the political +and intellectual dependency of Denmark. For three hundred years she had +been governed more or less effectively from Copenhagen, and for two +hundred years Danish had supplanted Norwegian as the language of church +and state, of trade, and of higher social intercourse. The country had +no university; Norwegians were compelled to go to Copenhagen for their +degrees and there loaf about in the anterooms of ministers waiting for +preferment. Videnskabsselskabet was the first tangible evidence of +awakened national life, and we are not surprised to find that it was in +this circle that the demand for a separate Norwegian university was +first authoritatively presented. Again, a little group of periodicals +sprang up in which were discussed, learnedly and pedantically, to be +sure, but with keen intelligence, the questions that were interesting +the great world outside. It is dreary business ploughing through these +solemn, badly printed octavos and quartos. Of a sudden, however, one +comes upon the first, and for thirty-six years the only Norwegian +translation of Shakespeare. + +We find it in _Trondhjems Allehaande_ for October 23, 1782--the third +and last volume. The translator has hit upon Antony's funeral oration +and introduces it with a short note:[1] "The following is taken from +the famous English play _Julius Caesar_ and may be regarded as a +masterpiece. When Julius Caesar was killed, Antonius secured permission +from Brutus and the other conspirators to speak at his funeral. The +people, whose minds were full of the prosperity to come, were satisfied +with Caesar's murder and regarded the murderers as benefactors. Antonius +spoke so as to turn their minds from rejoicing to regret at a great +man's untimely death and so as to justify himself and win the hearts of +the populace. And in what a masterly way Antonius won them! We shall +render, along with the oration, the interjected remarks of the crowd, +inasmuch as they too are evidences of Shakespeare's understanding of +the human soul and his realization of the manner in which the oration +gradually brought about the purpose toward which he aimed:" + + [1. It has been thought best to give such citations for the most + part in translation.] + + Antonius: + Venner, Medborgere, giver mig Gehør, jeg kommer for at jorde Cæsars + Legeme, ikke for at rose ham. Det Onde man gjør lever endnu efter + os; det Gode begraves ofte tilligemed vore Been. Saa Være det ogsaa + med Cæsar. Den ædle Brutus har sagt Eder, Cæsar var herskesyg. Var + han det saa var det en svær Forseelse: og Cæsar har ogsaa dyrt + maattet bøde derfor. Efter Brutus og de Øvriges Tilladelse--og + Brutus er en hederlig Mand, og det er de alle, lutter hederlige + Mænd, kommer jeg hid for at holde Cæsars Ligtale. Han var min Ven, + trofast og oprigtig mod mig! dog, Brutus siger, han var herskesyg, + og Brutus er en hederlig Mand. Han har bragt mange Fanger med til + Rom, hvis Løsepenge formerede de offentlige Skatter; synes Eder det + herskesygt af Cæsar--naar de Arme skreeg, saa græd Cæsar--Herskesyge + maate dog vel væves af stærkere Stof.--Dog Brutus siger han var + herskesyg; og Brutus er en hederlig Mand. I have alle seet at jeg + paa Pans Fest tre Gange tilbød ham en kongelig Krone, og at han tre + Gange afslog den. Var det herskesygt?--Dog Brutus siger han var + herskesyg, og i Sandhed, han er en hederlig Mand. Jeg taler ikke for + at gjendrive det, som Brutus har sagt; men jeg staar her, for at + sige hvad jeg veed. I alle elskede ham engang, uden Aarsag; hvad for + en Aarsag afholder Eder fra at sørge over ham? O! Fornuft! Du er + flyed hen til de umælende Bæster, og Menneskene have tabt deres + Forstand. Haver Taalmodighed med mig; mit Hjerte er hist i Kisten + hos Cæsar, og jeg maa holde inde til det kommer tilbage til mig. + + Den Første af Folket: + Mig synes der er megen Fornuft i hans Tale. + + Den Anden af Folket: + Naar du ret overveier Sagen, saa er Cæsar skeet stor Uret. + + Den Tredje: + Mener I det, godt Folk? Jeg frygter der vil komme slemmere i hans + Sted. + + Den Fjerde: + Har I lagt Mærke til hvad han sagde? Han vilde ikke modtage Kronen, + det er altsaa vist at han ikke var herskesyg. + + Den Første: + Hvis saa er, vil det komme visse Folk dyrt at staae. + + Den Anden: + Den fromme Mand! Hans Øien er blodrøde af Graad. + + Den Tredje: + Der er ingen fortræffeligere Mand i Rom end Antonius. + + Den Fjerde: + Giver Agt, han begynder igjen at tale. + + Antonius: + Endnu i Gaar havde et Ord af Cæsar gjældt imod hele Verden, nu + ligger han der, endog den Usleste nægter ham Agtelse. O, I Folk! + var jeg sindet, at ophidse Eders Gemytter til Raserie og Oprør, saa + skulde jeg skade Brutus og Kassius, hvilke, som I alle veed, ere + hederlige Mænd. Men jeg vil intet Ondt gjøre dem: hellere vil jeg + gjøre den Døde, mig selv, og Eder Uret, end at jeg skulde volde + slige hederlige Mænd Fortræd. Men her er et Pergament med Cæsars + Segl: jeg fandt det i hans Kammer; det er hans sidste Villie. Lad + Folket blot høre hans Testament, som jeg, tilgiv mig det, ikke + tænker at oplæse, da skulde de alle gaa hen og kysse den døde Cæsars + Saar; og dyppe deres Klæder i hans hellige Blod; skulde bede om et + Haar af ham til Erindring, og paa deres Dødsdag i deres sidste + Villie tænke paa dette Haar, og testamentere deres Efterkommere + det som en rig Arvedel. + + Den Fjerde: + Vi ville høre Testamentet! Læs det, Marcus Antonius. + + Antonius: + Haver Taalmodighed, mine Venner: jeg tør ikke forelæse det; deter + ikke raadeligt, at I erfare hvor kjær Cæsar havde Eder. I ere ikke + Træe, I ere ikke Stene, I ere Mennesker; og da I ere Mennesker saa + skulde Testamentet, om I hørte det, sætte Eder i Flamme, det skulde + gjøre Eder rasende. Det er godt at I ikke vide, at I ere hans + Arvinger; thi vidste I det, O, hvad vilde der da blive af? + + Den fjerde: + Læs Testamentet; vi ville høre det, Antonius! Du maae læse + Testamentet for os, Cæsars Testament! + + Antonius: + Ville i være rolige? Ville I bie lidt? Jeg er gaaen for vidt at jeg + har sagt Eder noget derom--jeg frygter jeg fornærmer de hederlige + Mænd, som have myrdet Cæsar--jeg befrygter det. + + Den Fjerde: + De vare Forrædere!--ha, hederlige Mænd! + +The translation continues to the point where the plebeians, roused to +fury by the cunning appeal of Antony, rush out with the cries:[2] + + 2. Pleb: + Go fetch fire! + + 3. Pleb: + Plucke down Benches! + + 2. Pleb: + Plucke down Formes, Windowes, anything. + + [2. _Julius Caesar_. III, 2. 268-70. Variorum Edition Furness. + Phila. 1913.] + +But we have not space for a more extended quotation, and the passage +given is sufficiently representative. + +The faults are obvious. The translator has not ventured to reproduce +Shakespeare's blank verse, nor, indeed, could that be expected. The +Alexandrine had long held sway in Danish poetry. In _Rolf Krage_ (1770), +Ewald had broken with the tradition and written an heroic tragedy in +prose. Unquestionably he had been moved to take this step by the example +of his great model Klopstock in _Bardiete_.[3] It seems equally certain, +however, that he was also inspired by the plays of Shakespeare, and the +songs of Ossian, which came to him in the translations of Wieland.[4] + + [3. Rønning--_Rationalismens Tidsalder_. 11-95.] + + [4. Ewald--_Levnet og meninger_. Ed. Bobe. Kbhn. 1911, p. 166.] + +A few years later, when he had learned English and read Shakespeare +in the original, he wrote _Balders Død_ in blank verse and +naturalized Shakespeare's metre in Denmark.[5] At any rate, it +is not surprising that this unknown plodder far north in Trondhjem +had not progressed beyond Klopstock and Ewald. But the result of +turning Shakespeare's poetry into the journeyman prose of a foreign +language is necessarily bad. The translation before us amounts to a +paraphrase,--good, respectable Danish untouched by genius. Two +examples will illustrate this. The lines: + + .... Now lies he there, + And none so poor to do him reverence. + + [5. _Ibid._ II, 234-235.] + +are rendered in the thoroughly matter-of-fact words, appropriate for a +letter or a newspaper "story": + + .... Nu ligger han der, + endog den Usleste nægter ham Agtelse. + +Again, + + I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it, + +is translated: + + Jeg er gaaen for vidt at jeg sagde Eder noget derom. + +On the other hand, the translation presents no glaring errors; such +slips as we do find are due rather to ineptitude, an inability to +find the right word, with the result that the writer has contented +himself with an accidental and approximate rendering. For example, +the translator no doubt understood the lines: + + The evil that men do lives after them, + The good is oft interred with their bones. + +but he could hit upon nothing better than: + + Det Onde man gjør _lever endnu efter os_; + det Gode begraves ofte tilligemed vore Been. + +which is both inaccurate and infelicitous. For the line + + He was my friend, faithful and just to me. + +our author has: + + Han var min Ven, trofast og _oprigtig_ mod mig! + +Again: + + Has he, Masters? I fear there will come a worse in his place. + +Translation: + + Mener I det, godt Folk?--etc. + +Despite these faults--and many others could be cited,--it is perfectly +clear that this unknown student of Shakespeare understood his original +and endeavored to reproduce it correctly in good Danish. His very +blunders showed that he tried not to be slavish, and his style, while +not remarkable, is easy and fluent. Apparently, however, his work +attracted no attention. His name is unknown, as are his sources, and +there is not, with one exception, a single reference to him in the later +Shakespeare literature of Denmark and Norway. Not even Rahbek, who was +remarkably well informed in this field, mentions him. Only Foersom,[6] +who let nothing referring to Shakespeare escape him, speaks (in the +notes to Part I of his translation) of a part of Act III of _Julius +Caesar_ in _Trondhjems Allehaande_. That is all. It it not too much to +emphasize, therefore, that we have here the first Danish version of any +part of _Julius Caesar_ as well as the first Norwegian translation of +any part of Shakespeare into what was then the common literary language +of Denmark and Norway.[7] + + [6. _William Shakespeares Tragiske Værker--Første Deel._ Khbn. + 1807. Notes at the back of the volume.] + + [7. By way of background, a bare enumeration of the early Danish + translations of Shakespeare is here given. + + 1777. _Hamlet_. Translated by Johannes Boye. + + 1790. _Macbeth_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. + _Othello_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. + _All's Well that Ends Well_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. + + 1792. _King Lear_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. + _Cymbeline_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. + _The Merchant of Venice_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. + + 1794. _King Lear_. Nahum Tate's stage version. Translated by Hans + Wilhelm Riber. + + 1796. _Two Speeches._--To be or not to be--_(Hamlet.)_ + Is this a dagger--_(Macbeth.)_ + Translated by Malthe Conrad Brun in _Svada_. + + 1800. Act III, Sc. 2 of _Julius Caesar_. Translated by Knut Lyhne + Rahbek in _Minerva_. + + 1801. _Macbeth_. Translated by Levin Sander and K.L. Rahbek. Not + published till 1804. + + 1804. Act V of _Julius Caesar_. Translated by P.F. Foersom in + _Minerva_. + + 1805. Act IV Sc. 3 of _Love's Labour Lost_. Translated by P.F. + Foersom in _Nytaarsgave for Skuespilyndere._ + + 1807. Hamlet's speech to the players. Translated by P.F. Foersom + in _Nytaarsgave for Skuespilyndere_. + + It may be added that in 1807 appeared the first volume of + Foersom's translation of Shakespeare's tragedies, and after 1807 + the history of Shakespeare in Denmark is more complicated. With + these matters I shall deal at length in another study.] + + +B + +It was many years before the anonymous contributor to _Trondhjems +Allehaande_ was to have a follower. From 1782 to 1807 Norwegians were +engaged in accumulating wealth, an occupation, indeed, in which they +were remarkably successful. There was no time to meddle with Shakespeare +in a day when Norwegian shipping and Norwegian products were profitable +as never before. After 1807, when the blundering panic of the British +plunged Denmark and Norway into war on the side of Napoleon, there were +sterner things to think of. It was a sufficiently difficult matter to +get daily bread. But in 1818, when the country had, as yet, scarcely +begun to recover from the agony of the Napoleonic wars, the second +Norwegian translation from Shakespeare appeared.[8] + + [8. _Coriolanus, efter Shakespeare_. Christiania. 1818.] + +The translator of this version of _Coriolanus_ is unknown. Beyond the +bare statement on the title page that the translation is made directly +from Shakespeare and that it is printed and published in Christiania by +Jacob Lehmann, there is no information to be had. Following the title +there is a brief quotation from Dr. Johnson and one from the "Zeitung +für die elegante Welt." Again Norway anticipates her sister nation; for +not till the following year did Denmark get her first translation of the +play.[9] + + [9. The first Danish translation of Coriolanus by P.F. Wulff + appeared in 1819.] + +Ewald, Oehlenschlæger, and Foersom had by this time made the blank verse +of Shakespeare a commonplace in Dano-Norwegian literature. Even the +mediocre could attempt it with reasonable assurance of success. The +_Coriolanus_ of 1818 is fairly correct, but its lumbering verse reveals +plainly that the translator had trouble with his metre. Two or three +examples will illustrate. First, the famous allegory of Menenius:[10] + + _Menenius:_ + I enten maae erkjende at I ere + Heel ondskabsfulde, eller taale, man + For Uforstandighed anklager Eder. + Et snurrigt Eventyr jeg vil fortælle; + Maaskee I har det hørt, men da det tjener + Just til min Hensigt, jeg forsøge vil + Nøiagtigen det Eder at forklare. + . . . . . + Jeg Eder det fortælle skal; med et + Slags Smil, der sig fra Lungen ikke skrev; + Omtrent saaledes--thi I vide maae + Naar jeg kan lade Maven tale, jeg + Den og kan lade smile--stikende + Den svarede hvert misfornøiet Lem + Og hver Rebel, som den misundte al + Sin Indtægt; Saa misunde I Senatet + Fordi det ikke er det som I ere. + + _Første Borger_: + Hvorledes. Det var Mavens Svar! Hvorledes? + Og Hovedet, der kongeligt er kronet, + Og Øiet, der er blot Aarvaagenhed; + Og Hjertet, som os giver gode Raad; + Og Tungen, vor Trumpet, vor Stridsmand, Armen, + Og Foden, vores Pragthest, med de flere + Befæstingner, der støtte vor Maskine, + Hvis de nu skulde.... + + _Menenius_: + Nu hvad skulde de?... + Den Karl mig lader ei til Orde komme, + Hvad vil I sigte med det _hvis de skulde?_ + + _Første Borger_: + Hvis de nu skulde sig betvinge lade + Ved denne Slughals Maven som blot er + En Afløbs-Rende for vort Legeme? + + _Menenius_: + Nu videre! + + _Første Borger_: + Hvad vilde Maven svare? + Hvis hine Handlende med Klage fremstod? + + _Menenius_: + Hvis I mig skjænke vil det som I have + Kun lidet af, Taalmodighed, jeg mener, + Jeg Eder Mavens Svar da skal fortælle. + + _Første Borger_: + I! Den Fortælling ret i Langdrag trækker! + + _Menenius_: + Min gode Ven, nu allerførst bemærke. + Agtværdig Mave brugte Overlæg; + Ei ubetænksom den sig overiled + Som dens Modstandere; og saa lød Svaret: + I Venner som fra mig ei skilles kan! + Det Sandhed er, at jeg fra første Haand + Modtager Næringen som Eder føder, + Og dette i sin Orden er, thi jeg + Et Varelager og et Forraads-Kammer + Jo er for Legemet; men ei I glemme: + Jeg Næringen igjennem Blodets Floder + Og sender lige hen til Hoffet-Hjertet-- + Til Hjernens Sæde; jeg den flyde lader + Igjennem Menneskets meest fine Dele; + Og de meest fast Nerver, som de mindste + Blandt Aarene fra mig modtager hver + Naturlig Kraft, hvormed de leve, og + Endskjøndt de ikke alle paa eengang-- + I gode Venner (det var Mavens Ord) + Og mærker dem heel nøie.... + + _Første Borger_: + Det vil vi gjøre. + + _Menenius_: + Endskjøndt de ikke alle kunde see, + Hvad jeg tilflyde lader hver især, + Saa kan jeg dog med gyldigt Dokument + Bevise at jeg overlader dem + Den rene Kjærne, selv beholder Kliddet. + Hvad siger I dertil? + + _Første Borger_: + Et svar det var-- + Men nu Andvendelsen! + + _Menenius_: + Senatet er + Den gode Mave: I Rebellerne. + I undersøge blot de Raad det giver + Og alt dets Omhue. Overveier nøie + Alt hvad til Statens Velferd monne sigte, + Og da I finde vil, at fra Senatet + Hver offentlig Velgjerning som I nyde + Sit Udspring bar, men ei fra Eder selv-- + Hvad tænker I, som er den store Taae + Her i Forsamlingen? + + [10. _Coriolanus_--Malone's ed. London. 1790. Vol. 7, pp. 148 ff.] + +Aside from the preponderance of feminine endings, which is inevitable +in Scandinavian blank verse, what strikes us most in this translation +is its laboriousness. The language is set on end. Inversion and +transposition are the devices by which the translator has managed to +give Shakespeare in metrically decent lines. The proof of this is so +patent that I need scarcely point out instances. But take the first +seven lines of the quotation. Neither in form nor content is this bad, +yet no one with a feeling for the Danish language can avoid an +exclamation, "forskruet Stil" and "poetiske Stylter." And lines 8-9 +smack unmistakably of _Peder Paars_. In the second place, the translator +often does not attempt to translate at all. He gives merely a +paraphrase. Compare lines 1-3 with the English original; the whole of +the speech of the first citizen, 17-24, 25-27, where the whole implied +idea is fully expressed; 28-30, etc., etc. We might offer almost every +translation of Shakespeare's figures as an example. One more instance. +At times even paraphrase breaks down. Compare + + And through the cranks and offices of man + The strongest and small inferior veins, + Receive from me that natural competency + Whereby they live. + +with our translator's version (lines 50-51) + + jeg den flyde lader + Igjennem Menneskets meest fine Dele. + +This is not even good paraphrase; it is simply bald and helpless +rendering. + +On the other hand, it would be grossly unfair to dismiss it all with +a sneer. The translator has succeeded for the most part in giving the +sense of Shakespeare in smooth and sounding verse, in itself no small +achievement. Rhetoric replaces poetry, it is true, and paraphrase dries +up the freshness and the sparkle of the metaphor. But a Norwegian of +that day who got his first taste of Shakespeare from the translation +before us, would at least feel that here was the power of words, the +music and sonorousness of elevated dramatic poetry. + +One more extract and I am done. It is Coriolanus' outburst of wrath +against the pretensions of the tribunes (III, 1). With all its +imperfections, the translation is almost adequate. + + _Coriolanus_: + Skal! + Patrisier, I ædle, men ei vise! + I høie Senatorer, som mon mangle + Al Overlæg, hvi lod I Hydra vælge + En Tjener som med sit bestemte Skal + --Skjøndt blot Uhyrets Talerør og Lyd-- + Ei mangler Mod, at sige at han vil + Forvandle Eders Havstrøm til en Sump, + Og som vil gjøre Jer Kanal til sin. + Hvis han har Magten, lad Enfoldighed + Da for ham bukke; har han ingen Magt, + Da vækker Eders Mildhed af sin Dvale, + Den farlig er; hvis I ei mangle Klogskab, + Da handler ei som Daaren; mangler den, + Lad denne ved Jer Side faae en Pude. + Plebeier ere I, hvis Senatorer + De ere, og de ere mindre ei + Naar begge Eders Stemmer sammenblandes + Og naar de kildres meest ved Fornemhed. + De vælge deres egen Øvrighed, + Og saadan Een, der sætte tør sit Skal, + Ja sit gemene Skal mod en Forsamling, + Der mer agtværdig er end nogensinde + Man fandt i Grækenland. Ved Jupiter! + Sligt Consulen fornedrer! Og det smerter + Min Sjæl at vide, hvor der findes tvende + Autoriteter, ingen af dem størst, + Der kan Forvirring lettelig faae Indpas + I Gabet, som er mellem dem, og hæve + Den ene ved den anden. + + +C + +In 1865, Paul Botten Hansen, best known to the English-speaking world +for his relations with Bjørnson and Ibsen, reviewed[11] the eleventh +installment of Lembcke's translation of Shakespeare. The article +does not venture into criticism, but is almost entirely a resumé of +Shakespeare translation in Norway and Denmark. It is less well informed +than we should expect, and contains, among several other slips, the +following "...in 1855, Niels Hauge, deceased the following year as +teacher in Kragerø, translated _Macbeth_, the first faithful version of +this masterpiece which Dano-Norwegian literature could boast of." Botten +Hansen mentions only one previous Danish or Norwegian version of +Shakespeare--Foersom's adaptation of Schiller's stage version (1816). +He is quite obviously ignorant of Rosenfeldt's translation of 1790; and +the Rahbek-Sanders translation of 1801 seems also to have escaped him, +although Hauge expressly refers to this work in his introduction. Both +of these early attempts are in prose; Foersom's, to be sure, is in blank +verse, but Foersom's _Macbeth_ is not Shakespeare's. Accordingly, it is, +in a sense, true that Hauge in 1855 did give the Dano-Norwegian public +their first taste of an unspoiled _Macbeth_ in the vernacular.[12] + + [11. _Illustreret Nyhedsblad_--1865, p. 96.] + + [12. _Macbeth--Tragedie i fem Akter af William Shakespeare_. + Oversat og fortolket af N. Hauge. Christiania. 1855. Johan Dahl.] + +Hauge tells us that he had interested himself in English literature at +the risk of being called an eccentric. Modern languages then offered no +avenue to preferment, and why, forsooth, did men attend lectures and +take examinations except to gain the means of earning a livelihood? He +justifies his interest, however, by the seriousness and industry with +which Shakespeare is studied in Germany and England. With the founts of +this study he is apparently familiar, and with the influence of +Shakespeare on Lessing, Goethe, and the lesser romanticists. It is +interesting to note, too, that two scholars, well known in widely +different fields, Monrad, the philosopher--for some years a sort of Dr. +Johnson in the literary circles of Christiania--and Unger, the scholarly +editor of many Old Norse texts, assisted him in his work. + +The character of Hauge's work is best seen in his notes. They consist of +a careful defense of every liberty he takes with the text, explanations +of grammatical constructions, and interpretations of debated matters. +For example, he defends the witches on the ground that they symbolize +the power of evil in the human soul. + + Man kan sige at Shakespeare i dem og deres Slæng har givet de + nytestamentlige Dæmoner Kjød og Blod. + +(We may say that Shakespeare in them and their train has endowed the +demons of the New Testament with flesh and blood). Again, he would +change the word _incarnadine_ to _incarnate_ on the ground that _Twelfth +Night V_ offers a similar instance of the corrupt use of _incardinate_ +for _incarnate_. The word occurs, moreover, in English only in this +passage.[13] Again, in his note to Act IV, he points out that the +dialogue in which Malcolm tests the sincerity of Macduff is taken almost +verbatim from Holinshed. "In performing the play," he suggests, "it +should, perhaps, be omitted as it very well may be without injury to the +action since the complication which arises through Malcolm's suspicion +of Macduff is fully and satisfactorily resolved by the appearance of +Rosse." And his note to a passage in Act V is interesting as showing +that, wide and thorough as was Hauge's acquaintance with Shakespearean +criticism, he had, besides, a first-hand knowledge of the minor +Elizabethan dramatists. I give the note in full. "_The way to dusty +death--_ + + Til dette besynderlige Udtryk, kan foruden hvad Knight og Dyce + have at citere, endnu citeres af Fords _Perkin Warbeck_, II, 2, + "I take my leave to travel to my dust." + + [13. This is, of course, incorrect. Cf. Macbeth, Variorum + Edition. Ed. Furness. Phila. 1903, p. 40. Note.] + +Hauge was a careful and conscientious scholar. He knew his field and +worked with the painstaking fidelity of the man who realizes the +difficulty of his task. The translation he gave is of a piece with the +man--faithful, laborious, uninspired. But it is, at least, superior to +Rosenfeldt and Sander, and Hauge justified his work by giving to his +countrymen the best version of _Macbeth_ up to that time. + +Monrad himself reviewed Hauge's _Macbeth_ in a careful and well-informed +article, in _Nordisk Tidsskrift for Videnskab og Literatur_, which I +shall review later. + + +D + +One of the most significant elements in the intellectual life of modern +Norway is the so-called Landsmaal movement. It is probably unnecessary +to say that this movement is an effort on the part of many Norwegians to +substitute for the dominant Dano-Norwegian a new literary language based +on the "best" dialects. This language, commonly called the Landsmaal, +is, at all events in its origin, the creation of one man, Ivar Aasen. +Aasen published the first edition of his grammar in 1848, and the first +edition of his dictionary in 1850. But obviously it was not enough to +provide a grammar and a word-book. The literary powers of the new +language must be developed and disciplined and, accordingly, Aasen +published in 1853 _Prøver af Landsmaalet i Norge_. The little volume +contains, besides other material, seven translations from foreign +classics; among these is Romeo's soliloquy in the balcony scene.[14] +(Act II, Sc. 1) This modest essay of Aasen's, then, antedates Hauge's +rendering of _Macbeth_ and constitutes the first bit of Shakespeare +translation in Norway since the _Coriolanus_ of 1818. + + [14. Ivar Aasen--_Skrifter i Samling_--Christiania. 1911, Vol. 11, + p. 165. Reprinted from _Prøver af Landsmaalet i Norge, Første + Udgave_. Kristiania. 1853, p. 114.] + +Aasen knew that Landsmaal was adequate to the expression of the homely +and familiar. But would it do for belles lettres? + + Han lær aat Saar, som aldri kende Saar.-- + Men hyst!--Kvat Ljos er dat dar upp i glaset? + Dat er i Aust, og Julia er Soli. + Sprett, fagre Sol, og tyn dan Maane-Skjegla, + som alt er sjuk og bleik av berre Ovund, + at hennar Taus er fagrar' en ho sjølv. + Ver inkje hennar Taus; dan Ovundsykja, + so sjukleg grøn er hennar Jomfru-Klædnad; + d'er berre Narr, som ber han. Sleng han av! + Ja, d'er mi Fru, d'er dan eg held i Hugen; + aa, giv ho hadde vist dat, at ho er dat! + Ho talar, utan Ord. Kvat skal ho med dei? + Ho tala kann med Augom;--eg vil svara. + Eg er for djerv; d'er inkje meg ho ser paa, + d'er tvo av fegste Stjernom dar paa Himlen, + som gekk ei Ærend, og fekk hennar Augo + te blinka i sin Stad, til dei kem atter. + Enn um dei var dar sjølve Augo hennar. + Kinn-Ljosken hennar hadde skemt dei Stjernor, + som Dagsljos skemmer Lampen; hennar Augo + hadd' straatt so bjart eit Ljos i Himmels Høgdi, + at Fuglar song og Trudde, dat var Dag. + Sjaa, kor ho hallar Kinni lint paa Handi, + Aa, giv eg var ein Vott paa denne Handi + at eg fekk strjuka Kinni den.--Ho talar.-- + Aa tala meir, Ljos-Engel, med du lyser + so klaart i denne Natti kring mitt Hovud, + som naar dat kem ein utfløygd Himmels Sending + mot Folk, som keika seg og stira beint upp + med undrarsame kvit-snudd' Augo mot han, + naar han skrid um dan seinleg-sigand' Skyi + og sigler yver høge Himmels Barmen. + +It was no peasant jargon that Aasen had invented; it was a literary +language of great power and beauty with the dignity and fulness of any +other literary medium. But it was new and untried. It had no literature. +Aasen, accordingly, set about creating one. Indeed, much of what he +wrote had no other purpose. What, then, shall we say of the first +appearance of Shakespeare in "Ny Norsk"? + +First, that it was remarkably felicitous. + + Kinn-Ljosken hadde skemt dei Stjernor + som Dagsljos skemmer Lampen, hennar Augo, etc. + +That is no inadequate rendering of: + + Two of the fairest stars in all the Heaven, etc. + +And equally good are the closing lines beginning: + + Aa tala meir, Ljos-Engel med du lyser, etc. + +Foersom is deservedly praised for his translation of the same lines, but +a comparison of the two is not altogether disastrous to Aasen, though, +to be sure, his lines lack some of Foersom's insinuating softness: + + Tal atter, Lysets Engel! thi du straaler + i Natten saa høiherlig over mig + som en af Nattens vingede Cheruber + for dødeliges himmelvendte Øine, etc. + +But lines like these have an admirable and perfect loveliness: + + naar han skrid um dan seinleg-sigand' Skyi + og sigler yver høge Himmels Barmen. + +Aasen busied himself for some years with this effort to naturalize his +Landsmaal in all the forms of literature. Apparently this was always +uppermost in his thoughts. We find him trying himself in this sort of +work in the years before and after the publication of _Prøver af +Landsmaalet_. In _Skrifter i Samling_ is printed another little fragment +of _Romeo and Juliet_, which the editor, without giving his reasons, +assigns to a date earlier than that of the balcony scene. It is +Mercutio's description of Queen Mab (Act I, Sc. 4). This is decidedly +more successful than the other. The vocabulary of the Norwegian dialects +is rich in words of fairy-lore, and one who knew this word treasure as +Aasen did could render the fancies of Mercutio with something very near +the exuberance of Shakespeare himself: + + No ser eg vel, at ho hev' vore hjaa deg + ho gamle Mabba, Nærkona aat Vettom. + So lita som ein Adelstein i Ringen + paa fremste Fingren paa ein verdug Raadsmann, + ho kjøyrer kring med smaa Soldumbe-Flokar + paa Nasanna aat Folk, dan Tid dei søv. + Hjulspikann' henna er av Kongleføter, + Vognfelden er av Engjesprette-Vengjer, + og Taumann' av den minste Kongleveven. + Av Maanestraalanne paa Vatn er Selen, + og av Sirissebein er Svipeskafted + og Svipesnerten er av Agner smaa. + Skjotskaren er eit nett graakjola My + so stort som Holva av ein liten Mòl, + som minste Vækja krasa kann med Fingren. + Til Vogn ho fekk ei holut Haslenot + av Snikkar Ikorn elder Natemakk, + som altid var Vognmakarann' aat Vettom.[15] + + [15. Ivar Aasen: _Skrifter i Samling_. Christiania. 1911, Vol. I, + p. 166.] + +The translation ends with Mercutio's words: + + And being thus frightened, swears a prayer or two, + And sleeps again. + +In my opinion this is consummately well done--at once accurate and +redolent of poesy; and certainly Aasen would have been justified in +feeling that Landsmaal is equal to Shakespeare's most airy passages. The +slight inaccuracy of one of the lines: + + Av Maanestraalanne paa Vatn er Selen, + +for Shakespeare's: + + The colors of the moonshine's watery beams, + +is of no consequence. The discrepancy was doubtless as obvious to the +translator as it is to us. + +From about the same time we have another Shakespeare fragment from +Aasen's hand. Like the Queen Mab passage, it was not published till +1911.[16] It is scarcely surprising that it is a rendering of Hamlet's +soliloquy: "To be or not to be." This is, of course, a more difficult +undertaking. For the interests that make up the life of the +people--their family and community affairs, their arts and crafts and +folk-lore, the dialects of Norway, like the dialects of any other +country, have a vocabulary amazingly rich and complete.[17] But not all +ideas belong in the realm of the every-day, and the great difficulty of +the Landsmaal movement is precisely this--that it must develop a +"culture language." To a large degree it has already done so. The rest +is largely a matter of time. And surely Ivar Aasen's translation of the +famous soliloquy proved that the task of giving, even to thought as +sophisticated as this, adequate and final expression is not impossible. +The whole is worth giving: + + Te vera elder ei,--d'er da her spyrst um; + um d'er meir heirlegt i sitt Brjost aa tola + kvar Styng og Støyt av ein hardsøkjen Lagnad + eld taka Vaapn imot eit Hav med Harmar, + staa mot og slaa dei veg?--Te døy, te sova, + alt fraa seg gjort,--og i ein Sømn te enda + dan Hjarteverk, dei tusend timleg' Støytar, + som Kjøt er Erving til, da var ein Ende + rett storleg ynskjande. Te døy, te sova, + ja sova, kanskje drøyma,--au, d'er Knuten. + Fyr' i dan Daudesømn, kva Draum kann koma, + naar mid ha kastat av dei daudleg Bandi, + da kann vel giv' oss Tankar; da er Sakji, + som gjerer Useldom so lang i Livet: + kven vilde tolt slikt Hogg og Haad i Tidi, + slik sterk Manns Urett, stolt Manns Skamlaus Medferd, + slik vanvyrd Elskhugs Harm, slik Rettarløysa, + slikt Embæt's Ovmod, slik Tilbakaspenning, + som tolug, verdug Mann fær av uverdug; + kven vilde da, naar sjølv han kunde løysa + seg med ein nakjen Odd? Kven bar dan Byrda + so sveitt og stynjand i so leid ein Livnad, + naar inkj'an ottast eitkvart etter Dauden, + da uforfarne Land, som ingjen Ferdmann + er komen atter fraa, da viller Viljen, + da læt oss helder ha dan Naud, mid hava, + en fly til onnor Naud, som er oss ukjend. + So gjer Samviskan Slavar av oss alle, + so bi dan fyrste, djerve, bjarte Viljen + skjemd ut med blakke Strik av Ettertankjen + og store Tiltak, som var Merg og Magt i, + maa soleid snu seg um og strøyma ovugt + og tapa Namn av Tiltak. + + [16. _Skrifter i Samling_, I, 168. Kristiania. 1911.] + + [17. Cf. Alf Torp. _Samtiden_, XIX (1908), p. 483.] + +This is a distinctly successful attempt--exact, fluent, poetic. Compare +it with the Danish of Foersom and Lembcke, with the Swedish of Hagberg, +or the new Norwegian "Riksmaal" translation, and Ivar Aasen's early +Landsmaal version holds its own. It keeps the right tone. The dignity of +the original is scarcely marred by a note of the colloquial. Scarcely +marred! For just as many Norwegians are offended by such a phrase as +"Hennar Taus er fagrar' en ho sjølv" in the balcony scene, so many more +will object to the colloquial "Au, d'er Knuten." _Au_ has no place in +dignified verse, and surely it is a most unhappy equivalent for "Ay, +there's the rub." Aasen would have replied that Hamlet's words are +themselves colloquial; but the English conveys no such connotation of +easy speech as does the Landsmaal to a great part of the Norwegian +people. But this is a trifle. The fact remains that Aasen gave a noble +form to Shakespeare's noble verse. + + +E + +For many years the work of Hauge and Aasen stood alone in Norwegian +literature. The reading public was content to go to Denmark, and the +growing Landsmaal literature was concerned with other matters--first of +all, with the task of establishing itself and the even more complicated +problem of finding a form--orthography, syntax, and inflexions which +should command general acceptance. For the Landsmaal of Ivar Aasen was +frankly based on "the best dialects," and by this he meant, of course, +the dialects that best preserved the forms of the Old Norse. These were +the dialects of the west coast and the mountains. To Aasen the speech of +the towns, of the south-east coast and of the great eastern valleys and +uplands was corrupt and vitiated. It seemed foreign, saturated and +spoiled by Danish. There were those, however, who saw farther. If +Landsmaal was to strike root, it must take into account not merely "the +purest dialects" but the speech of the whole country. It could not, for +example, retain forms like "dat," "dan," etc., which were peculiar to +Søndmør, because they happened to be lineal descendants of Old Norse, +nor should it insist on preterites in _ade_ and participles in _ad_ +merely because these forms were found in the sagas. We cannot enter upon +this subject; we can but point out that this movement was born almost +with Landsmaal itself, and that, after Aasen's fragments, the first +Norwegian translation of any part of Shakespeare is a rendering of +Sonnet CXXX in popularized Eastern, as distinguished from Aasen's +literary, aristocratic Western Landsmaal. It is the first translation of +a Shakespearean sonnet on Norwegian soil. The new language was hewing +out new paths. + + Som Soli Augunn' inkje skjin, + og som Koraller inkje Lipunn' glansar, + og snjokvit hev ho inkje Halsen sin, + og Gullhaar inkje Hove hennar kransar, + + Eg baae kvit' og raue Roser ser--, + paa Kinni hennar deira Lit'kje blandast; + og meire fin vel Blomsterangen er, + en den som ut fraa Lipunn' hennar andast. + + Eg høyrt hev hennar Røyst og veit endaa, + at inkje som ein Song dei læter Ori; + og aldrig hev eg set ein Engel gaa-- + og gjenta mi ser støtt eg gaa paa Jori. + + Men ho er større Lov og Ære vær + enn pyntedokkane me laana Glansen. + Den reine Hugen seg i alting ter, + og ljost ho smilar under Brurekransen.[18] + + [18. "Ein Sonett etter William Shakespeare." _Fram_--1872.] + +Obviously this is not a sonnet at all. Not only does the translator +ignore Shakespeare's rime scheme, but he sets aside the elementary +definition of a sonnet--a poem of fourteen lines. We have here sixteen +lines and the last two add nothing to the original. The poet, through +lack of skill, has simply run on. He could have ended with line 14 and +then, whatever other criticism might have been passed upon his work, we +should have had at least the sonnet form. The additional lines are in +themselves fairly good poetry but they have no place in what purports to +be translation. The translator signs himself simply "r." Whoever he was, +he had poetic feeling and power of expression. No mere poetaster could +have given lines so exquisite in their imagery, so full of music, and +so happy in their phrasing. This fact in itself makes it a poor +translation, for it is rather a paraphrase with a quality and excellence +all its own. Not a line exactly renders the English. The paraphrase is +never so good as the original but, considered by itself, it is good +poetry. The disillusionment comes only with comparison. On the whole, +this second attempt to put Shakespeare into Landsmaal was distinctly +less successful than the first. As poetry it does not measure up to +Aasen; as translation it is periphrastic, arbitrary, not at all +faithful. + + +F + +The translations which we have thus far considered were mere +fragments--brief soliloquies or a single sonnet, and they were done into +a dialect which was not then and is not now the prevailing literary +language of the country. They were earnest and, in the case of Aasen, +successful attempts to show that Landsmaal was adequate to the most +varied and remote of styles. But many years were to elapse before anyone +attempted the far more difficult task of turning any considerable part +of Shakespeare into "Modern Norwegian." + +Norway still relied, with no apparent sense of humiliation, on the +translations of Shakespeare as they came up from Copenhagen. In 1881, +however, Hartvig Lassen (1824-1897) translated _The Merchant of +Venice_.[19] Lassen matriculated as a student in 1842, and from 1850 +supported himself as a literateur, writing reviews of books and plays +for _Krydseren_ and _Aftenposten_. In 1872 he was appointed Artistic +Censor at the theater, and in that office translated a multitude of +plays from almost every language of Western Europe. His published +translations of Shakespeare are, however, quite unrelated to his +theatrical work. They were done for school use and published by +_Selskabet for Folkeoplysningens Fremme_ (Society for the Promotion +of Popular Education). + + [19. _Kjøbmanden i Venedig_--Et Skuespil af William + Shakespeare. Oversat af Hartvig Lassen. Udgivet af Selskabet for + Folkeoplysningens Fremme som andet Tillægshefte til _Folkevennen_ + for 1881. Kristiania, 1881.] + +To _Kjøbmanden i Venedig_ there is no introduction and no notes--merely +a postscript in which the translator declares that he has endeavored +everywhere faithfully to reproduce the peculiar tone of the play and to +preserve the concentration of style which is everywhere characteristic +of Shakespeare. He acknowledges his indebtedness to the Swedish +translation by Hagberg and the German by Schlegel. Inasmuch as this work +was published for wide, general distribution and for reading in the +schools, Lassen cut out the passages which he deemed unsuitable for the +untutored mind. "But," he adds, "with the exception of the last scene of +Act III, which, in its expurgated form, would be too fragmentary (and +which, indeed, does not bear any immediate relation to the action), only +a few isolated passages have been cut. Shakespeare has lost next to +nothing, and a great deal has been gained if I have hereby removed one +ground for the hesitation which most teachers would feel in using the +book in the public schools." In Act III, Scene 5 is omitted entirely, +and obvious passages in other parts of the play. + +It has frequently been said that Lassen did little more than +"norvagicize" Lembcke's Danish renderings. And certainly even the most +cursory reading will show that he had Lembcke at hand. But comparison +will also show that variations from Lembcke are numerous and +considerable. Lassen was a man of letters, a critic, and a good student +of foreign languages, but he was no poet, and his _Merchant of Venice_ +is, generally speaking, much inferior to Lembcke's. Compare, for +example, the exquisite opening of the fifth act: + + + LASSEN + + _Lor_: + Klart skinner Maanen, i en Nat som denne, + da Vinden gled med Lys igjennem Løvet, + og alt var tyst: i slig en Nat forvist + Trojas Murtinder Troilus besteg, + til Grækerlejren, til sin Cressida + udsukkende sin Sjæl. + + LEMBCKE + + Klart skinner Maanen, i en Nat som denne, + mens Luftningen saa sagte kyssed Træet + at knapt det sused, i en saadan Nat + steg Troilus vist up paa Trojas Mur + og sukked ud sin Sjæl mod Grækerlejren + der gjemte Cressida. + + + _Jes_: + I slig en Nat + sig Thisbe listed ængstelig, over Duggen + saa Løvens Skygge før hun saa den selv, + og løb forskrækket bort. + + En saadan Nat + gik Thisbe bange trippende paa Duggen + og øjned Løvens Skygge før den selv + og løb forfærdet bort. + + _Lor_: + I slig en Nat + stod Dido med en Vidjevaand i Haanden + paa vilden strand, og vinked til Kartago + sin elsker hjem igjen. + + En saadan Nat + stod Dido med en Vidjekvist i Haanden + paa vilden Strand og vinkede sin Elsker + tilbage til Carthagos Kyst. + + _Jes_: + I slig en Nat + Medea plukked Galder-Urt for Aeson + hans Ungdom at forny. + + Det var + en saadan Nat, da sankede Medea + de Trolddomsurter der foryngede + den gamle Aeson. + + _Lor_: + + I slig en Nat + stjal Jessica sig fra den rige Jøde, + Løb fra Venedig med en lystig Elsker + til Belmont uden Stands. + + Og en saadan Nat + sneg Jessica sig fra den rige Jøde + og løb med en Landstryger fra Venedig + herhid til Belmont. + + _Jes_: + + I slig en Nat + svor ung Lorenzo at han elsked hende, + stjal hendes Sjæl med mange Troskabsløfter + og ikke et var sandt. + + Og en saadan Nat + svor ung Lorenzo hende Kjærlighed + og stjal med Troskabseder hendes Hjerte + og aldrig en var sand. + + _Lor_: + + I slig en Nat + skjøn Jessica, den lille Klaffertunge, + løi paa sin Elsker, og han tilgav hende. + + I slig en Nat + bagtalte just skjøn Jessica sin Elsker + ret som en lille Trold, og han tilgav det. + + _Jes_: + + Jeg gad fortalt dig mer om slig en Nat, + hvis jeg ei hørte nogen komme--tys! + + Jeg skulde sagtens "overnatte" dig + hvis ingen kom; men tys, jeg hører der + Trin af en Mand. + +Lembcke's version is faithful to the point of slavishness. Compare, +for example, "Jeg skulde sagtens overnatte dig" with "I would outnight +you." Lassen, though never grossly inaccurate, allows himself greater +liberties. Compare lines 2-6 with the original and with Lembcke. In +every case the Danish version is more faithful than the Norwegian. And +more mellifluous. Why Lassen should choose such clumsy and banal lines +as: + + I slig en Nat + Trojas Murtinder Troilus besteg + +when he could have used Lembcke's, is inexplicable except on the +hypothesis that he was eager to prove his own originality. The remainder +of Lorenzo's first speech is scarcely better. It is neither good +translation nor decent verse. + +In 1882 came Lassen's _Julius Caesar_,[20] likewise published as a +supplement to _Folkevennen_ for use in the schools. A short postscript +tells us that the principles which governed in the translation of the +earlier play have governed here also. Lassen specifically declares that +he used Foersom's translation (Copenhagen, 1811) as the basis for the +translation of Antony's oration. A comparison shows that in this scene +Lassen follows Foersom closely--he keeps archaisms which Lembcke +amended. One or two instances: + + _Foersom_: + Seer, her foer Casii Dolk igjennem den; + seer, hvilken Rift den nidske Casca gjorde; + her rammed' den høitelskte Bruti Dolk, etc. + + _Lembcke_: + Se, her foer Cassius' Dolk igjennem den; + se hvilken Rift den onde Casca gjorde. + Her stødte Brutus den høitelskede, etc. + + _Lassen_: + Se! her foer Casii Dolk igjennem den; + se hvilken Rift den onde Casca gjorde. + Her rammed den høielskte Bruti Dolk, etc. + + [20. _Julius Caesar_. Et Skuespil af William Shakespeare. Oversat + af Hartvig Lassen. Udgivet af Selskabet for Folkeoplysningens + Fremme som første Tillægshefte til _Folkevennen_ for 1882. + Kristiania, 1882. Grøndal og Søn.] + +For the rest, a reading of this translation leaves the same impression +as a reading of _The Merchant of Venice_--it is a reasonably good +piece of work but distinctly inferior to Foersom and to Lembcke's +modernization of Foersom. Lassen clearly had Lembcke at hand; he seldom, +however, followed him for more than a line or two. What is more +important is that there are reminiscences of Foersom not only in +the funeral scene, where Lassen himself acknowledges the fact, but +elsewhere. Note a few lines from the quarrel between Brutus and Cassius +(Act IV, Sc. 3) beginning with Cassius' speech: + + Urge me no more, I shall forget myself. + +Foersom (Ed. 1811) has: + + _Cas_: + Tir mig ei mer at jeg ei glemmer mig; + husk Eders Vel--og frist mig ikke mere. + + _Bru_: + Bort, svage Mand! + + _Cas_: + Er dette muligt? + + _Bru_: + Hør mig; jeg vil tale. + Skal jeg for Eders vilde Sind mig bøie? + Troer I jeg kyses af en gal Mands Blik? + + _Cas_: + O Guder, Guder! skal jeg taale dette? + + _Bru_: + Ja, meer. Brum saa dette stolte Hierte brister; + Gak, viis den Hæftighed for Eders Trælle, + og faa dem til at skielve. Skal jeg vige, + og føie Eder? Skal jeg staae og bøie + mig under Eders Luners Arrighed? + Ved Guderne, I skal nedsvælge selv + al Eders Galdes Gift, om end I brast; + thi fra i dag af bruger jeg Jer kun + til Moerskab, ja til latter naar I vredes. + +And Lassen has: + +_Cas_: + _Tirr_ mig ei mer; jeg kunde glemme mig. + Tænk paa dit eget Vel, frist mig ei længer. + + _Bru_: + _Bort, svage Mand_! + + _Cas_: + Er dette muligt? + + _Bru_: + Hør mig, jeg vil tale. + Skal jeg _mig bøie_ for din Vredes Nykker? + Og skræmmes, naar en gal Mand glor paa mig? + + _Cas_: + O Guder, Guder! maa jeg taale dette? + + _Bru_: + Dette, ja mer end det. Stamp kun mod Brodden, + ras kun, indtil dit stolte Hjerte brister; + lad dine Slaver se hvor arg du er + og _skjelve_. Jeg--skal jeg tilside smutte? + Jeg gjøre Krus for dig? Jeg krumme Ryg + naar det behager dig? Ved Guderne! + Du selv skal _svælge_ al din _Galdes Gift_, + om saa du brister; thi fra denne Dag + jeg bruger dig til Moro, ja til Latter, + naar du er ilsk. + +The _italicized_ passages show that the influence of Foersom was felt +in more than one scene. It would be easy to give other instances. + +After all this, we need scarcely more than mention Lassen's +_Macbeth_[21] published in 1883. The usual brief note at the end of the +play gives the usual information that, out of regard for the purpose for +which the translation has been made, certain parts of the porter scene +and certain speeches by Malcolm in Act IV, Sc. 3 have been cut. Readers +will have no difficulty in picking them out. + + [21. _Macbeth_. Tragedie af William Shakespeare. Oversat af + H. Lassen. Udgivet af Selskabet for Folkeoplysningens Fremme som + andet Tillægshefte til _Folkevennen_ for 1883. Kristiania. Grøndal + og Søn.] + +_Macbeth_ is, like all Lassen's work, dull and prosaic. Like his other +translations from Shakespeare, it has never become popular. The standard +translation in Norway is still the Foersom-Lembcke, a trifle +nationalized with Norwegian words and phrases whenever a new acting +version is to be prepared. And while it is not true that Lassen's +translations are merely norvagicized editions of the Danish, it is true +that they are often so little independent of them that they do not +deserve to supersede the work of Foersom and Lembcke. + + +G + +Norwegian translations of Shakespeare cannot, thus far, be called +distinguished. There is no complete edition either in Riksmaal or +Landsmaal. A few sonnets, a play or two, a scrap of dialogue--Norway +has little Shakespeare translation of her own. Qualitatively, the case +is somewhat better. Several of the renderings we have considered are +extremely creditable, though none of them can be compared with the +best in Danish or Swedish. It is a grateful task, therefore, to call +attention to the translations by Christen Collin. They are not +numerous--only eleven short fragments published as illustrative material +in his school edition (English text) of _The Merchant of Venice_--[22] +but they are of notable quality, and they save the Riksmaal literature +from the reproach of surrendering completely to the Landsmaal the task +of turning Shakespeare into Norwegian. With the exception of a few lines +from _Macbeth_ and _Othello_, the selections are all from _The Merchant +of Venice_. + + [22. _The Merchant of Venice_. Med Indledning og Anmærkninger ved + Christen Collin. Kristiania. 1902. (This, of course, does not + include the translations of the sonnets referred to below.)] + +A good part of Collin's success must be attributed to his intimate +familiarity with English. The fine nuances of the language do not escape +him, and he can use it not with precision merely but with audacity and +power. Long years of close and sympathetic association with the +literature of England has made English well-nigh a second mother tongue +to this fine and appreciative critic. But he is more than a critic. He +has more than a little of the true poet's insight and the true poet's +gift of song. All this has combined to give us a body of translations +which, for fine felicity, stand unrivalled in Dano-Norwegian. Many of +these have been prepared for lecture purposes and have never been +printed.[23] Only a few have been perpetuated in this text edition of +_The Merchant of Venice_. We shall discuss the edition itself below. +Our concern here is with the translations. We remember Lassen's and +Lembcke's opening of the fifth act. Collin is more successful than his +countryman. + + _Lor_: + Hvor Maanen straaler! I en nat som denne, + da milde vindpust kyssed skovens trær + og alting var saa tyst, i slig en nat + Troilus kanske steg op paa Trojas mure + og stønned ud sin sjæl mod Grækerteltene + hvor Cressida laa den nat. + + _Jes_: + I slig en nat + kom Thisbe angstfuldt trippende over duggen,-- + saa løvens skygge, før hun saa den selv, + og løb forskrækket bort. + + _Lor_: + I slig en nat + stod Dido med en vidjekvist i haand + paa havets strand og vinkede Æneas + tilbage til Karthago. + + _Jes_: + I slig en nat + Medea sanked urter som foryngede + den gamle Æsons liv. + + _Lor_: + I slig en nat + stjal Jessica sig fra den rige Jøde + med en forfløien elsker fra Venedig + og fandt i Belmont ly. + + _Jes_: + I en saadan nat + svor ung Lorenzo at hun var ham kjær + og stjal med mange eder hendes hjerte, + men ikke en var sand. + + _Lor_: + I slig en nat + skjøn Jessica, den lille heks, bagtalte + sin elsker og han--tilgav hende alt. + + [23. I have seen these translations in the typewritten copies + which Professor Collin distributed among his students.] + +"A translation of this passage," says Collin,[24] "can hardly be more +than an approximation, but its inadequacy will only emphasize the +beauty of the original." Nevertheless we have here more than a feeble +approximation. It is not equal to Shakespeare, but it is good Norwegian +poetry and as faithful as translation can or need be. It is difficult to +refrain from giving Portia's plea for mercy, but I shall give instead +Collin's striking rendering of Shylock's arraignment of Antonio:[25] + + Signor Antonio, mangen en gang og tit + har paa Rialto torv I skjældt mig ud + for mine pengelaan og mine renter.... + Jeg bar det med taalmodigt skuldertræk, + for taalmod er jo blit vor stammes merke. + + I kalder mig en vantro, blodgrisk _hund_ + og spytter paa min jødiske gaberdin-- + hvorfor? for brug af hvad der er mit eget! + Nu synes det, I trænger til min hjælp. + + Nei virkelig? I kommer nu til mig + og siger: Shylock, laan os penge,--I, + som slængte eders slim hen paa mit skjæg + og satte foden paa mig, som I spændte, + en kjøter fra Jer dør, I be'r om penge! + Hvad skal jeg svare vel? Skal jeg 'ke svare: + Har en hund penge? Er det muligt, at + en kjøter har tre tusinde dukater? + Eller skal jeg bukke dybt og i trælletone + med sænket røst og underdanig hvisken + formæle: + "Min herre, I spytted paa mig sidste onsdag, + en anden dag I spændte mig, en tredje + I kaldte mig en hund; for al den artighed + jeg laaner Jer saa og saa mange penge?" + + [24. Collin, _op. cit._, _Indledning_, XII.] + + [25. Collin, _op. cit._, _Indledning_, XXVI. (_M. of V._, 1-3)] + +It is to be regretted that Collin did not give us Shylock's still more +impassioned outburst to Salarino in Act III. He would have done it well. + +It would be a gracious task to give more of this translator's work. It +is, slight though its quantity, a genuine contribution to the body of +excellent translation literature of the world. I shall quote but one +more passage, a few lines from _Macbeth_.[26] + + "Det tyktes mig som hørte jeg en røst; + Sov aldrig mer! Macbeth har myrdet søvnen, + den skyldfri søvn, som løser sorgens floke, + hvert daglivs død, et bad for mødig møie, + balsam for sjælesaar og alnaturens + den søde efterret,--dog hovednæringen + ved livets gjæstebud.... + + _Lady Macbeth_: + Hvad er det, du mener? + + _Macbeth_: + "Sov aldrig mer," det skreg til hele huset. + Glarais har myrdet søvnen, derfor Cawdor + skal aldrig mer faa søvn,--Macbeth, + Macbeth skal aldrig mer faa søvn!" + + [26. Collin, _op. cit._, _Indledning_, XXV. _Macbeth_ II, 1.] + + +H + +We have hitherto discussed the Norwegian translations of Shakespeare in +almost exact chronological order. It has been possible to do this +because the plays have either been translated by a single man and issued +close together, as in the case of Hartvig Lassen, or they have appeared +separately from the hands of different translators and at widely +different periods. We come now, however, to a group of translations +which, although the work of different men and published independently +from 1901 to 1912, nevertheless belong together. They are all in +Landsmaal and they represent quite clearly an effort to enrich the +literature of the new dialect with translations from Shakespeare. To do +this successfully would, obviously, be a great gain. The Maalstrævere +would thereby prove the capacity of their tongue for the highest, most +exotic forms of literature. They would give to it, moreover, the +discipline which the translation of foreign classics could not fail to +afford. It was thus a renewal of the missionary spirit of Ivar Aasen. +And behind it all was the defiant feeling that Norwegians should have +Shakespeare in Norwegian, not in Danish or bastard Danish. + +The spirit of these translations is obvious enough from the opening +sentence of Madhus' preface to his translation of _Macbeth_:[27] +"I should hardly have ventured to publish this first attempt at a +Norwegian translation of Shakespeare if competent men had not urged me +to do so." It is frankly declared to be the first Norwegian translation +of Shakespeare. Hauge and Lassen, to say nothing of the translator of +1818, are curtly dismissed from Norwegian literature. They belong to +Denmark. This might be true if it were not for the bland assumption +that nothing is really Norwegian except what is written in the dialect +of a particular group of Norwegians. The fundamental error of the +"Maalstrævere" is the inability to comprehend the simple fact that +language has no natural, instinctive connection with race. An American +born in America of Norwegian parents _may_, if his parents are energetic +and circumstances favorable, learn the tongue of his father and mother, +but his natural speech, the medium he uses easily, his real +mother-tongue, will be English. Will it be contended that this American +has lost anything in spiritual power or linguistic facility? Quite the +contrary. The use of Danish in Norway has had the unfortunate effect of +stirring up a bitter war between the two literary languages or the two +dialects of the same language, but it has imposed no bonds on the +literary or intellectual powers of a large part of the people, for the +simple reason that these people have long used the language as their +own. And because they live in Norway they have made the speech +Norwegian. Despite its Danish origin, Dano-Norwegian is today as truly +Norwegian as any other Norwegian dialect, and in its literary form it +is, in a sense, more Norwegian than the literary Landsmaal, for the +language of Bjørnson has grown up gradually on Norwegian soil; the +language of Ivar Aasen is not yet acclimatized. + + [27. William Shakespeare: _Macbeth_. I norsk Umskrift ved Olav + Madhus. Kristiania. 1901. H. Aschehoug & Co.] + +For these reasons it will not do to let Madhus' calm assertion go +unchallenged. The fact is that to a large part of the Norwegian people +Lassen's translations represent merely a slightly Danicized form of +their own language, while to the same people the language of Madhus is +at least as foreign as Swedish. This is not the place for a discussion +of "Sprogstriden." We may give full recognition to Landsmaal without +subscribing to the creed of enthusiasts. And it is still easier to give +credit to the excellence of the Shakespeare translations in Landsmaal +without concerning ourselves with the partisanship of the translator. +What shall we say, then, of the _Macbeth_ of Olav Madhus? + +First, that it is decidedly good. The tragedy of Macbeth is stark, grim, +stern, and the vigorous, resonant Norwegian fits admirably. There is +little opportunity, as in Aasen's selections from _Romeo and Juliet_ for +those unfortunate contrasts between the homespun of the modern dialect +and the exquisite silk and gossamer of the vocabulary of romance of +a "cultured language." Madhus has been successful in rendering into +Landsmaal scenes as different as the witch-scene, the porter-scene +(which Lassen omitted for fear it would contaminate the minds of school +children), the exquisite lines of the King and Banquo on their arrival +at Macbeth's castle, and Macbeth's last, tragic soliloquy when he learns +of the death of his queen. + +Duncan and Banquo arrive at the castle of Macbeth and Duncan speaks +those lovely lines: "This castle has a pleasant seat," etc. Madhus +translates: + + _Duncan_: + Ho hev eit fagert lægje, denne borgi, + og lufti lyar seg og gjer seg smeiki + aat vaare glade sansar. + + _Banquo_: + Sumar-gjesten, + den tempel-kjære svala, vitnar med, + at himlens ande blakrar smeikin her, + med di at ho so gjerne her vil byggje. + Det finst kje sule eller takskjeggs livd + og ikkje voll hell vigskar, der ei ho + hev hengt si lette seng og barne-vogge. + Der ho mest bur og bræer, hev eg merkt meg, + er lufti herleg. + +This is as light and luminous as possible. Contrast it with the slow, +solemn tempo of the opening of Act I, Sc. 7--Macbeth's "If it were done +when 'tis done," etc. + + Um det var gjort, naar d'er gjort, var det væl, + um det vart snart gjort; kunde løynmordsverke, + stengje og binde alle vonde fylgdir + og, med aa faa hurt honom, naa sitt maal, + so denne eine støyten som maa til, + vart enden, alt, det siste som det fyrste + i tidi her--den havsens øyr og bode + me sit paa no--,--med live som kjem etter + det fekk daa vaage voni. Men i slikt + vert domen sagd alt her. Blodtankane, + me el, kjem vaksne att og piner oss, + som gav deim liv og fostra deim; og drykken, + som me hev blanda eiter i aat andre, + vert eingong uta miskunn bodin fram + av rettferds hand aat vaare eigne munnar. + +The deep tones of a language born in mountains and along fjords finely +re-echo the dark broodings in Macbeth's soul. + +Or take still another example, the witch-scene in Act IV. It opens in +Madhus' version: + + _Fyrste Heks_: + Tri gong mjava brandut katt. + + _Andre Heks_: + Tri og ein gong bust-svin peip. + + _Tridje Heks_: + Val-ramn skrik. D'er tid, d'er tid. + + _Fyrste Heks_: + Ring um gryta gjeng me tri; + sleng forgiftigt seid--mang i. + Gyrme-gro, som under stein + dagar tredive og ein + sveita eiter, lat og leid, + koke fyrst i vaaro seid. + + _Alle_: + Tvifaldt træl og møda duble; + brand frase, seid buble! + + _Andre Heks_: + Møyrkjøt av ein myr-orm kald + so i gryta koke skal. + Ødle-augo, skinnveng-haar, + hundetunge, froskelaar, + slève-brodd, firfisle-svórd, + ule-veng og lyngaal-spórd + til eit seid som sinn kann rengje + hèl-sodd-heitt seg saman mengje! + +This is not only accurate; it is a decidedly successful imitation of the +movement of the original. Madhus has done a first-rate piece of work. +The language of witch-craft is as international as the language of +science. But only a poet can turn it to poetic use. + +Not quite so successful is Macbeth's soliloquy when the death of Lady +Macbeth is announced to him: + + Det skuld'ho drygt med. + Aat slikt eit ord var komi betre stund.-- + "I morgo" og "i morgo" og "i morgo," + slik sig det smaatt fram etter, dag for dag, + til siste ord i livsens sogubok; + og kvart "i gaar" hev daarer vegen lyst + til dust og daude. + +It is difficult to say just where the fault lies, but the thing seems +uncouth, a trifle too colloquial and peasant-like. The fault may be the +translator's, but something must also be charged to his medium. The +passage in Shakespeare is simple but it breathes distinction. The +Landsmaal version is merely colloquial, even banal. One fine line +there is: + + "til siste ord i livsens sogubok." + +But the rest suggests too plainly the limitations of an uncultivated +speech. + +In 1905 came a translation of _The Merchant of Venice_ by Madhus,[28] +and, uniform with it, a little book--_Soga um Kaupmannen i Venetia_ (The +Story of The Merchant of Venice) in which the action of the play is told +in simple prose. In the appendatory notes the translator acknowledges +his obligation to Arne Garborg--"Arne Garborg hev gjort mig framifraa +god hjelp, her som med _Macbeth_. Takk og ære hev han." + + [28. William Shakespeare--_Kaupmannen i Venetia_. Paa Norsk ved + Olav Madhus. Oslo. 1905.] + +What we have said of _Macbeth_ applies with no less force here. The +translation is more than merely creditable--it is distinctly good. And +certainly it is no small feat to have translated Shakespeare in all his +richness and fulness into what was only fifty years ago a rustic and +untrained dialect. It is the best answer possible to the charge often +made against Landsmaal that it is utterly unable to convey the subtle +thought of high and cosmopolitan culture. This was the indictment of +Bjørnson,[29] of philologists like Torp,[30] and of a literary critic +like Hjalmar Christensen.[31] The last named speaks repeatedly of the +feebleness of Landsmaal when it swerves from its task of depicting +peasant life. His criticism of the poetry of Ivar Mortensen is one long +variation of this theme--the immaturity of Landsmaal. All of this is +true. A finished literary language, even when its roots go deep into a +spoken language, cannot be created in a day. It must be enriched and +elaborated, and it must gain flexibility from constant and varied use. +It is precisely this apprentice stage that Landsmaal is now in. The +finished "Kultursprache" will come in good time. No one who has read +Garborg will deny that it can convey the subtlest emotions; and Madhus' +translations of Shakespeare are further evidence of its possibilities. + + [29. Bjørnson: _Vort Sprog_.] + + [30. Torp. _Samtiden_, Vol. XIX (1908), p. 408.] + + [31. _Vor Literatur_.] + +That Madhus does not measure up to his original will astonish no one +who knows Shakespeare translations in other languages. Even Tieck's +and Schlegel's German, or Hagberg's Swedish, or Foersom's Danish is no +substitute for Shakespeare. Whether or not Madhus measures up to these +is not for me to decide, but I feel very certain that he will not suffer +by comparison with the Danish versions by Wolff, Meisling, Wosemose, or +even Lembcke, or with the Norwegian versions of Hauge and Lassen. The +feeling that one gets in reading Madhus is not that he is uncouth, still +less inaccurate, but that in the presence of great imaginative richness +he becomes cold and barren. We felt it less in the tragedy of _Macbeth_, +where romantic color is absent; we feel it strongly in _The Merchant of +Venice_, where the richness of romance is instinct in every line. The +opening of the play offers a perfect illustration. In answer to +Antonio's complaint "In sooth I know not why I am so sad," etc, Salarino +replies in these stately and sounding lines: + + Your mind is tossing on the ocean; + There, where your argosies, with portly sail,-- + Like signiors and rich burghers of the flood, + Or, as it were, the pageants of the sea,-- + Do overpeer the petty traffickers + That curt'sy to them, do them reverence, + As they fly by them with their woven wings. + +The picture becomes very much less stately in Norwegian folk-speech: + + Paa storehave huskar hugen din, + der dine langferd-skip med staute segl + som hovdingar og herremenn paa sjø + i drusteferd, aa kalle, gagar seg + paa baara millom kræmarskutur smaa', + som nigjer aat deim og som helsar audmjukt + naar dei med vovne vengir framum stryk. + +The last two lines are adequate, but the rest has too much the flavor of +Ole and Peer discussing the fate of their fishing-smacks. Somewhat more +successful is the translation of the opening of Act V, doubtless because +it is simpler, less full of remote and sophisticated imagery. By way of +comparison with Lassen and Collin, it may be interesting to have it at +hand. + + _Lor_: + Ovfagert lyser maanen. Slik ei natt, + daa milde vindar kysste ljuve tre + so lindt at knapt dei susa, slik ei natt + steig Troilus upp paa Troja-murane + og sukka saali si til Greklands telt, + der Kressida laag den natti. + + _Jes_: + Slik ei natt + gjekk Thisbe hugrædd yvi doggvaat voll + og løveskuggen saag fyrr løva kom; + og rædd ho der-fraa rømde. + + _Lor_: + Slik ei natt + stod Dido med ein siljutein i hand + paa villan strand og vinka venen sin + tilbake til Kartago. + + _Jes_: + Slik ei natt + Medea trolldoms-urtir fann, til upp + aa yngje gamle Æson. + + _Lor_: + Slik ei natt + stal Jessika seg ut fraa judens hus + og med ein fark til festarmann for av + so langt som hit til Belmont. + + _Jes_: + Slik ei natt + svor ung Lorenso henne elskhugs eid + og hjarta hennar stal med fagre ord + som ikkje aatte sanning. + + _Lor_: + Slik ei natt + leksa ven' Jessika som eit lite troll + upp for sin kjærst, og han tilgav ho. + + _Jes_: + I natteleik eg heldt nok ut med deg, + um ingin kom; men hyss, eg høyrer stig. + +But when Madhus turns from such flights of high poetry to low comedy, +his success is complete. It may be a long time before Landsmaal can +successfully render the mighty line of Marlowe, or the manifold music of +Shakespeare, but we should expect it to give with perfect verity the +language of the people. And when we read the scenes in which Lancelot +Gobbo figures, there is no doubt that here Landsmaal is at home. Note, +for example, Act II, Sc. 1: + + "Samvite mitt vil visst ikkje hjelpe meg med aa røme fraa denne + juden, husbond min. Fenden stend her attum òlbogen min og segjer til + meg: "Gobbo, Lanselot Gobbo; gode Lanselot, eller gode Gobbo, bruka + leggine; tak hyven; drag din veg." Samvite segjer: "nei, agta deg, + ærlige Gobbo," eller som fyr sagt: "ærlige Lanselot Gobbo, røm + ikkje; set deg mot røming med hæl og taa!" Men fenden, den + stormodige, bed meg pakka meg; "fremad mars!" segjer fenden; "legg i + veg!" segjer fenden; "for alt som heilagt er," segjer fenden; "vaaga + paa; drag i veg!" Men samvite heng un halsen paa hjarta mitt og + talar visdom til meg; "min ærlige ven Lanselot, som er son av ein + ærlig mann, eller rettare: av eit ærligt kvende; for skal eg segja + sant, so teva det eit grand svidt av far min; han hadde som ein + attaat-snev; naah; samvite segjer: "du skal ikkje fantegaa." "Du + skal fantegaa," segjer fenden; "nei; ikkje fantegaa," segjer + samvite. "Du samvit," segjer eg, "du raader meg godt." "Du fenden," + segjer eg, "du raader meg godt." Fylgde eg no samvite, so vart eg + verande hjaa juden, som--forlate mi synd--er noko som ein devel; og + rømer eg fraa juden, so lyder eg fenden, som--beintfram sagt--er + develen sjølv. Visst og sannt: juden er sjølve develen i karnition; + men etter mitt vit er samvite mit vitlaust, som vil raade meg til aa + verta verande hjaa juden. Fenden gjev meg den venlegaste raadi; eg + tek kuten, fenden; hælane mine stend til din kommando; eg tek kuten." + +This has the genuine ring. The brisk colloquial vocabulary fits +admirably the brilliant sophistry of the argument. And both could come +only from Launcelot Gobbo. For "the simplicity of the folk" is one of +those fictions which romantic closet study has woven around the study of +"the people." + +Of the little re-telling of _The Merchant of Venice_, "Soga um +Kaupmannen i Venetia"[32] which appeared in the same year, nothing need +be said. It is a simple, unpretentious summary of the story with a +certain charm which simplicity and naïveté always give. No name appears +on the title-page, but we are probably safe in attributing it to +Madhus, for in the note to _Kaupmannen i Venetia_ we read: "I _Soga um +Kaupmannen i Venetia_ hev ein sjølve forteljingi som stykkji er bygt +paa." + + [32. _Soga um Kaupmannen i Venetia_. Oslo, 1905.] + + +I + +In the year 1903, midway between the publication of Madhus' _Macbeth_ +and the appearance of his _Kaupmannen i Venetia_, there appeared in the +chief literary magazine of the Landsmaal movement, "Syn og Segn," a +translation of the fairy scenes of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ by Erik +Eggen.[33] This is the sort of material which we should expect Landsmaal +to render well. Oberon and Titania are not greatly different from Nissen +and Alverne in Norwegian fairy tales, and the translator had but to +fancy himself in Alveland to be in the enchanted wood near Athens. The +spirit of the fairy scenes in Shakespeare is akin to the spirit of +Asbjørnson's "Huldre-Eventyr." There is in them a community of feeling, +of fancy, of ideas. And whereas Madhus had difficulty with the sunny +romance of Italy, Eggen in the story of Puck found material ready to +hand. The passage translated begins Act II, Sc. 1, and runs through Act +II to Oberon's words immediately before the entrance of Helen and +Demetrius: + + But who comes here? I am invisible; + And I will overhear their conference. + + [33. _Alveliv. Eller Shakespeare's Midsumarnatt Draum_ ved Erik + Eggen. _Syn og Segn_, 1903. No. 3-6, pp. (105-114); 248-259.] + +Then the translator omits everything until Puck re-enters and Oberon +greets him with the words: + + Velkomen, vandrar; hev du blomen der? + (Hast thou the flower there? Welcome, wanderer.) + +Here the translation begins again and goes to the exit of Oberon and the +entrance of Lysander and Hermia. This is all in the first selection in +_Syn og Segn_, No. 3. + +In the sixth number of the same year (1903) the work is continued. The +translation here begins with Puck's words (Act III): + + What hempen homespuns have we swaggering here? + So near the cradle of the fairy queen? + What, a play toward! I'll be an auditor; + An actor, too, if I see cause. + +Then it breaks off again and resumes with the entrance of Puck and +Bottom adorned with an ass's head. Quince's words: "O monstrous! O +strange!" are given and then Puck's speech: "I'll follow you: I'll lead +you about a round." After this there is a break till Bottom's song: + + "The ousel cock, so black of hue," etc. + +And now all proceeds without break to the _Hail_ of the last elf called +in to serve Bottom, but the following speeches between Bottom and the +fairies, Cobweb, Mustardseed and Peaseblossom, are all cut, and the +scene ends with Titania's speech: + + "Come, wait upon him, lead him to my bower," etc. + +Act III, Sc. 2, follows immediately, but the translation ends with the +first line of Oberon's speech to Puck before the entrance of Demetrius +and Hermia: + + "This falls out better than I could devise." + +and resumes with Oberon's words: + + "I'll to my queen and beg her Indian boy," + +and includes (with the omission of the last two lines) Oberon's speech +beginning: + + "But we are spirits of another sort." + +Eggen then jumps to the fourth act and translates Titania's opening +speech. After this there is a break till the entrance of Oberon. The +dialogue between Titania and Oberon is given faithfully, except that +in the speech in which Oberon removes the incantation, all the lines +referring to the wedding of Theseus are omitted; the speeches of Puck, +Oberon, and Titania immediately preceding the entrance of Theseus, +Hippolyta, Egeus, and their train, are rendered. + +From Act V the entire second scene is given. + +Eggen has, then, attempted to give a translation into Norwegian +Landsmaal of the fairy scenes in _A Midsummer Night's Dream_. He has +confined himself severely to his task as thus limited, even cutting out +lines from the middle of speeches when these lines refer to another part +of the action or to another group of characters. What we have is, then, +a fragment, to be defended only as an experiment, and successful in +proportion as it renders single lines, speeches, or songs well. On the +whole, Eggen has been successful. There is a vigor and directness in his +style which, indeed, seem rather Norwegian than Shakespearean, but which +are, nevertheless, entirely convincing. One is scarcely conscious that +it is a translation. And in the lighter, more romantic passages Eggen +has hit the right tone with entire fidelity. His knowledge is sound. His +notes, though exhibiting no special learning, show clearly that he is +abreast of modern scholarship. Whenever his rendering seems daring, he +accompanies it with a note that clearly and briefly sets forth why a +particular word or phrase was chosen. The standard Danish, Norwegian, +and German translations are known to him, and occasionally he borrows +from them. But he knows exactly why he does borrow. His scholarship +and his real poetic power combine to give us a translation of which +Landsmaal literature has every reason to be proud. We need give only +a few passages. I like the rollicking humor of Puck's words: + + Kor torer uhengt kjeltrings pakk daa skvaldre + so nære vogga hennar alvemor? + Kva?--skodespel i gjerdom? Eg vil sjaa paa-- + kann hende spele med, um so eg synest. + +And a little farther on when Bottom, adorned with his ass's head, +returns with Puck, and the simple players flee in terror and Puck +exclaims: + + Eg fylgjer dykk og fører rundt i tunn, + i myr og busk og ormegras og klunger, + og snart eg er ein hest og snart ein hund, + ein gris, ein mannvond bjørn, snart flammetungur, + og kneggjer, gøyr og ryler, murrar, brenn, + som hest, hund, gris, bjørn, varme--eitt um senn. + +we give our unqualified admiration to the skill of the translator. Or, +compare Titania's instructions to the faries to serve her Bottom: + + Ver venlege imot og tén den herren! + Dans vænt for augo hans, hopp der han gjeng! + Gjev aprikos og frukt fraa blaabærlid, + ei korg med druvur, fikjur, morbær i! + Stel honningsekken bort fraa annsam bi! + Til Nattljos hennar voksbein slit i fleng,-- + kveik deim paa jonsok-onn i buskeheng! + Lys for min ven, naar han vil gaa i seng. + Fraa maala fivreld slit ein fager veng, + og fraa hans augo maaneljose steng. + Hels honom so, og kyss til honom sleng. + + _Fyrste Alven_: + Menneskje. + + _Andre Alven_: + Heil deg! + + _Tridje Alven_: + Heil! + + _Fjerde Alven_: + Heil og sæl! + + _Titania_: + Tén honom so! Leid honom til mitt rom! + Eg tykkjer maanen er i augo vaat; + og naar han græt, daa græt kvar litin blom, + og minnest daa ei tilnøydd dygd med graat. + Legg handi paa hans munn! Og stilt far aat! + +It is, however, in his exquisitely delicate rendering of the songs of +this play--certainly one of the most difficult tasks that a translator +can undertake--that Eggen has done his best work. There is more than a +distant echo of the original in this happy translation of Bottom's song: + + Han trostefar med svarte kropp + og nebb som appelsin, + og gjerdesmett med litin topp + og stare med tone fin. + Og finke, sporv og lerke graa + og gauk,--ho, ho![34] han lær, + so tidt han gjev sin næste smaa; + men aldri svar han fær. + + [34. The translator explains in a note the pun in the original.] + +The marvelous richness of the Norwegian dialects in the vocabulary of +folklore is admirably brought out in the song with which the fairies +sing Titania to sleep:[35] + + _Ein alv_: + Spettut orm med tungur tvo, + kvass bust-igel, krjup kje her! + Øle, staal-orm, fara no, + kom vaar alvemor ei nær! + + _Alle alvene_: + Maaltrost, syng med tone full + du med oss vaart bysselull: + bysse, bysse, bysselull, + ei maa vald, + ei heksegald + faa vaar dronning ottefull; + so god natt og bysselull. + + _Ein annan alv_: + Ingi kongrov vil me sjaa, + langbeint vevekjering, gakk! + Svart tordivel, burt her fraa, + burt med snigil og med makk! + + _Alle alvene_: + Maaltrost, syng med tone full + du med oss vaart bysselull: + bysse, bysse, bysselull, + bysse, bysse, bysselull, + ei maa vald, + ei heksegald + faa vaar dronning ottefull; + so god natt og bysselull. + + [35. Act II, Sc. 2.] + +It is easy to draw upon this fragment for further examples of felicitous +translation. It is scarcely necessary, however. What has been given is +sufficient to show the rare skill of the translator. He is so fortunate +as to possess in a high degree what Bayard Taylor calls "secondary +inspiration," without which the work of a translator becomes a soulless +mass and frequently degenerates into the veriest drivel. Erik Eggen's +_Alveliv_ deserves a place in the same high company with Taylor's +_Faust_. + +Nine years later, in 1912, Eggen returned to the task he had left +unfinished with the fairy scenes in _Syn og Segn_ and gave a complete +translation of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_. In a little prefatory note +he acknowledges his indebtedness to Arne Garborg, who critically +examined the manuscript and gave valuable suggestions and advice. +The introduction itself is a restatement in two pages of the +Shakespeare-Essex-Leicester-Elizabeth story. Shakespeare recalls the +festivities as he saw them in youth when he writes in Act II, Sc. 2: + + thou rememberest + Since once I sat upon a promontory, + And heard a mermaid upon a dolphin's back, etc. + +And it is Elizabeth he has in mind when, in the same scene, we read: + + That very time I saw, but thou could'st not, + Flying between the cold moon and the earth, + Cupid all armed, etc. + +All of this is given by way of background, and it is of little +importance to the general readers what modern Shakespeare scholars +may say of it. + +Eggen has not been content merely to reprint in the complete translation +his earlier work from _Syn og Segn_, but he has made a thoroughgoing +revision.[36] It cannot be said to be altogether happy. Frequently, of +course, a line or phrase is improved or an awkward turn straightened +out, but, as a whole, the first version surpasses the second not in +poetic beauty merely, but in accuracy. Compare, for example, the two +renderings of the opening lines: + + SYN OG SEGN--1903 + + _Nissen_: + Kor no ande! seg, kvar skal du av? + + REVISION OF 1912 + + _Tuften_: + Hallo! Kvar skal du av, du vesle vette? + + _Alven_: + Yver dal, yver fjell, + gjenom vatn, gjenom eld, + yver gras, yver grind, + gjenom klunger so stinn, + yver alt eg smett og kliv + snøggare enn maanen sviv; + eg i gras dei ringar doggar, + der vaar mori dans seg voggar. + + _Alven_: + Yver dal, yver fjell, + gjenom vatn, gjenom eld, + yver gras, yver grind, + gjenom klunger so stinn, + alle stad'r eg smett og kliv + snøggare enn maanen sviv; + eg dogge maa + dei grøne straa + som vaar dronning dansar paa. + + Hennar vakt mun symrur vera, + gyllne klæde mun dei bera; + sjaa dei stjernur alvar gav deim! + Derfraa kjem all angen av deim. + Aa sanke dogg--til de eg kom; + ei perle fester eg til kvar ein blom. + Far vel, du ande-styving! Eg maa vekk; + vaar dronning er her ho paa fljugand' flekk. + + Kvart nykelband + er adelsmann, + med ordenar dei glime kann; + kvar blank rubin, + paa bringa skin, + utsender ange fin. + Doggdropar blanke + skal eg sanke, + mange, mange, + dei skal hange + kvar av hennar + adels-mennar + glimande i øyra. + + [36. William Shakespeare--_Jonsok Draumen_--Eit Gamenspel. Paa + Norsk ved Erik Eggen. Oslo, 1912.] + +Now, admitting that + + eg dogge maa + dei grøne straa + som vaar dronning dansar paa. + +is a better translation than in the _Syn og Segn_ text--which is +doubtful enough--it is difficult to see what can be the excuse for such +pompous banality as + + Kvart nykelband + er adelsmann, + med ordenar dei glime kann; + +the first version is not above reproach in this respect. It might +fairly be asked: where does Eggen get his authority for + + sjaa dei stjernur alvar gav deim! + +But the lines are not loaded down with imagery which is both misleading +and in bad taste. Eggen should have left his first version unchanged. +Such uninspired prose as: + + kvar blank rubin, + paa bringa skin, + utsender ange fin. + +have to the ears of most Norwegians the atmosphere of the back stairs. +Better the unadorned version of 1903. + +In the passage following, Robin's reply, the revised version is probably +better than the first, though there seems to be little to choose between +them. But in the fairy's next speech the translator has gone quite +beyond his legitimate province, and has improved Shakespeare by a +picture from Norwegian folklore. Following the lines of the original: + + Misleade nightwanderers, laughing at their harm, + +Eggen has added this homelike conception in his translation: + + som òg kann draga fôr til hest og naut, + naar berre du kvar torsdag fær din graut. + +Shakespeare in Elysium must have regretted that he was not born in the +mountains of Norway! + +And when Robin, in the speech that follows, tells of his antics, one +wonders just a little what has been gained by the revision. The same +query is constantly suggested to anyone who compares the two texts. + +Nor do I think that the lyrics have gained by the revision. Just a +single comparison--the lullaby in the two versions. We have given it +above as published in _Syn og Segn_. The following is its revised form: + + _Fyrste alven_: + Spettut orm, bustyvel kvass, + eiter-ødle, sleve graa, + fare burt fraa denne plass, + so vaar dronning sova maa! + + _Alle_: + Maaltrost, syng med oss i lund + dronningi i sælan blund: + Byssam, byssam barne, + gryta heng i jarne. + Troll og nykk, + gakk burt med dykk + denne sæle skymingsstund! + So god natt! Sov søtt i lund! + + _Andre alven_: + Burt, tordivel, kom kje her! + Makk og snigill, burt dykk vinn! + Kongro, far ei onnor ferd, + langt ifraa oss din spune spinn! + + _Alle_: + Maaltrost, syng med oss i lund, etc. + +The first version is not only more literal but, so far as I can judge, +superior in every way--in music and delicacy of phrase. And again, Eggen +has taken it upon himself to patch up Shakespeare with homespun rags +from his native Norwegian parish. It is difficult to say upon what +grounds such tinkerings with the text as: + + Byssam, byssam barne, + gryta, heng i jarne, + +can be defended. + +But we have already devoted too much space to this matter. Save for a +few isolated lines, Eggen might very well have left these scenes as he +gave them to us in 1903. We then ask, "What of the much greater part of +the play now translated for the first time?" Well, no one will dispute +the translator's triumph in this scene:[37] + + _Mønsaas_: + Er heile kompanie samla? + + _Varp_: + Det er best du ropar deim upp alle saman, mann for mann, etter + lista. + + _Mønsaas_: + Her er ei liste yver namni paa alle deim som me i heile Atén finn + mest høvelege til aa spela i millomstykke vaareses framfyre hertugen + og frua hans paa brudlaupsdagen um kvelden. + + _Varp_: + Du Per Mønsaas, lyt fyrst segja kva stykke gjeng ut paa; les so upp + namni paa spelarne, og so--til saki. + + _Mønsaas_: + Ja vel. Stykke heiter: "Det grøtelege gamanspele um Pyramus og Tisbi + og deira syndlege daude." + + _Varp_: + Verkeleg eit godt stykke arbeid, skal eg segja dykk, og morsamt med. + No, min gode Per Mønsaas, ropa upp spelarne etter lista. Godtfolk, + spreid dykk. + + _Mønsaas_: + Svara ettersom eg ropar dykk upp. + Nils Varp, vevar? + + _Varp_: + Her! Seg kva for ein rolle eg skal hava, og haldt so fram. + + _Mønsaas_: + Du, Nils Varp, er skrivin for Pyramus. + + _Varp_: + Kva er Pyramus for slags kar? Ein elskar eller ein fark? + + _Mønsaas_: + Ein elskar som drep seg sjølv paa ægte riddarvis av kjærleik. + + _Varp_: + Det kjem til aa koste taarur um ein spelar det retteleg. Fær eg + spela det, so lyt nok dei som ser paa, sjaa til kvar dei hev augo + sine; eg skal grøte steinen, eg skal jamre so fælt so. For resten, + mi gaave ligg best for ein berserk. Eg skulde spela herr Kules + fraamifra--eller ein rolle, der eg kann klore og bite og slaa all + ting i mòl og mas: + Og sprikk det fjell + med toresmell, + daa sunder fell + kvar port so sterk. + Stig Føbus fram + bak skyatram, + daa sprikk med skam + alt gygere-herk. + Det der laag no høgt det. Nemn so resten av spelarane. Dette var + rase til herr Kules, berserk-ras; ein elskar er meir klagande. + + [37. Act II, Sc. 2.] + +There can be no doubt about the genuineness of this. It catches the +spirit of the original and communicates it irresistibly to the reader. +When Bottom (Varp) says "Kva er Pyramus for slags kar?" or when he +threatens, "Eg skal grøte steinen, eg skal jamre so fælt so," one who +has something of Norwegian "Sprachgefühl" will exclaim that this is +exactly what it should be. It is not the language of Norwegian +artisans--they do not speak Landsmaal. But neither is the language of +Shakespeare's craftsmen the genuine spoken language of Elizabethan +craftsmen. The important thing is that the tone is right. And this +feeling of a right tone is still further satisfied in the rehearsal +scene (III, Sc. 1). Certain slight liberties do not diminish our +pleasure. The reminiscence of _Richard III_ in Bottom's, "A calendar, a +calendar, looke in the Almanack, finde out moonshine," translated "Ei +almanakke, ei almanakke, mit kongerike for ei almanakke," seems, +however, a labored piece of business. One line, too, has been added to +this speech which is a gratuitous invention of the translator, or +rather, taken from the curious malaprop speech of the laboring classes; +"Det er rett, Per Mønsaas; sjaa millom aspektarane!" There can be no +objection to an interpolation like this if the translation does not aim +to be scholarly and definitive, but merely an effort to bring a foreign +classic home to the masses. And this is, obviously, Eggen's purpose. +Personally I do not think, therefore, that there is any objection to a +slight freedom like this. But it has no place at all in the fairies' +lullaby. + +When we move to the circle of the high-place lovers or the court, +I cannot feel that the Landsmaal is quite so convincing. There is +something appallingly clumsy, labored, hard, in this speech of Hermia's: + + Min eigin gut, + eg sver ved beste bogen Amor hev, + ved beste pili hans, med odd av gull, + ved duvune, dei reine og dei kvite + som flyg paa tun hjaa fagre Afrodite, + ved det som knyter mannehjarto saman, + ved det som føder kjærlerks fryd og gaman, + ved baale, der seg dronning Dido brende, + daa seg Æneas trulaus fraa ho vende, + ved kvar den eid som falske menn hev svori-- + langt fleir enn kvinnelippur fram hev bori, + at paa den staden du hev nemnt for meg, + der skal i morgo natt eg møte deg. + +In spite of the translator's obvious effort to put fire into the +passage, his failure is all too evident. Even the ornament of these +lines--to which there is nothing to correspond in the original--only +makes the poetry more forcibly feeble: + + ved duvune, dei reine og dei kvite + som flyg paa tun hjaa fagre Afrodite, + +Shakespeare says quite simply: + + By the simplicity of Venus Doves, + +and to anyone but a Landsmaal fanatic it seems ridiculous to have +Theseus tell Hermia: "Demetrius er so gild ein kar som nokon." +"Demetrius is a worthy gentleman," says Shakespeare and this has +"the grand Manner." But to a cultivated Norwegian the translation is +"Bauernsprache," such as a local magnate might use in forcing a suitor +on his daughter. + +All of which goes back to the present condition of Landsmaal. It has +little flexibility, little inward grace. It is not a finished literary +language. But, despite its archaisms, Landsmaal is a living language and +it has, therefore, unlike the Karathevusa of Greece, the possibility of +growth. The translations of Madhus and Aasen and Eggen have made notable +contributions to this development. They are worthy of all praise. Their +weaknesses are the result of conditions which time will change. + + +J + +One might be tempted to believe from the foregoing that the +propagandists of "Maalet" had completely monopolized the noble task of +making Shakespeare accessible in the vernacular. And this is almost +true. But the reason is not far to seek. Aside from the fact that in +Norway, as elsewhere, Shakespeare is read mainly by cultivated people, +among whom a sound reading knowledge of English is general, we have +further to remember that the Foersom-Lembcke version has become standard +in Norway and no real need has been felt of a separate Norwegian version +in the dominant literary language. In Landsmaal the case is different. +This dialect must be trained to "Literaturfähigkeit." It is not so much +that Norway must have her own Shakespeare as that Landsmaal must be put +to use in every type of literature. The results of this missionary +spirit we have seen. + +One of the few translations of Shakespeare that have been made into +Riksmaal appeared in 1912, _Hamlet_, by C.H. Blom. As an experiment it +is worthy of respect, but as a piece of literature it is not to be taken +seriously. Like Lassen's work, it is honest, faithful, and utterly +uninspired. + +The opening scene of _Hamlet_ is no mean test of a translator's +ability--this quick, tense scene, one of the finest in dramatic +literature. Foersom did it with conspicuous success. Blom has reduced +it to the following prosy stuff: + + _Bernardo_: + Hvem der? + + _Francisco_: + Nei, svar mig først; gjør holdt og sig hvem der! + + _Ber_: + Vor konge længe leve! + + _Fra_: + De, Bernardo? + + _Ber_: + Ja vel. + + _Fra_: + De kommer jo paa klokkeslaget. + + _Ber_: + Ja, den slog tolv nu. Gaa til ro, Francisco. + + _Fra_: + Tak for De løser av. Her er saa surt, og jeg er dødsens træt. + + _Ber_: + Har du hat rolig vagt? + + _Fra_: + En mus har ei + sig rørt. + + _Ber_: + Nu vel, god nat. + Hvis du Marcellus og Horatio ser, + som skal ha vakt med mig, bed dem sig skynde. + + _Fra_: + Jeg hører dem vist nu. Holdt hoi! Hvem der. + (Horatio og Marcellus kommer.) + + _Horatio_: + Kun landets venner. + + _Marcellus_: + Danekongens folk! + + _Fra_: + God nat, sov godt! + + _Mar_: + Godnat, du bra soldat! + Hvem har løst av? + + _Fra_: + Bernardo staar paa post. + God nat igjen. (Gaar.) + +It requires little knowledge of Norwegian to dismiss this as dull +and insipid prose, a part of which has accidentally been turned into +mechanical blank verse. Moreover, the work is marked throughout by +inconsistency and carelessness in details. For instance the king begins +(p. 7) by addressing Laertes: + + Hvad melder _De_ mig om _Dem_ selv, Laertes? + +and two lines below: + + Hvad kan _du_ be mig om? + +It might be a mere slip that the translator in one line uses the formal +_De_ and in another the familiar _du_, but the same inconsistency occurs +again and again throughout the volume. In itself a trifle, it indicates +clearly enough the careless, slipshod manner of work--and an utter lack +of a sense of humor, for no one with a spark of humor would use the +modern, essentially German _De_ in a Norwegian translation of +Shakespeare. If a formal form must be used it should, as a matter +of course, be _I_. + +Nor is the translation itself so accurate as it should be. For example, +what does it mean when Marcellus tells Bernardo that he had implored +Horatio "at vogte paa minutterne inat" (to watch over the minutes this +night)? Again, in the King's speech to Hamlet (Act I, Sc. 2) the phrase +"bend you to remain" is rendered by the categorical "se til at bli +herhjemme," which is at least misleading. Little inaccuracies of this +sort are not infrequent. + +But, after all, a translator with a new variorum and a wealth of +critical material at hand cannot go far wrong in point of mere +translation. The chief indictment to be made against Blom's translation +is its prosiness, its prosy, involved sentences, its banality. What in +Shakespeare is easy and mellifluous often becomes in Blom so vague that +its meaning has to be discovered by a reference to the original. + +We gave, some pages back, Ivar Aasen's translation of Hamlet's +soliloquy. The interesting thing about that translation is not only that +it is the first one in Norwegian but that it was made into a new dialect +by the creator of that dialect himself. When we look back and consider +what Aasen had to do--first, make a literary medium, and then pour into +the still rigid and inelastic forms of that language the subtlest +thinking of a great world literature--we gain a new respect for his +genius. Fifty years later Blom tried his hand at the same soliloquy. He +was working in an old and tried literary medium--Dano-Norwegian. But he +was unequal to the task: + + At være eller ikke være, det + problemet er: Om det er større av + en sjæl at taale skjæbnens pil og slynge + end ta til vaaben mot et hav av plager + og ende dem i kamp? At dø,--at sove, + ei mer; og tro, at ved en søvn vi ender + vor hjerteve og livets tusen støt, + som kjød er arving til--det maal for livet + maa ønskes inderlig. At dø,--at sove-- + at sove!--Kanske drømme! Der er knuten; + for hvad i dødsens søvn vi monne drømme, + naar livets lænke vi har viklet av, + det holder os igjen; det er det hensyn, + som gir vor jammer her saa langt et liv' etc. + + +K + +Much more interesting than Blom's attempt, and much more significant, +is a translation and working over of _As You Like It_ which appeared +in November of the same year. The circumstances under which this +translation were made are interesting. Fru Johanne Dybwad, one of the +"stars" at the National Theater was completing her twenty-fifth year +of service on the stage, and the theater wished to commemorate the event +in a manner worthy of the actress. For the gala performance, Herman +Wildenvey, a poet of the young Norway, made a new translation and +adaptation of _As You Like It_.[38] And no choice could have been more +felicitous. Fru Dybwad had scored her greatest success as Puck; the life +and sparkle and jollity of that mischievous wight seemed like a poetic +glorification of her own character. It might be expected, then, that she +would triumph in the rôle of Rosalind. + + [38: _As You Like It_, eller _Livet i Skogen_. Dramatisk Skuespil + av William Shakespeare. Oversat og bearbeidet for Nationaltheatret + av Herman Wildenvey. Kristiania og København. 1912.] + +Then came the problem of a stage version. A simple cutting of Lembcke +seemed inappropriate to this intensely modern woman. There was danger, +too, that Lembcke's faithful Danish would hang heavy on the light and +sparkling Norwegian. Herman Wildenvey undertook to prepare an acting +version that should fit the actress and the occasion. The result is the +text before us. For the songs and intermissions, Johan Halvorsen, +Kapelmester of the theater, composed new music and the theater provided +a magnificent staging. The tremendous stage-success of Wildenvey's _As +You Like It_ belongs rather to stage history, and for the present we +shall confine ourselves to the translation itself. + +First, what of the cutting? In a short introduction the translator has +given an apologia for his procedure. It is worth quoting at some length. +"To adapt a piece of literature is, as a rule, not especially +commendable. And now, I who should be the last to do it, have become the +first in this country to attempt anything of the sort with Shakespeare. + +"I will not defend myself by saying that most of Shakespeare's plays +require some sort of adaptation to the modern stage if they are to be +played at all. But, as a matter of fact, I have done little adapting. I +have dusted some of the speeches, maltreated others, and finally cut out +a few which would have sputtered out of the mouths of the actors like +fringes of an old tapestry. But, above all, I have tried to reproduce +the imperishable woodland spirit, the fresh breath of out-of-doors which +permeates this play." + +Wildenvey then states that in his cuttings he has followed the edition +of the British Empire Shakespeare Society. But the performance in +Kristiania has demanded more, "and my adaptation could not be so +wonderfully ideal. _As You Like It_ is, probably more than any other of +Shakespeare's plays, a jest and only in part a play. Through the title +he has given his work, he has given me the right to make my own +arrangement which is accordingly, yours truly _As You Like It_." + +But the most cursory examination will show that this is more than a mere +"cutting." In the first place, the five acts have been cut to four and +scenes widely separated, have often been brought together. In this way +unnecessary scene-shifts have been avoided. But the action has been kept +intact and only two characters have been eliminated: Jacques de Bois, +whose speeches have been given to Le Beau, and Hymen, whose rôle has +been given to Celia. Two or three speeches have been shifted. But to a +reader unacquainted with Shakespeare all this would pass unnoticed, as +would also, doubtless, the serious cutting and the free translation. + +A brief sketch of Wildenvey's arrangement will be of service. + +[Transcriber's Note: +The summary is given here exactly as it appears in Ruud's text. Note +in particular Wildenvey's I, 2, and Shakespeare's II, 1.] + + Act I, Sc. 1. + + An open place on the road to Sir Oliver's house. + + The scene opens with a short, exceedingly free rendering of + Orlando's speech and runs on to the end of Scene 1 in Shakespeare. + + Act I, Sc. 2. + + Outside of Duke Frederik's Palace. + + Begins with I, 2 and goes to I, 3. Then follows without change of + scene, I, 3. and, following that, 1, 3. + + Act II. + + In Wildenvey this is all one scene. + + Opens with a rhapsodical conversation between the banished duke and + Amiens on the glories of nature and the joys of out-door life. It is + fully in Shakespeare's tone, but Wildenvey's own invention. After + this the scene continues with II, 1. The first lord's speech in + Wildenvey, however, is merely a free adaptation of the original, and + the later speech of the first lord, describing Jacques' reveries on + the hunt, is put into the mouth of Jacques himself. A few entirely + new speeches follow and the company goes out upon the hunt. + + There is then a slight pause, but no scene division, and Shakespeare's + II, 4 follows. This is succeeded again without a break, by II, 5, II, + 6, and II, 7 (the opening of II, 7 to the entrance of Jacques, is + omitted altogether) to the end of the act. + + Act III. + + This act has two scenes. + + Sc. 1. In Duke Frederik's palace. It opens with II, I and then + follows III, 1. + + Sc. 2. In the Forest of Arden. Evening. + + Begins with III, 2. Then follows III, 4, III, 5, IV, 1. + + Act IV. + + Wildenvey's last act (IV) opens with Shakespeare's IV, 2 and + continues: IV, 3, V, 1, V, 2, V, 3, V, 4. + +A study of this scheme shows that Wildenvey has done no great violence +to the fable nor to the characters. His shifts and changes are sensible +enough. In the treatment of the text, however, he has had no scruples. +Shakespeare is mercilessly cut and mangled. + +The ways in which this is done are many. A favorite device is to break +up long speeches into dialogue. To make this possible he has to put +speeches of his own invention into the mouths of other characters. The +opening of the play gives an excellent illustration. In Wildenvey we +read: + + _Orlando_: (kommer ind med tjeneren Adam) + Nu kan du likesaa godt faa vite hvordan alle mine bedrøveligheter + begynder, Adam! Min salig far testamenterte mig nogen fattige tusen + kroner og paala uttrykkelig min bror at gi mig en standsmæssig + opdragelse. Men se hvordan han opfylder sin broderpligt mot mig! + Han lar min bror Jacques studere, og rygtet melder om hans store + fremgang. Men mig underholder han hjemme, det vil si, han holder mig + hjemme uten at underholde mig. For man kan da vel ikke kalde det at + underholde en adelsmand som ellers regnes for at staldfore en okse! + + _Adam_: + Det er synd om Eder, herre, I som er min gamle herres bedste søn! + Men jeg tjener Eders bror, og er alene tjener... + + _Orl_: + Her hos ham har jeg ikke kunnet lægge mig til noget andet end vækst, + og det kan jeg være ham likesaa forbunden for som hans husdyr hist + og her. Formodentlig er det det jeg har arvet av min fars aand som + gjør oprør mot denne behandling. Jeg har ingen utsigt til nogen + forandring til det bedre, men hvad der end hænder, vil jeg ikke + taale det længer. + +Orlando's speech, we see, has been broken up into two, and between the +two new speeches has been interpolated a speech by Adam which does not +occur in the original. The same trick is resorted to repeatedly. Note, +for instance, Jacques first speech on the deer (Act II, 7) and Oliver's +long speech in IV, 3. The purpose of this is plain enough--to enliven +the dialogue and speed up the action. Whether or not it is a legitimate +way of handling Shakespeare is another matter. + +More serious than this is Wildenvey's trick of adding whole series of +speeches. We have noted in our survey of the "bearbeidelse" that the +second act opens with a dialogue between the Duke and Amiens which is a +gratuitous addition of Wildenvey's. It is suggested by the original, +but departs from it radically both in form and content. + + Den Landflygtige Hertug (kommer ut fra en grotte i skogen) + Vær hilset, dag, som lægges til de andre + av mine mange motgangs dage. + Vær hilset nu, naar solen atter stempler + sit gyldne segl paa jordens stolte pande. + Vær hilset, morgen, med din nye rigdom, + med dug og duft fra alle trær og blomster. + Glade, blanke fugleøines perler + blinker alt av sol som duggens draaper, + hilser mig som herre og som ven. (En fugl flyver op over hans hode.) + Ei, lille sangerskjelm, godt ord igjen? + + _Amiens_: + (hertugens ven, kommer likeledes ut av hulen). + Godmorgen, ven og broder i eksilet. + + _Hertugen_: + Godmorgen, Amiens, du glade sanger! + Du er vel enig i at slik en morgen + i skogen her med al dens liv og lek + er fuld erstatning for den pragt vi tapte, + ja mer end hoffets smigergyldne falskhet? + + _Amiens_: + Det ligner litt paa selve Edens have, + og trær og dyr og andre forekomster + betragter os som Adamer, kanhænde. + + _Hertugen_: + Din spøg er vel en saadan sanger værd. + Du mener med at her er alting herlig, + sommer, vinter, vaar og høsttid veksler. + Solen skinner, vind og veiret driver. + Vinterblaasten blaaser op og biter + og fortæller uden sminket smiger + hvem vi er, og hvor vi os befinder. + Ja, livet her er ei ly for verdens ondskap, + er stolt og frit og fuldt av rike glæder: + hver graasten synes god og kirkeklok, + hvert redetræ er jo en sangers slot, + og alt er skjønt, og alt er saare godt. + + _Amiens_: + Du er en godt benaadet oversætter, + naar du kan tolke skjæbnens harske talesæt + i slike sterke, stemningsfulde ord... + + (En hofmand, derefter Jacques og tjenere kommer.) + + _Hertugen_: + Godmorgen, venner--vel, saa skal vi jage + paa vildtet her, de vakre, dumme borgere + av denne øde og forlate stad... + + _Jacques_: + Det er synd at søndre deres vakre lemmer + med pile-odd. + + _Amiens_: + Det samme sier du altid, + du er for melankolsk og bitter, Jacques. + +A careful comparison of the translation with the original will reveal +certain verbal resemblances, notably in the duke's speech: + + Din spøk er vel en saadan sanger værd, etc. + +But, even allowing for that, it is a rephrasing rather than a +translation. The stage action, too, is changed. Notice that Jacques +appears in the scene, and that in the episode immediately following, the +second part of the first lord's speech is put into Jacques' mouth. In +other words, he is made to caricature himself! + +This is Wildenvey's attitude throughout. To take still another example. +Act IV, 2 begins in the English with a brief dialogue in prose between +Jacques and the two lords. In Wildenvey this is changed to a rhymed +dialogue in iambic tetrameters between Jacques and Amiens. In like +manner, the blank verse dialogue between Silvius and Phebe (Silvius and +Pippa) is in Norwegian rendered, or rather paraphrased, in iambic verse +rhyming regularly abab. + +Occasionally meanings are read into the play which not only do not +belong in Shakespeare but which are ridiculously out of place. As an +illustration, note the dialogue between Orlando and Rosalind in II, 2 +(Original, III, 2). Orlando remarks: "Your accent is something finer +than could be purchased in so remote a dwelling." Wildenvey renders +this: "Eders sprog er mer elevert end man skulde vente i disse vilde +trakter. De taler ikke Landsmaal." Probably no one would be deceived by +this gratuitous satire on the Landsmaal, but, obviously, it has no place +in what pretends to be a translation. The one justification for it is +that Shakespeare himself could not have resisted so neat a word-play. + +Wildenvey's version, therefore, can only be characterized as needlessly +free. For the text as such he has absolutely no regard. But for the fact +that he has kept the fable and, for the most part, the characters, +intact, we should characterize it as a belated specimen of Sille Beyer's +notorious Shakespeare "bearbeidelser" in Denmark. But Wildenvey does not +take Sille Beyer's liberties with the dramatis personae and he has, +moreover, what she utterly lacked--poetic genius. + +For that is the redeeming feature of _Livet i Skogen_--it does not +translate Shakespeare but it makes him live. The delighted audience +which sat night after night in Christiania and Copenhagen and drank in +the loveliness of Wildenvey's verse and Halvorsen's music cared little +whether the lines that came over the footlights were philologically an +accurate translation or not. They were enchanted by Norwegian verse and +moved to unfeigned delight by the cleverness of the prose. If Wildenvey +did not succeed in translating _As You Like It_--one cannot believe that +he ever intended to,--he did succeed in reproducing something of "its +imperishable woodland spirit, its fresh breath of out-of-doors." + +We have already quoted the opening of Act II. It is not Shakespeare but +it is good poetry in itself. And the immortal scene between Touchstone +and Corin in III, 2 (Shak. III, 2), in which Touchstone clearly proves +that the shepherd is damned, is a capital piece of work. The following +fragment must serve as an example: + + _Touchstone_: + Har du været ved hoffet, hyrde? + + _Korin_: + Visselig ikke. + + _Touch_: + Da er du evig fordømt. + + _Korin_: + Det haaber jeg da ikke. + + _Touch_: + Visselig, da er du fordømt som en sviske. + + _Korin_: + Fordi jeg ikke har været ved hoffet? Hvad mener I? + + _Touch_: + Hvis du ikke har været ved hoffet, saa har du aldrig set gode seder, + og hvis du ikke har set gode seder, saa maa dine seder være slette, + og slette seder er synd, og syndens sold er død og fordømmelse. Du + er i en betænkelig tilstand, hyrde! + +And the mocking verses all rhyming in _in-ind_ in III, 3 (Shak. III, 2): +"From the East to western Ind," etc., are given with marvelous +cleverness: + + Fra øst til vest er ei at finde + en ædelsten som Rosalinde. + Al verden om paa alle vinde + skal rygtet gaa om Rosalinde. + Hvor har en maler nogensinde + et kunstverk skapt som Rosalinde? + Al anden deilighet maa svinde + av tanken bort--for Rosalinde. + +Or Touchstone's parody: + + Hjorten skriker efter hinde, + skrik da efter Rosalinde, + kat vil katte gjerne finde, + hvem vil finde Rosalinde. + Vinterklær er tit for tynde, + det er ogsaa Rosalinde. + Nøtten søt har surhamshinde, + slik en nøtt er Rosalinde. + Den som ros' med torn vil finde, + finder den--og Rosalinde. + +With even greater felicity Wildenvey has rendered the songs of the play. +His verses are not, in any strict sense, translations, but they have a +life and movement which, perhaps, interpret the original more fully than +any translation could interpret it. What freshness and sparkle in "Under +the Greenwood Tree!" I give only the first stanza: + + Under de grønne trær + hvem vil mig møte der? + Hvem vil en tone slaa + frit mot det blide blaa? + Kom hit og herhen, hit og herhen, + kom, kjære ven, + her skal du se, + trær skal du se, + sommer og herlig veir skal du se. + +Or what could be better than the exhilirating text of "Blow, blow, thou +winter wind," as Wildenvey has given it? Again only the first stanza: + + Blaas, blaas du barske vind, + troløse venners sind + synes os mere raa. + Bar du dig end saa sint, + bet du dog ei saa blindt, + pustet du ogsaa paa. + Heiho! Syng heiho! i vor skog under løvet. + Alt venskap er vammelt, al elskov er tøvet, + men her under løvet + er ingen bedrøvet. + +_Livet i Skogen_, then, must not be read as a translation of _As You +Like It_, but is immensely worth reading for its own sake. Schiller +recast and rewrote _Macbeth_ in somewhat the same way, but Schiller's +_Macbeth_, condemned by its absurd porter-scene, is today nothing +more than a literary curiosity. I firmly believe that Wildenvey's +"bearbeidelse" deserves a better fate. It gave new life to the +Shakespeare tradition on the Norwegian stage, and is in itself, +a genuine contribution to the literature of Norway. + + +SUMMARY + +If we look over the field of Norwegian translation of Shakespeare, +the impression we get is not one to inspire awe. The translations are +neither numerous nor important. There is nothing to be compared with the +German of Tieck and Schlegel the Danish of Foersom, or the Swedish of +Hagberg. + +But the reason is obvious. Down to 1814 Norway was politically and +culturally a dependency of Denmark. Copenhagen was the seat of +government, of literature, and of polite life. To Copenhagen cultivated +Norwegians looked for their models and their ideals. When Shakespeare +made his first appearance in the Danish literary world--Denmark and +Norway--it was, of course, in pure Danish garb. Boye, Rosenfeldt, +and Foersom gave to their contemporaries more or less satisfactory +translations of Shakespeare, and Norwegians were content to accept the +Danish versions. In one or two instances they made experiments of their +own. An unknown man of letters translated a scene from _Julius Caesar_ +in 1782, and in 1818 appeared a translation of _Coriolanus_. But there +is little that is typically Norwegian about either of these--a word or a +phrase here and there. For the rest, they are written in pure Danish, +and but for the title-page, no one could tell whether they were +published in Copenhagen or Christiania and Trondhjem. + +In the meantime Foersom had begun his admirable Danish translations, +and the work stopped in Norway. The building of a nation and literary +interests of another character absorbed the attention of the cultivated +world. Hauge's translation of _Macbeth_ is not significant, nor are +those of Lassen thirty years later. A scholar could, of course, easily +show that they are Norwegian, but that is all. They never succeeded in +displacing Foersom-Lembcke. + +More important are the Landsmaal translations beginning with Ivar +Aasen's in 1853. They are interesting because they mark one of the most +important events in modern Norwegian culture--the language struggle. +Ivar Aasen set out to demonstrate that "maalet" could be used in +literature of every sort, and the same purpose, though in greatly +tempered form, is to be detected in every Landsmaal translation since. +Certainly in their outward aim they have succeeded. And, despite the +handicap of working in a language new, rough, and untried, they have +given to their countrymen translations of parts of Shakespeare which +are, at least, as good as those in "Riksmaal." + +Herman Wildenvey stands alone. His work is neither a translation nor +a mere paraphrase; it is a reformulating of Shakespeare into a new work +of art. He has accomplished a feat worth performing, but it cannot be +called translating Shakespeare. It must be judged as an independent +work. + +Whether Norway is always to go to Denmark for her standard Shakespeare, +or whether she is to have one of her own is, as yet, a question +impossible to answer. A pure Landsmaal translation cannot satisfy, and +many Norwegians refuse to recognize the Riksmaal as Norwegian at all. In +the far, impenetrable future the language question may settle itself, +and when that happy day comes, but not before, we may look with some +confidence for a "standard" Shakespeare in a literary garb which all +Norwegians will recognize as their own. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +Shakespeare Criticism In Norway + + +The history of Shakespearean translation in Norway cannot, by any +stretch of the imagination, be called distinguished. It is not, however, +wholly lacking in interesting details. In like manner the history of +Shakespearean criticism, though it contains no great names and no +fascinating chapters, is not wholly without appeal and significance. We +shall, then, in the following, consider this division of our subject. + +Our first bit of Shakespearean criticism is the little introductory note +which the anonymous translator of the scenes from _Julius Caesar_ put at +the head of his translation in _Trondhjems Allehaande_ for October 23, +1782. And even this is a mere statement that the passage in the original +"may be regarded as a masterpiece," and that the writer purposes to +render not merely Antony's eloquent appeal but also the interspersed +ejaculations of the crowd, "since these, too, are evidence of +Shakespeare's understanding of the human soul and of his realization +of the manner in which the oration gradually brought about the result +toward which Antony aimed." + +This is not profound criticism, to be sure, but it shows clearly that +this litterateur in far-away Trondhjem had a definite, if not a very new +and original, estimate of Shakespeare. It is significant that there is +no hint of apology, of that tone which is so common in Shakespearean +criticism of the day--Shakespeare was a great poet, but his genius was +wild and untamed. This unknown Norwegian, apparently, had been struck +only by the verity of the scene, and in that simplicity showed himself a +better critic of Shakespeare than many more famous men. Whoever he was, +his name is lost to us now. He deserves better than to be forgotten, +but it seems that he was forgotten very early. Foersom refers to him +casually, as we have seen, but Rahbek does not mention him.[1] Many +years later Paul Botten Hansen, one of the best equipped bookmen that +Norway has produced, wrote a brief review of Lembcke's translation. In +the course of this he enumerates the Dano-Norwegian translations known +to him. There is not a word about his countryman in Trondhjem.[2] + + [1. "Shakespeareana i Danmark"--_Dansk Minerva_, 1816 (III) + pp. 151 ff.] + + [2. _Illustreret Nyhedsblad_, 1865, pp. 96 ff.] + +After this solitary landmark, a long time passed before we again find +evidence of Shakespearean studies in Norway. The isolated translation +of _Coriolanus_ from 1818 shows us that Shakespeare was read, carefully +and critically read, but no one turned his attention to criticism or +scholarly investigation. Indeed, I have searched Norwegian periodical +literature in vain for any allusion to Shakespeare between 1782 and +1827. Finally, in the latter year _Den Norske Husven_ adorns its +title-page with a motto from Shakespeare. _Christiania Aftenbladet_ +for July 19, 1828, reprints Carl Bagger's clever poem on Shakespeare's +reputed love-affair with "Fanny," an adventure which got him into +trouble and gave rise to the bon-mot, "William the Conqueror ruled +before Richard III." The poem was reprinted from _Kjöbenhavns Flyvende +Post_ (1828); we shall speak of it again in connection with our study of +Shakespeare in Denmark. + +After this there is another break. Not even a reference to Shakespeare +occurs in the hundreds of periodicals I have examined, until the long +silence is broken by a short, fourth-hand article on Shakespeare's life +in _Skilling Magazinet_ for Sept. 23, 1843. The same magazine gives a +similar popular account in its issue for Sept. 4, 1844. Indeed, several +such articles and sketches may be found in popular periodicals of the +years following. + +In 1855, however, appeared Niels Hauge's afore mentioned translation of +_Macbeth_, and shortly afterward Professor Monrad, who, according to +Hauge himself, had at least given him valuable counsel in his work, +wrote a review in _Nordisk Tidsskrift for Videnskab og Literatur_.[3] +Monrad was a pedant, stiff and inflexible, but he was a man of good +sense, and when he was dealing with acknowledged masterpieces he could +be depended upon to say the conventional things well. + + [3. See Vol. III (1855), pp. 378 ff.] + +He begins by saying that if any author deserves translation it +is Shakespeare, for in him the whole poetic, romantic ideal of +Protestantism finds expression. He is the Luther of poetry, though +between Luther and Shakespeare there is all the difference between +religious zeal and the quiet contemplation of the beautiful. Both belong +to the whole world, Shakespeare because his characters, humor, art, +reflections, are universal in their validity and their appeal. Wherever +he is read he becomes the spokesman against narrowness, dogmatism, and +intolerance. To translate Shakespeare, he points out, is difficult +because of the archaic language, the obscure allusions, and the intense +originality of the expression. Shakespeare, indeed, is as much the +creator as the user of his mother-tongue. The one translation of +_Macbeth_ in existence, Foersom's, is good, but it is only in part +Shakespeare, and the times require something more adequate and +"something more distinctly our own." Monrad feels that this should +not be altogether impossible "when we consider the intimate relations +between England and Norway, and the further coincidence that the +Norwegian language today is in the same state of flux and transition, +as was Elizabethan English." All translations at present, he continues, +can be but experiments, and should aim primarily at a faithful rendering +of the text. Monrad calls attention to the fact--in which he was, of +course, mistaken--that this is the first translation of the original +_Macbeth_ into Dano-Norwegian or into Danish. It is a work of undoubted +merit, though here and there a little stiff and hazy, "but Shakespeare +is not easily clarified." The humorous passages, thinks the reviewer, +are a severe test of a translator's powers and this test Hauge has met +with conspicuous success. Also he has aquitted himself well in the +difficult matter of putting Shakespeare's meter into Norwegian. + +The last two pages are taken up with a detailed study of single +passages. The only serious error Monrad has noticed is the following: In +Act II, 3 one of the murderers calls out "A light! A light!" Regarding +this passage Monrad remarks: "It is certainly a mistake to have the +second murderer call out, "Bring a light here!" (Lys hid!) The murderer +does not demand a light, but he detects a shimmer from Banquo's +approaching torch." The rest of the section is devoted to mere trifles. + +This is the sort of review which we should expect from an intelligent +and well-informed man. Monrad was not a scholar, nor even a man of +delicate and penetrating reactions. But he had sound sense and perfect +self-assurance, which made him something of a Samuel Johnson in the +little provincial Kristiania of his day. At any rate, he was the only +one who took the trouble to review Hauge's translation, and even he was +doubtless led to the task because of his personal interest in the +translator. If we may judge from the stir it made in periodical +literature, _Macbeth_ fell dead from the press. + +The tercentenary of Shakespeare's birth (1864) aroused a certain +interest in Norway, and little notes and articles are not infrequent +in the newspapers and periodicals about that time. _Illustreret +Nyhedsblad_[4] has a short, popular article on Stratford-on-Avon. It +contains the usual Shakespeare apocrypha--the Sir Thomas Lucy story, the +story of the apple tree under which Shakespeare and his companions slept +off the effects of too much Bedford ale--and all the rest of it. It +makes no pretense of being anything but an interesting hodge-podge +for popular consumption. The next year, 1864, the same periodical +published[5] on the traditional day of Shakespeare's birth a rather long +and suggestive article on the English drama before Shakespeare. If this +article had been original, it might have had a certain significance, +but, unfortunately, it is taken from the German of Bodenstedt. The +only significant thing about it is the line following the title: "Til +Erindring paa Trehundredsaarsdagen efter Shakespeares Födsel, d. 23 +April, 1563." + + [4. Vol. XII (1863), pp. 199 ff.] + + [5. Vol. XIII (1864), pp. 65 ff.] + +More interesting than this, however, are the verses written by the then +highly esteemed poet, Andreas Munch, and published in his own magazine, +_For Hjemmet_,[6] in April, 1864. Munch rarely rises above mediocrity +and his tribute to the bard of Avon is the very essence of it. +He begins: + + I disse Dage gaar et vældigt Navn + Fra Mund til Mund, fra Kyst til Kyst rundt Jorden-- + Det straaler festligt over fjernest Havn, + Og klinger selv igjennem Krigens Torden, + Det slutter alle Folk i Aandens Favn, + Og er et Eenheds Tegn i Striden vorden-- + I Stjerneskrift det staaer paa Tidens Bue, + Og leder Slægterne med Hjertelue. + + [6. Vol. V, p. 572.] + +and, after four more stanzas, he concludes: + + Hos os har ingen ydre Fest betegnet + Vort Folks Tribut til denne store Mand. + Er vi af Hav og Fjelde saa omhegnet, + At ei hans Straaler trænge til os kan? + Nei,--Nordisk var hans Aand og netop egnet + Til at opfattes af vort Norden-Land, + Og mer maaske end selv vi tro og tænke, + Har Shakespeare brudt for os en fremmed Lænke. + +One has a feeling that Munch awoke one morning, discovered from his +calendar that Shakespeare's birthday was approaching, and ground out +this poem to fill space in _Hjemmet_. But his intentions are good. No +one can quarrel with the content. And when all is said, he probably +expressed, with a fair degree of accuracy, the feeling of his time. +It remains but to note a detail or two. First, that the poet, even in +dealing with Shakespeare, found it necessary to draw upon the prevailing +"Skandinavisme" and label Shakespeare "Nordisk"; second, the accidental +truth of the closing couplet. If we could interpret this as referring +to Wergeland, who _did_ break the chains of foreign bondage, and gave +Norway a place in the literature of the world, we should have the first +reference to an interesting fact in Norwegian literary history. But +doubtless we have no right to credit Munch with any such acumen. The +couplet was put into the poem merely because it sounded well. + +More important than this effusion of bad verse from the poet of fashion +was a little article which Paul Botten Hansen wrote in _Illustreret +Nyhedsblad_[7] in 1865. Botten Hansen had a fine literary appreciation +and a profound knowledge of books. The effort, therefore, to give +Denmark and Norway a complete translation of Shakespeare was sure to +meet with his sympathy. In 1861 Lembcke began his revision of Foersom's +work, and, although it must have come up to Norway from Copenhagen +almost immediately, no allusion to it is found in periodical literature +till Botten Hansen wrote his review of Part (Hefte) XI. This part +contains _King John_. The reviewer, however, does not enter upon any +criticism of the play or of the translation; he gives merely a short +account of Shakespearean translation in the two countries before +Lembcke. Apparently the notice is written without special research, for +it is far from complete, but it gives, at any rate, the best outline of +the subject which we have had up to the present. Save for a few lines of +praise for Foersom and a word for Hauge, "who gave the first accurate +translation of this masterpiece (_Macbeth_) of which Dano-Norwegian +literature can boast before 1861," the review is simply a loosely +connected string of titles. Toward the close Botten Hansen writes: +"When to these plays (the standard Danish translations) we add (certain +others, which are given), we believe that we have enumerated all the +Danish translations of Shakespeare." This investigation has shown, +however, that there are serious gaps in the list. Botten Hansen calls +Foersom's the first Danish translation of Shakespeare. It is curious +that he should have overlooked Johannes Boye's _Hamlet_ of 1777, or +Rosenfeldt's translation of six plays (1790-1792). It is less strange +that he did not know Sander and Rahbek's translation of the unaltered +_Macbeth_ of 1801--which preceded Hauge by half a century--for this was +buried in Sander's lectures. Nor is he greatly to be blamed for his +ignorance of the numerous Shakespearean fragments which the student may +find tucked away in Danish reviews, from M.C. Brun's _Svada_ (1796) and +on. Botten Hansen took his task very lightly. If he had read Foersom's +notes to his translation he would have found a clue of interest to him +as a Norwegian. For Foersom specifically refers to a translation of a +scene from _Julius Caesar_ in _Trondhjems Allehaande_. + + [7. Vol. XIV, p. 96.] + +Lembcke's revision, which is the occasion of the article, is greeted +with approval and encouragement. There is no need for Norwegians to go +about preparing an independent translation. Quite the contrary. The +article closes: "Whether or not Lembcke has the strength and endurance +for such a gigantic task, time alone will tell. At any rate, it is the +duty of the public to encourage the undertaking and make possible its +completion." + +We come now to the most interesting chapter in the history of +Shakespeare in Norway. This is a performance of _A Midsummer Night's +Dream_ under the direction of Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson at Christiania +Theater, April 17, 1865. The story belongs rather to the history of +Shakespeare on the Norwegian stage, but the documents of the affair are +contributions to Shakespearean criticism and must, accordingly, be +discussed here. Bjørnson's fiery reply to his critics of April 28 +is especially valuable as an analysis of his own attitude toward +Shakespeare. + +Bjørnson became director of Christiania Theater in January, 1865, and +the first important performance under his direction was _A Midsummer +Night's Dream_ (Skjärsommernatsdrömmen) in Oehlenschläger's translation, +with music by Mendelssohn.[8] Bjørnson had strained the resources +of the theater to the utmost to give the performance distinction. +But the success was doubtful. _Aftenposten_ found it tiresome, and +_Morgenbladet_, in two long articles, tore it to shreds.[9] It is +worth while to review the controversy in some detail. + + [8. Blanc. _Christianias Theaters Historie_, p. 196.] + + [9. April 26-27, 1865.] + +The reviewer begins by saying that the play is so well known that it +is needless to give an account of it. "But what is the meaning," he +exclaims, "of this bold and poetic mixture of clowns and fairies, of +mythology, and superstition, of high and low, of the earthly and +the supernatural? And the scene is neither Athens nor Greece, but +Shakespeare's own England; it is his own time and his own spirit." We +are transported to an English grove in early summer with birds, flowers, +soft breezes, and cooling shadows. What wonder that a man coming in from +the hunt or the society of men should fill such a place with fairies and +lovely ladies and people it with sighs, and passions, and stories? And +all this has been brought together by a poet's fine feeling. This it is +which separates the play from so many others of its kind now so common +and often so well presented. Here a master's spirit pervades all, unites +all in lovely romance. Other plays are mere displays of scenery and +costume by comparison. Even the sport of the clowns throws the whole +into stronger relief. + +Now, how should such a play be given? Obviously, by actors of the first +order and with costumes and scenery the most splendid. This goes without +saying, for the play is intended quite as much to be seen as to be +heard. To do it justice, the performance must bring out some of the +splendor and the fantasy with which it was conceived. As we read +_A Midsummer Night's Dream_ it is easy to imagine the glorious +succession of splendid scenes, but on the stage the characters become +flesh and blood with fixed limitations, and the illusion is easily lost +unless every agency is used to carry it out. Hence the need of lights, +of rich costumes, splendid backgrounds, music, rhythm. + +The play opens in an apparently uninhabited wood. Suddenly all comes +to life--gay, full, romantic life. This is the scene to which we are +transported. "It is a grave question," continues the reviewer, "if it is +possible for the average audience to attain the full illusion which the +play demands, and with which, in reading, we have no difficulty. One +thing is certain, the audience was under no illusion. Some, those who do +not pretend to learning or taste, wondered what it was all about. Only +when the lion moved his tail, or the ass wriggled his ears were they at +all interested. Others were frankly amused from first to last, no less +at Hermia's and Helen's quarrel than at the antics of the clowns. Still +others, the cultivated minority, were simply indifferent." + +The truth is that the performance was stiff and cold. Not for an instant +did it suggest the full and passionate life which is the theme and the +background of the play. Nor is this strange. _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ +is plainly beyond the powers of our theatre. Individual scenes were well +done, but the whole was a cheerless piece of business. + +The next day the same writer continues his analysis. He points out that +the secret of the play is the curious interweaving of the real world +with the supernatural. Forget this but for a moment, and the piece +becomes an impossible monstrosity without motivation or meaning. +Shakespeare preserves this unity in duality. The two worlds seem to meet +and fuse, each giving something of itself to the other. But this unity +was absent from the performance. The actors did not even know their +lines, and thus the spell was broken. The verse must flow from the lips +in a limpid stream, especially in a fairy play; the words must never +seem a burden. But even this elementary rule was ignored in our +performance. And the ballet of the fairies was so bad that it might +better have been omitted. Puck should not have been given by a woman, +but by a boy as he was in Shakespeare's day. Only the clown scenes +were unqualifiedly good, "as we might expect," concludes the reviewer +sarcastically. + +The article closes with a parting shot at the costuming and the scenery. +Not a little of it was inherited from "Orpheus in the Lower World." Are +we so poor as that? Better wait, and for the present, give something +which demands less of the theatre. The critic grants that the +presentation may prove profitable but, on the whole, Bjørnson must +feel that he has assisted at the mutilation of a master. + +Bjørnson did not permit this attack to go unchallenged. He was not the +man to suffer in silence, and in this case he could not be silent. His +directorate was an experiment, and there were those in Christiania +who were determined to make it unsuccessful. It was his duty to set +malicious criticism right. He did so in _Aftenbladet_[10] in an article +which not only answered a bit of ephemeral criticism but which remains +to this day an almost perfect example of Bjørnson's polemical +prose--fresh, vigorous, genuinely eloquent, with a marvelous fusing +of power and fancy. + + [10. April 28. Reprinted in Bjørnson's _Taler og Skrifter_. + Udgivet af C. Collin og H. Eitrem. Kristiania. 1912. Vol. I, + pp. 263-270.] + +He begins with an analysis of the play: The play is called a dream. But +wherein lies the dream? 'Why,' we are told, 'in the fact that fairies +sport, that honest citizens, with and without asses' heads, put on a +comedy, that lovers pursue each other in the moonlight.' But where is +the law in all this? If the play is without law (Lov = organic unity), +it is without validity. + +But it does have artistic validity. The dream is more than a fantasy. +The same experiences come to all of us. "The play takes place, now in +your life, now in mine. A young man happily engaged or happily married +dreams one night that this is all a delusion. He must be engaged to, he +must marry another. The image of the 'chosen one' hovers before him, but +he can not quite visualize it, and he marries with a bad conscience. +Then he awakens and thanks God that it is all a bad dream (Lysander). Or +a youth is tired of her whom he adored for a time. He even begins to +flirt with another. And then one fine night he dreams that he worships +the very woman he loathes, that he implores her, weeps for her, fights +for her (Demetrius). Or a young girl, or a young wife, who loves and is +loved dreams, that her beloved is fleeing from her. When she follows him +with tears and petitions, he lifts his hand against her. She pursues +him, calls to him to stop, but she cannot reach him. She feels all the +agony of death till she falls back in a calm, dreamless sleep. Or she +dreams that the lover she cannot get comes to her in a wood and tells +her that he really does love her, that her eyes are lovelier than the +stars, her hands whiter than the snow on Taurus. But other visions come, +more confusing. Another, whom she has never given a thought, comes and +tells her the same story. His protestations are even more glowing--and +it all turns to contention and sorrow, idle pursuit and strife, till her +powers fail (Helena). + +"This is the dream chain of the lovers. The poet causes the man to dream +that he is unfaithful, or that he is enamored of one whom he does not +love. And he makes the woman dream that she is deserted or that she is +happy with one whom she cannot get. And together these dreams tell us: +watch your thoughts, watch your passions, you, walking in perfect +confidence at the side of your beloved. They (the thoughts and passions) +may bring forth a flower called 'love in idleness'--a flower which +changes before you are aware of it. The dream gives us reality reversed, +but reversed in such a way that there is always the possibility that it +may, in an unguarded moment, take veritable shape. + +"And this dream of the lovers is given a paradoxical counterpart. A +respectable, fat citizen dreams one night that he is to experience the +great triumph of his life. He is to be presented before the duke's +throne as the greatest of heroes. He dreams that he cannot get dressed, +that he cannot get his head attended to, because, as a matter of fact, +his head is not his own excellent head, but the head of an ass with long +ears, a snout, and hair that itches. 'This is exactly like a fairy tale +of my youth,' he dreams. And indeed, it is a dream! The mountain opens, +the captive princess comes forth and leads him in, and he rests his head +in her lap all strewn with blossoms. The lovely trolls come and scratch +his head and music sounds from the rocks. It is characteristic of +Shakespeare that the lovers do not dream fairy tales of their childhood. +Higher culture has given them deeper passions, more intense personal +relations; in dreams they but continue the life of waking. But the good +weaver who lives thoroughly content in his own self-satisfaction and in +the esteem of his neighbors, who has never reflected upon anything that +has happened to him, but has received each day's blessings as they have +come--this man sees, the moment he lays his head on the pillow, the +fairies and the fairy queen. To him the whole circle of childhood +fantasy reveals itself; nothing is changed, nothing but this absurd +ass's head which he wears, and this curious longing for dry, sweet hay. + +"This is the dream and the action of the play. Superficially, all this +magic is set in motion by the fairies; Theseus and his train, with whom +come hunting horn and hunting talk and processional--are, in reality, +the incarnation of the festival. And the comedy at the close is added by +way of counterpiece to the light, delicate fancies of the dream. It is +the thoughts we have thought, the painfully-wrought products of the +waking mind, given in a sparkle of mocking laughter against the +background of nightly visions. See the play over and over again. Do +not study it with Bottom's ass's head, and do not be so blasé that you +reject the performance because it does not command the latest electrical +effects." + +Bjørnson then proceeds to discuss the staging. He admits by implication +that the machinery and the properties are not so elaborate as they +sometimes are in England, but points out that the equipment of +Christiania Theater is fully up to that which, until a short time +before, was considered entirely adequate in the great cities of Europe. +And is machinery so important? The cutting of the play used at this +performance was originally made by Tieck for the court theater at +Potsdam. From Germany it was brought to Stockholm, and later to +Christiania. "The spirit of Tieck pervades this adaptation. It is easy +and natural. The spoken word has abundant opportunity to make itself +felt, and is neither overwhelmed by theater tricks nor set aside by +machinery. Tieck, who understood stage machinery perfectly, gave it free +play where, as in modern operas, machinery is everything. The same is +true of Mendelssohn. His music yields reverently to the spoken word. It +merely accompanies the play like a new fairy who strews a strain or two +across the stage before his companions enter, and lends them wings by +which they may again disappear. Only when the words and the characters +who utter them have gone, does the music brood over the forest like a +mist of reminiscence, in which our imagination may once more synthesize +the picture of what has gone before." + +Tieck's adaptation is still the standard one. Englishmen often stage +Shakespeare's romantic plays more elaborately. They even show us a ship +at sea in _The Tempest_. But Shakespeare has fled England; they are left +with their properties, out of which the spirit of Shakespeare will not +rise. It is significant that the most distinguished dramaturg of +Germany, Dingelstedt, planned a few years before to go to London with +some of the best actors in Germany to teach Englishmen how to play +Shakespeare once more. + +Bjørnson closes this general discussion of scenery and properties +with a word about the supreme importance of imagination to the playgoer. +"I cannot refrain from saying that the imagination that delights in the +familiar is stronger and healthier than that which loses itself in +longings for the impossible. To visualize on the basis of a few and +simple suggestions--that is to possess imagination; to allow the images +to dissolve and dissipate--that is to have no imagination at all. Every +allusion has a definite relation to the familiar, and if our playgoers +cannot, after all that has been given here for years, feel the least +illusion in the presence of the properties in _A Midsummer Night's +Dream_, then it simply means that bad critics have broken the spell." +Why should Norwegians require an elaborate wood-scene to be transported +to the living woods? A boulevardier of Paris, indeed, might have need of +it, but not a Norwegian with the great forests at his very doors. And +what real illusion is there in a waterfall tumbling over a painted +curtain, or a ship tossing about on rollers? Does not such apparatus +rather destroy the illusion? "The new inventions of stage mechanicians +are far from being under such perfect control that they do not often +ruin art. We are in a period of transition. Why should we here, who are +obliged to wait a long time for what is admittedly satisfactory, commit +all the blunders which mark the way to acknowledged perfection?" + +It would probably be difficult to find definite and tangible evidence +of Shakespeare's influence in Bjørnson's work, and we are, therefore, +doubly glad to have his own eloquent acknowledgement of his debt +to Shakespeare. The closing passus of Bjørnson's article deserves +quotation for this reason alone. Unfortunately I cannot convey its warm, +illuminating style: "Of all the poetry I have ever read, Shakespeare's +_A Midsummer Night's Dream_ has, unquestionably, had the greatest +influence upon me. It is his most delicate and most imaginative work, +appealing quite as much through its intellectual significance as through +its noble, humane spirit. I read it first in Eiksdal when I was writing +_Arne_, and I felt rebuked for the gloomy feelings under the spell of +which that book was written. But I took the lesson to heart: I felt +that I had in my soul something that could produce a play with a +little of the fancy and joy of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_--and I made +resolutions. But the conditions under which a worker in art lives in +Norway are hard, and all we say or promise avails nothing. But this I +know: I am closer to the ideal of this play now than then, I have a +fuller capacity for joy and a greater power to protect my joy and keep +it inviolate. And if, after all, I never succeed in writing such a play, +it means that circumstances have conquered, and that I have not achieved +what I have ever sought to achieve. + +"And one longs to present a play which has been a guiding star to +oneself. I knew perfectly well that a public fresh from _Orpheus_ would +not at once respond, but I felt assured that response would come in +time. As soon, therefore, as I had become acclimated as director and +knew something of the resources of the theater, I made the venture. This +is not a play to be given toward the end; it is too valuable as a means +of gaining that which is to be the end--for the players and for the +audience. So far as the actors are concerned, our exertions have been +profitable. The play might doubtless be better presented--we shall +give it better next year--but, all in all, we are making progress. +You may call this naivete, poetic innocence, or obstinacy and +arrogance--whatever it is, this play is of great moment to me, for it +is the link which binds me to my public, it is my appeal to the public. +If the public does not care to be led whither this leads, then I am not +the proper guide. If people wish to get me out of the theater, they may +attack me here. Here I am vulnerable." + +In _Morgenbladet_ for May 1st the reviewer made a sharp reply. He +insists again that the local theater is not equal to _A Midsummer +Night's Dream_. But it is not strange that Bjørnson will not admit his +own failure. His eloquent tribute to the play and all that it has meant +to him has, moreover, nothing to do with the question. All that he says +may be true, but certainly such facts ought to be the very thing to +deter him from giving Shakespeare into the hands of untrained actors. +For if Bjørnson feels that the play was adequately presented, then we +are at a loss to understand how he has been able to produce original +work of unquestionable merit. One is forced to believe that he is hiding +a failure behind his own name and fame. After all, concludes the writer, +the director has no right to make this a personal matter. Criticism +has no right to turn aside for injured feelings, and all Bjørnson's +declarations about the passions of the hour have nothing to do with +the case. + +This ended the discussion. At this day, of course, one cannot pass +judgment, and there is no reason why we should. The two things which +stand out are Bjørnson's protest against spectacular productions of +Shakespeare's plays, and his ardent, almost passionate tribute to him +as the poet whose influence had been greatest in his life. + +And then there is a long silence. Norwegian periodicals--there is not +to this day a book on Shakespeare by a Norwegian--contain not a single +contribution to Shakespearean criticism till 1880, when a church paper, +_Luthersk Ugeskrift_[11] published an article which proved beyond cavil +that Shakespeare is good and safe reading for Lutheran Christians. +The writer admits that Shakespeare probably had several irregular +love-affairs both before and after marriage, but as he grew older his +heart turned to the comforts of religion, and in his epitaph he commends +his soul to God, his body to the dust. Shakespeare's extreme objectivity +makes snap judgments unsafe. We cannot always be sure that his +characters voice his own thoughts and judgments, but, on the other hand, +we have no right to assume that they never do. The tragedies especially +afford a safe basis for judgment, for in them characterization is of the +greatest importance. No great character was ever created which did not +spring from the poet's own soul. In Shakespeare's characters sin, lust, +cruelty, are always punished; sympathy, love, kindness are everywhere +glorified. The writer illustrates his meaning with copious quotations. + + [11. Vol. VII, pp. 1-12.] + +Apparently the good Lutheran who wrote this article felt troubled about +the splendor which Shakespeare throws about the Catholic Church. But +this is no evidence, he thinks, of any special sympathy for it. Many +Protestants have been attracted by the pomp and circumstance of the +Catholic Church, and they have been none the worse Protestants for that. +The writer had the good sense not to make Shakespeare a Lutheran but, +for the rest, the article is a typical example of the sort of criticism +that has made Shakespeare everything from a pious Catholic to a champion +of atheistic democracy. If, however, the readers of _Luthersk Ugeskrift_ +were led to read Shakespeare after being assured that they might do so +safely, the article served a useful purpose. + +Eight years later the distinguished litterateur and critic, Just Bing, +wrote in _Vidar_[12], one of the best periodicals that Norway has ever +had, a brief character study of Ophelia, which, though it contains +nothing original, stands considerably higher as literary criticism than +anything we have yet considered, with the sole exception of Bjørnson's +article in _Aftenbladet_, twenty-three years earlier. + + [12. 1880, pp. 61-71.] + +Bing begins by defining two kinds of writers. First, those whose power +is their keen observation. They see things accurately and they secure +their effects by recording just what they see. Second, those writers +who do not merely see external phenomena with the external eye, but +who, through a miraculous intuition, go deeper into the soul of man. +Molière is the classical example of the first type; Shakespeare of the +second. To him a chance utterance reveals feelings, passions, whole +lives--though he probably never developed the consequences of a chance +remark to their logical conclusion without first applying to them close +and searching rational processes. But it is clear that if a critic is to +analyze a character of Shakespeare's, he must not be content merely to +observe. He must feel with it, live with it. He must do so with special +sympathy in the case of Ophelia. + +The common characteristic of Shakespeare's women is their devotion to +the man of their choice and their confidence that this choice is wise +and happy. The tragedy of Ophelia lies in the fact that outward evidence +is constantly shocking that faith. Laertes, in his worldly-wise fashion, +first warns her. She cries out from a broken heart though she promises +to heed the warning. Then comes Polonius with his cunning wisdom. But +Ophelia's faith is still unshaken. She promises her father, however, to +be careful, and her caution, in turn, arouses the suspicion of Hamlet. +Even after his wild outburst against her he still loves her. He begs her +to believe in him and to remember him in her prayers. But suspicion goes +on. Ophelia is caught between devotion and duty, and the grim events +that crowd upon her plunge her to sweet, tragic death. Nothing could be +more revealing than our last glimpse of her. Shakespeare's intuitive +knowledge of the soul was sure. The determining fact of her life was her +love for Hamlet: it is significant that when we see her insane not a +mention of it crosses her lips. + +Hamlet and Ophelia are the delicate victims of a tragic necessity. They +are undone because they lose confidence in those to whom they cling with +all the abandon of deep, spiritual souls. Hamlet is at last aroused to +desperation; Ophelia is helplessly crushed. She is the finest woman +of Shakespeare's imagination, and perhaps for that reason the most +difficult to understand and the one least often appreciated. + +The next chapter in Norwegian Shakespeareana is a dull, unprofitable +one--a series of articles on the Baconian theory appearing irregularly +in the monthly magazine, _Kringsjaa_. The first article appeared in the +second volume (1894) and is merely a review of a strong pro-Bacon +outburst in the American _Arena_. It is not worth criticising. Similar +articles appeared in _Kringsjaa_ in 1895, the material this time being +taken from the _Deutsche Revue_. It is the old ghost, the cipher in the +first folio, though not Ignatius Donnelly's cryptogram. Finally, in +1898, a new editor, Chr. Brinckmann, printed[13] a crushing reply to all +these cryptogram fantasies. And that is all that was ever published in +Norway on a foolish controversy. + + [13. _Kringsjaa_. Vol. XII, pp. 777 ff. The article upon which + this reply was based was from the _Quarterly Review_.] + +It is a relief to turn from puerilities of this sort to Theodor +Caspari's article in _For Kirke og Kultur_ (1895)[14]--_Grunddrag ved +den Shakespeareske Digtning, i særlig Jevnförelse med Ibsens senere +Digtning_. + + [14. Vol. I, pp. 38 ff.] + +This article must be read with caution, partly because its analysis +of the Elizabethan age is conventional, and therefore superficial, and +partly because it represents a direction of thought which eyed the later +work of Ibsen and Bjørnson with distrust. These men had rejected the +faith of their fathers, and the books that came from them were signs of +the apostasy. But _For Kirke og Kultur_ has been marked from its first +number by ability, conspicuous fairness, and a large catholicity, which +give it an honorable place among church journals. And not even a +fanatical admirer of Ibsen will deny that there is more than a grain of +truth in the indictment which the writer of this article brings against +him. + +The central idea is the large, general objectivity of Shakespeare's +plays as contrasted with the narrow, selfish subjectivity of Ibsen's. +The difference bottoms in the difference between the age of Elizabeth +and our own. Those were days of full, pulsing, untrammeled life. Men +lived big, physical lives. They had few scruples and no nerves. +Full-blooded passions, not petty problems of pathological psychology, +were the things that interested poets and dramatists. They saw life +fully and they saw it whole. So with Shakespeare. His characters are +big, well-rounded men; they are not laboratory specimens. They live in +the real Elizabethan world, not in the hothouse of the poet's brain. It +is of no consequence that violence is done to "local color." Shakespeare +beheld all the world and all ages through the lens of his own time and +country, but because the men he saw were actual, living beings, the +characters he gives us, be they mythological figures, Romans, Greeks, +Italians, or Englishmen, have universal validity. He went to Italy for +his greatest love-story. That gave him the right atmosphere. It is +significant that Ibsen once thought it necessary to seek a suggestive +background for one of his greatest characters. He went to Finmarken for +Rebecca West. + +Shakespeare's characters speak in loud, emphatic tones and they give +utterance to clear, emphatic thoughts. There is no "twilight zone" in +their thinking. Ibsen's men and women, like the children at Rosmersholm, +never speak aloud; they merely whimper or they whisper the polite +innuendos of the drawing room. The difference lies largely in the +difference of the age. But Ibsen is more decadent than his age. There +are great ideas in our time too, but Ibsen does not see them. He sees +only the "thought." Contrast with this Shakespeare's colossal scale. +He is "loud-voiced" but he is also "many-voiced." Ibsen speaks in a +salon voice and always in one key. And the remarkable thing is that +Shakespeare, in spite of his complicated plots, is always clear. The +main lines of the action stand out boldly. There is always speed and +movement--a speed and movement directly caused by powerful feelings. He +makes his readers think on a bigger scale than does Ibsen. His passions +are sounder because they are larger and more expansive. + +Shakespeare is the dramatist of our average life; Ibsen, the poet of +the rare exception. To Shakespeare's problems there is always an answer; +underneath his storms there is peace, not merely filth and doubt. There +is even a sense of a greater power--calm and immovable as history +itself. Ibsen's plays are nervous, hectic, and unbelieving. In the words +of Rosmer: "Since there is no judge over us, we must hold a judgment day +for ourselves." Contrast this with Hamlet's soliloquy. And, finally, +one feels sure in Shakespeare that the play means something. It has a +beginning and an end. "What shall we say of plays like Ibsen's, in which +Act I and Act II give no clue to Act III, and where both question and +answer are hurled at us in the same speech?" + +In the same year, 1895, Georg Brandes published in _Samtiden_,[15] at +that time issued in Bergen, two articles on _Shakespeare's Work in his +Period of Gloom_ (Shakespeare i hans Digtnings mørke Periode) which +embody in compact form that thesis since elaborated in his big work. +Shakespeare's tragedies were the outcome of a deep pessimism that had +grown for years and culminated when he was about forty. He was tired of +the vice, the hollowness, the ungratefulness, of life. The immediate +cause must remain unknown, but the fact of his melancholy seems clear +enough. His comedy days were over and he began to portray a side of life +which he had hitherto kept hidden. _Julius Caesar_ marks the transition. +In Brutus we are reminded that high-mindedness in the presence of a +practical situation often fails, and that practical mistakes are often +as fatal as moral ones. From Brutus, Shakespeare came to Hamlet, a +character in transition from fine youth, full of illusions, to a manhood +whose faith is broken by the hard facts of the world. This is distinctly +autobiographical. _Hamlet_ and Sonnet 66 are of one piece. Shakespeare +was disillusioned. Add to this his struggle against his enemy, +Puritanism, and a growing conviction that the miseries of life bottom +in ignorance, and the reason for his growing pessimism becomes clear. +From Hamlet, whom the world crushes, to Macbeth, who faces it with its +own weapons, yet is haunted and terrified by what he does, the step is +easy. He knew Macbeth as he knew Hamlet. + + [15. Vol. VI, pp. 49 ff.] + +The scheming Iago, too, he must have known, for he has portrayed +him with matchless art. "But _Othello_ was a mere monograph; _Lear_ +is a cosmic picture. Shakespeare turns from _Othello_ to _Lear_ in +consequence of the necessity which the poet feels to supplement and +round out his beginning." _Othello_ is noble chamber music; _Lear_ is a +symphony played by a gigantic orchestra. It is the noblest of all the +tragedies, for in it are all the storm and tumult of life, all that +was struggling and raging in his own soul. We may feel sure that +the ingratitude he had met with is reflected in Goneril and Regan. +Undoubtedly, in the same way, the poet had met the lovely Cleopatra +and knew what it was to be ensnared by her. + +Brandes, as has often been pointed out, did not invent this theory +of Shakespeare's psychology but he elaborated it with a skill and +persuasiveness which carried the uncritical away. + +In his second article Brandes continues his analysis of Shakespeare's +pessimism. In the period of the great tragedies there can be no doubt +that Shakespeare was profoundly pessimistic. There was abundant reason +for it. The age of Elizabeth was an age of glorious sacrifices, but it +was also an age of shameless hypocrisy, of cruel and unjust punishments, +of downright oppression. Even the casual observer might well grow sick +at heart. A nature so finely balanced as Shakespeare's suffered a +thousandfold. Hence this contempt for life which showed only corruption +and injustice. Cressida and Cleopatra are sick with sin and evil; the +men are mere fools and brawlers. + +There is, moreover, a feeling that he is being set aside for younger +men. We find clear expression of this in _All's Well That Ends Well_, +in _Troilus and Cressida_. There is, too, in _Troilus and Cressida_ +a speech which shows the transition to the mood of _Coriolanus_, an +aristocratic contempt for the mass of mankind. This is the famous speech +in which Ulysses explains the necessity of social distinctions. Note +in this connection Casca's contemptuous reference to the plebeians, +Cleopatra's fear of being shown to the mob. Out of this feeling grew +_Coriolanus_. The great patrician lives on the heights, and will not +hear of bending to the crowd. The contempt of Coriolanus grew to the +storming rage of Timon. When Coriolanus meets with ingratitude, he takes +up arms; Timon is too supremely indifferent to do even this. + +Thus Shakespeare's pessimism grew from grief over the power of evil +(Othello) and misery over life's sorrows, to bitter hatred (Timon). +And when he had raged to the uttermost, something of the resignation +of old age came to him. We have the evidence of this in his last works. +Perhaps, as in the case of his own heroes, a woman saved him. Brandes +feels that the evolution of Shakespeare as a dramatist is to be traced +in his women. We have first the domineering scold, reminding him +possibly of his own domestic relations (Lady Macbeth); second, the +witty, handsome women (Portia, Rosalind); third, the simple, naive women +(Ophelia, Desdemona); fourth, the frankly sensuous women (Cleopatra, +Cressida); and, finally, the young woman viewed with all an old man's +joy (Miranda). Again his genius exercises his spell. Then, like +Prospero, he casts his magician's staff into the sea. + +In 1896 Brandes published his great work on Shakespeare. It arrested +attention immediately in every country of the world. Never had a book so +fascinating, so brilliant, so wonderfully suggestive, been written on +Shakespeare. The literati were captivated. But alas, scholars were not. +They admitted that Brandes had written an interesting book, that he had +accumulated immense stores of information and given to these sapless +materials a new life and a new attractiveness. But they pointed out that +not only did his work contain gross positive errors, but it consisted, +from first to last, of a tissue of speculations which, however +ingenious, had no foundation in fact and no place in cool-headed +criticism.[16] Theodor Bierfreund, one of the most brilliant Shakespeare +scholars in Denmark, almost immediately attacked Brandes in a long +article in the Norwegian periodical _Samtiden_.[17] + + [16. Cf. Vilhelm Møller in _Nordisk Tidskrift för Vetenskap, Konst + och Industri_. 1896, pp. 501-519.] + + [17. _Samtiden_, 1896. (VII), pp. 382 ff.] + +He acknowledges the great merits of the work. It is an enormously rich +compilation of Shakespeare material gathered from the four corners of +the earth and illuminated by the genius of a great writer. He gives the +fullest recognition to Brandes' miraculous skill in analyzing characters +and making them live before our eyes. But he warns us that Brandes is no +critical student of source materials, and that we must be on our guard +in accepting his conclusions. It is not so certain that the sonnets mean +all that Brandes would have them mean, and it is certain that we must +be cautious in inferring too much from _Troilus and Cressida_ and +_Pericles_ for, in the opinion of the reviewer, Shakespeare probably had +little or nothing to do with them. He then sketches briefly his theory +that these plays cannot be Shakespeare's, a theory which he later +elaborated in his admirably written monograph, _Shakespeare og hans +Kunst_.[18] This, however, belongs to the study of Shakespearean +criticism in Denmark. + + [18. Copenhagen, 1898.] + +So far as I have been able to find, Bierfreund's review was the only one +published in Norway immediately after the publication of Brandes' work, +but in 1899, S. Brettville Jensen took up the matter again in _For Kirke +og Kultur_[19] and, in 1901, Christen Collin vigorously assailed in +_Samtiden_ that elaborate and fanciful theory of the sonnets which plays +so great a part in Brandes' study of Shakespeare. + + [19. Vol. VI (1899), pp. 400 ff.] + +Brettville Jensen praises Brandes highly. He is always interesting, in +harmony with his age, and in rapport with his reader. "But his book is a +fantasy palace, supported by columns as lovely as they are hollow and +insecure, and hovering in rainbow mists between earth and sky." Brandes +has rare skill in presenting hypotheses as facts. He has attempted to +reconstruct the life of Shakespeare from his works. Now this is a mode +of criticism which may yield valuable results, but clearly it must be +used with great care. Shakespeare knew the whole of life, but how he +came to know it is another matter. Brandes thinks he has found the +secret. Back of every play and every character there is a personal +experience. But this is rating genius altogether too cheap. One must +concede something to the imagination and the creative ability of the +poet. To relate everything in Shakespeare's dramas to the experiences +of Shakespeare the man, is both fanciful and uncritical. + +The same objection naturally holds regarding the meaning of the sonnets +which Brandes has made his own. Here we must bear in mind the fact that +much of the language in the sonnets is purely conventional. We should +have a difficult time indeed determining just how much is biographical +and how much belongs to the stock in trade of Elizabethan sonneteers. +Brettville Jensen points out that if the sonnets are the expression of +grief at the loss of his beloved, it is a queer contradiction that +Sonnet 144, which voices his most poignant sorrow, should date from +1599, the year, according to Brandes, when Shakespeare's comedy period +began! + +It is doubtless true that the plays and even the sonnets mark great +periods in the life of the poet, but we may be sure that the relation +between experience and literary creation was not so literal as Brandes +would have us believe. The change from mood to mood, from play to play, +was gradual, and it never destroyed Shakespeare's poise and sanity. We +shall not judge Shakespeare rightly if we believe that personal feeling +rather than artistic truth shaped his work. + +Two years later Collin, a critic of fine insight and appreciation, wrote +in _Samtiden_[20] an article on the sonnets of Shakespeare. He begins by +picturing Shakespeare's surprise if he could rise from his grave in the +little church at Stratford and look upon the pompous and rather naive +bust, and hear the strange tongues of the thousands of pilgrims at his +shrine. Even greater would be his surprise if he could examine the +ponderous tomes in the Shakespeare Memorial Library at Birmingham which +have been written to explain him and his work. And if any of these +volumes could interest him at all it would doubtless be those in which +ingenious critics have attempted to discover the poet in the plays and +the poems. Collin then gives a brief survey of modern Shakespearean +criticism--Furnivall, Dowden, Brandl, Boas, ten Brink, and, more +recently, Sidney, Lee, Brandes, and Bierfreund. An important object of +the study of these men has been to fix the chronology of the plays. They +seldom fully agree. Sidney Lee and the Danish critic, Bierfreund, do not +accept the usual theory that the eight tragedies from _Julius Caesar_ to +_Coriolanus_ reflect a period of gloom and pessimism. In their opinion +psychological criticism has, in this instance, proved a dismal failure. + + [20. Vol. XII, pp. 61 ff.] + +The battle has raged with particular violence about the sonnets. +Most scholars assume that we have in them a direct presentation +(fremstilling) of a definite period in the life of the poet. And by +placing this period directly before the creation of _Hamlet_, Brandes +has succeeded in making the relations to the "dark lady" a crisis in +Shakespeare's life. The story, which, as Brandes tells it, has a +remarkable similarity to an ultra-modern naturalistic novel, becomes +even more piquant since Brandes knows the name of the lady, nay, even of +the faithless friend. All this information Brandes has, of course, taken +from Thomas Tyler's introduction to the Irving edition of the sonnets +(1890), but his passion for the familiar anecdote has led him to +embellish it with immense enthusiasm and circumstantiality. + +The hypothesis, however, is essentially weak. Collin disagrees +absolutely with Lee that the sonnets are purely conventional, without +the slightest biographical value. Mr. Lee has weakened his case by +admitting that "key-sonnet" No. 144 is autobiographical. Now, if this +be true, then one must assume that the sonnets set forth Shakespeare's +relations to a real man and a real woman. But the most convincing +argument against the Herbert-Fitton theory lies in the chronology. It is +certain that the sonnet fashion was at its height immediately after the +publication of Sidney's sequence in 1591, and it seems equally certain +that it had fallen off by 1598. This chronology is rendered probable +by two facts about Shakespeare's work. First, Shakespeare employs the +sonnet in dialogue in _Two Gentlemen of Verona_ and in _Romeo and +Juliet_. These plays belong to the early nineties. Second, the moods +of the sonnets exactly correspond, on the one hand, to the exuberant +sensuality of _Venus and Adonis_, on the other, to the restraint of the +_Lucrece_. + +An even safer basis for determining the chronology of the sonnets Collin +finds in the group in which the poet laments his poverty and his outcast +state. If the sonnets are autobiographical--and Collin agrees with +Brandes that they are--then this group (26, 29, 30, 31, 37, 49, 66, +71-75, 99, 110-112, 116, 119, 120, 123, and 124) must refer to a time +when the poet was wretched, poor, and obscure. And in this case, the +sonnets cannot be placed at 1598-99, when Shakespeare was neither poor +nor despised, a time in which, according to Brandes, he wrote his gayest +comedies. + +It seems clear from all this that the sonnets cannot be placed so late +as 1598-1600. They do not fit the facts of Shakespeare's life at this +time. But they do fit the years from 1591 to 1594, and especially the +years of the plague, 1592-3, when the theaters were generally closed, +and Shakespeare no doubt had to battle for a mere existence. In 1594 +Shakespeare's position became more secure. He gained the favor of +Southampton and dedicated the _Rape of Lucrece_ to him. + +Collin develops at this point with a good deal of fullness his +theory that the motifs of the sonnets recur in _Venus and Adonis_ +and _Lucrece_--in _Venus and Adonis_, a certain crass naturalism; +in _Lucrece_ a high and spiritual morality. In the sonnets the same +antithesis is found. Compare Sonnet 116--in praise of friendship--with +129, in which is pictured the tyranny and the treachery of sensual love. +These two forces, sensual love and platonic friendship, were mighty +cultural influences during Shakespeare's apprentice years and the young +poet shows plainly that he was moved by both. + +If all this be true, then the Herbert-Fitton theory falls to the ground, +for in 1597 Herbert was only seventeen. But unquestionably the sonnets +are autobiographical. They reveal with a poignant power Shakespeare's +sympathy, his unique ability to enter into another personality, his +capacity of imaginative expansion to include the lives of others. +Compare the noble sonnet 112, which Collin translates: + + Din kjærlighed og medynk dækker til + det ar, som sladderen paa min pande trykket. + Lad andre tro og sige, hvad de vil,-- + du kjærlig mine feil med fortrin smykket. + + Du er mit verdensalt, og fra din mund + jeg henter al min skam og al min ære. + For andre er jeg død fra denne stund, + og de for mig som skygger blot skal være. + + I avgrunds dyp jeg al bekymring kaster! + for andres røst min høresans er sløv. + Hvadenten de mig roser eller laster, + jeg som en hugorm er og vorder døv. + + Saa helt du fylder ut min sjæl herinde, + at hele verden synes at forsvinde. + +At this point the article in _Samtiden_ closes. Collin promises to give +in a later number, a metrical translation of a number of significant +sonnets. The promised renderings, however, never appeared. Thirteen +years later, in 1914, the author, in a most interesting and illuminating +book, _Det Geniale Menneske_,[21] a study of "genius" and its relation +to civilization, reprinted his essay in _Samtiden_ and supplemented it +with three short chapters. In the first of these he endeavors to show +that in the sonnets Shakespeare gives expression to two distinct +tendencies of the Renaissance--the tendency toward a loose and +unregulated gratification of the senses, and the tendency toward an +elevated and platonic conception of friendship. Shakespeare sought in +both of these a compensation for his own disastrous love affair and +marriage. But the healing that either could give was at best transitory. +There remained to him as a poet of genius one resource. He could gratify +his own burning desire for a pure and unselfish love by living in his +mighty imagination the lives of his characters. "He who in his yearning +for the highest joys of love had been compelled to abandon hope, found +a joy mingled with pain, in giving of his life to lovers in whom the +longing of William Shakespeare lives for all time. + +"He has loved and been loved. It was he whom Sylvia, Hermia, Titania, +Portia, Juliet, Beatrice, Rosalind, Viola, and Olivia loved,--and +Ophelia, Desdemona, Hermione and Miranda." + + [21. Chr. Collin, Christiania. 1914. H. Aschehoug & Co.] + +In the second chapter Collin argues, as he had done in his essay on +_Hamlet_[22] that Shakespeare's great tragedies voice no pessimism, but +the stern purpose to strengthen himself and his contemporaries against +the evils and vices of Jacobean England--that period of moral and +intellectual disintegration which followed the intense life of the +Elizabethan age. Shakespeare battles against the ills of society as the +Greek dramatists had done, by showing sin and wickedness as destroyers +of life, and once this is done, by firing mankind to resistance against +the forces of ruin and decay. "To hold the mirror up to nature," that +men may see the devastation which evil and vice bring about in the +social body. And to do this he does not, like some modern writers, shun +moralizing. He warns against sensual excess in Adam's speech in _As You +Like It_, II, 3: + + Let me be your servant; + Though I look old, yet am I strong and lusty; + For in my youth I never did apply + Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood; + Nor did not with unbashful forehead woo + The means of weakness and debility; + + [22. See pp. 71 ff. below.] + +Or, compare the violent outburst against drunkenness in _Hamlet_ Act 1, +Sc. 4, and the stern warning against the same vice in _Othello_, where, +indeed, Cassius' weakness for strong drink is the immediate occasion of +the tragic complication. In like manner, Shakespeare moralizes against +lawless love in the _Merry Wives_, in _Troilus and Cressida_, in +_Hamlet_, in _Lear_. + +On the other hand, Shakespeare never allows artistic scruples to +stand in the way of exalting simple, domestic virtues. Simple conjugal +fidelity is one of the glories of Hamlet's illustrious father and of the +stern, old Roman, Coriolanus; the young prince, Malcolm, is as chaste +and innocent as the young barbarians of whom Tacitus tells. + +In a final section, Collin connects this view of Hamlet which he has +developed in his essay on _Hamlet_ and the Sonnets, with the theory of +human civilization which his book so suggestively advances. + +The great tragedies from _Hamlet_ to _Timon of Athens_ are not +autobiographical in the sense that they are reflections of Shakespeare's +own concrete experience. They are not the record of a bitter personal +pessimism. In the years when they were written Shakespeare was contented +and prosperous. He restored the fortunes of his family and he was hailed +as a master of English without a peer. It is therefore a priori quite +unlikely that the tragic atmosphere of this period should go back +to purely personal disappointments. The case is more likely this: +Shakespeare had grown in power of sympathy with his fellows and his +time. He had become sensitive to the needs and sorrows of the society +about him. He could put himself in the place of those who are sick in +mind and heart. And in consequence of this he could preach to this +generation the simple gospel of right living and show to them the +psychic weakness whence comes all human sorrow. + +And through this expansion of his ethical consciousness what had +he gained? Not merely a fine insight as in _Macbeth_, _Antony and +Cleopatra_, and _Coriolanus_, an insight which enables him to treat with +comprehending sympathy even great criminals and traitors, but a high +serenity and steady poise which enables him to write the romances of his +last years--_Cymbeline_, _A Winter's Tale_, and _The Tempest_. He had +come to feel that human life, after all, with its storms, is a little +thing, a dream and a fata morgana, which soon must give place to a +permanent reality: + + We are such stuff + As dreams are made of, and our little life + Is rounded with a sleep. + +In 1904 Collin wrote in _Nordisk Tidskrift för Vetenskap, Konst och +Industri_[23] a most suggestive article on Hamlet. He again dismisses +the widely accepted theory of a period of gloom and increasing pessimism +as baseless. The long line of tragedies cannot be used to prove this. +They are the expression of a great poet's desire to strengthen mankind +in the battle of life. + + [23: This article is reprinted in _Det Geniale Menneske_ above + referred to. It forms the second of a group of essays in which + Collin analyzes the work of Shakespeare as the finest example of + the true contribution of genius to the progress and culture of + the race. Preceding the study of _Hamlet_ is a chapter called + _The Shakespearean Controversy_, and following it is a study of + Shakespeare the Man. This is in three parts, the first of which + is a reprint of an article in _Samtiden_ (1901). + + In _Det Geniale Menneske_ Collin defines civilization as that + higher state which the human race has attained by means of + "psychic organs"--superior to the physical organs. The psychic + organs have been created by the human intellect and they are + controlled by the intellect. Had man been dependent upon the + physical organs solely, he would have remained an animal. His + psychic organs have enabled him to create instruments, tangible, + such as tools and machines; intangible, such as works of art. + These are psychic organs and with their aid man has become a + civilized being. + + The psychic organs are the creation of the man of genius. To + create such organs is his function. The characteristics, then, + of the genius are an immense capacity for sympathy and an immense + surplus of power; sympathy, that he may know the needs of mankind; + power, that he may fashion those great organs of life by which the + race may live and grow. + + In the various chapters of his book, Collin analyzes in an + illuminating way the life and work of Wergeland, Ibsen, and + Bjørnson as typical men of genius whose expansive sympathy gave + them insight and understanding and whose indefatigable energy + wrought in the light of their insight mighty psychic organs of + cultural progress. + + He comes then to Shakespeare as the genius par excellence. The + chapter on the _Shakespearean Controversy_ gives first a survey + of the development of modern scientific literary criticism from + Herder to Taine and Saint Beuve. He goes on to detail the + application of this method to the plays and sonnets of + Shakespeare. Furnivall, Spalding, and Brandes have attempted to + trace the genesis and the chronology of the plays. They would have + us believe that the series of tragedies--_Hamlet_, _Macbeth_, + _Othello_, _Lear_, _Antony and Cleopatra_, _Troilus and Cressida_, + _Coriolanus_, and _Timon_ are the records of an increasing + bitterness and pessimism. Brandes and Frank Harris, following + Thomas Tyler have, on the basis of the sonnets, constructed a + fascinating, but quite fantastic romance. + + Vagaries such as these have caused some critics, such as Sidney + Lee and Bierfreund, to declare that it is impossible on the basis + of the plays to penetrate to Shakespeare the man. His work is + too purely objective. Collin is not willing to admit this. He + maintains that the scientific biographical method of criticism + is fundamentally sound. But it must be rationally applied. The + sequence which Brandes has set up is quite impossible. Goswin + Kønig, in 1888, applying the metrical tests, fixed the order as + follows: _Hamlet_, _Troilus and Cressida_, _Measure for Measure_, + _Othello_, _Timon_, and _Lear_, and, in another group, _Macbeth_, + _Antony and Cleopatra_, and _Coriolanus_. These results are + confirmed by Bradley in his _Shakespearean Tragedy_. + + Collin accepts this chronology. A careful study of the plays in + this order shows a striking community of ethical purpose between + the plays of each group. In the plays of the first group, the poet + assails with all his mighty wrath what to him seems the basest of + all wickedness, treachery. It is characteristic of these plays + that none of the villains attains the dignity of a great tragic + hero. They are without a virtue to redeem their faults. + Shakespeare's conception of the good and evil in these plays + approaches a medieval dualism. In the plays of the second group + the case is altered. There is no longer a crude dualism in the + interpretation of life. Shakespeare has entered into the soul of + Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, of Antony and Cleopatra, of Coriolanus, + and he has found underneath all that is weak and sinful and + diseased, a certain nobility and grandeur. He can feel with the + regicides in Macbeth; he no longer exposes and scourges; he + understands and sympathizes. The clouds of gloom and wrath have + cleared away, and Shakespeare has achieved a serenity and a fine + poise. + + It follows, then, that the theory of a growing pessimism is + untenable. We must seek a new line of evolution.] + +We need dwell but little on Collin's sketch of the "Vorgeschichte" +of _Hamlet_, for it contributes nothing that is new. _Hamlet_ was a +characteristic "revenge tragedy" like the "Spanish Tragedy" and a whole +host of others which had grown up in England under the influence, direct +and indirect, of Seneca. He points out in a very illuminating way how +admirably the "tragedy of blood" fitted the times. Nothing is more +characteristic of the renaissance than an intense joy in living. But +exactly as the appetite for mere existence became keen, the tragedy of +death gained in power. The most passionate joy instinctively calls up +the most terrible sorrow. There is a sort of morbid caution here--a +feeling that in the moment of happiness it is well to harden oneself +against the terrible reaction to come. Conversely, the contemplation of +suffering intensifies the joys of the moment. At all events, in such a +time, emotions become stronger, colors are brighter, and contrasts are +more violent. The "tragedy of blood," therefore, was more than a learned +imitation. Its sound and fury met the need of men who lived and died +intensely. + +The primitive _Hamlet_ was such a play. Shakespeare took over, doubtless +with little change, both fable and characters, but he gave to both a new +spiritual content. Hamlet's revenge gained a new significance. It is no +longer a fight against the murderer of his father, but a battle against +"a world out of joint." No wonder that a simple duty of blood revenge +becomes a task beyond his powers. He sees the world as a mass of +faithlessness, and the weight of it crushes him and makes him sick at +heart. This is the tragedy of Hamlet--his will is paralyzed and, with +it, his passion for revenge. He fights a double battle, against his +uncle and against himself. The conviction that Shakespeare, and not his +predecessor, has given this turn to the tragedy is sustained by the +other plays of the same period, _Lear_ and _Timon of Athens_. They +exhibit three different stages of the same disease, a disease in which +man's natural love of fighting is turned against himself. + +Collin denies that the tragedy of Hamlet is that of a contemplative soul +who is called upon to solve great practical problems. What right have we +to assume that Hamlet is a weak, excessively reflective nature? Hamlet +is strong and regal, capable of great, concrete attainments. But he can +do nothing except by violent and eccentric starts; his will is paralyzed +by a fatal sickness. He suffers from a disease not so uncommon in modern +literature--the tendency to see things in the darkest light. Is it far +from the pessimism of Hamlet to the pessimism of Schopenhauer and +Tolstoi? Great souls like Byron and Heine and Ibsen have seen life as +Hamlet saw it, and they have struggled as he did, "like wounded warriors +against the miseries of the times." + +But from this we must not assume that Shakespeare himself was +pessimistic. To him Hamlet's state of mind was pathological. One might +as well say that he was a murderer because he wrote _Macbeth_, a +misogynist because he created characters like Isabella and Ophelia, a +wife murderer because he wrote _Othello_, or a suicide because he wrote +_Timon of Athens_ as to say that he was a pessimist because he wrote +_Hamlet_--the tragedy of an irresolute avenger. This interpretation +is contradicted by the very play itself. "At Hamlet's side is the +thoroughly healthy Horatio, almost a standard by which his abnormality +may be measured. At Lear's side stand Cordelia and Kent, faithful +and sound to the core. If the hater of mankind, Timon, had written +a play about a rich man who was betrayed by his friends, he would +unquestionably have portrayed even the servants as scoundrels. But +Shakespeare never presented his characters as all black. Pathological +states of mind are not presented as normal." + +Collin admits, nevertheless, that there may be something +autobiographical in the great tragedies. Undoubtedly Shakespeare felt +that there was an iron discipline in beholding a great tragedy. To live +it over in the soul tempered it, gave it firmness and resolution, and it +is not impossible that the sympathetic, high-strung Shakespeare needed +just such discipline. But we must not forget the element of play. +All art is, in a sense, a game with images and feelings and human +utterances. "In all this century-old discussion about the subtlety of +Hamlet's character critics have forgotten that a piece of literature is, +first of all, a festive sport with clear pictures, finely organized +emotions, and eloquent words uttered in moments of deep feeling." The +poet who remembers this will use his work to drive from the earth +something of its gloom and melancholy. He will strengthen himself +that he may strengthen others. + +I have tried to give an adequate synopsis of Collin's article but, in +addition to the difficulties of translating the language, there are the +difficulties, infinitely greater, of putting into definite words all +that the Norwegian hints at and suggests. It is not high praise to say +that Collin has written the most notable piece of Shakespeare criticism +in Norway; indeed, nothing better has been written either in Norway or +Denmark. + +The study of Shakespeare in Norway was not, as the foregoing shows, +extensive or profound, but there were many Norwegian scholars who had +at least considerable information about things Shakespearean. No great +piece of research is to be recorded, but the stimulating criticism of +Caspari, Collin, Just Bing, and Bjørnson is worth reading to this day. + +The same comment may be made on two other contributions--Wiesener's +_Almindelig Indledning til Shakespeare_ (General Introduction to +Shakespeare), published as an introduction to his school edition of +_The Merchant of Venice_,[24] and Collin's _Indledning_ to his edition +of the same play. Both are frankly compilations, but both are admirably +organized, admirably written, and full of a personal enthusiasm which +gives the old, sometimes hackneyed facts a new interest. + + [24. _Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice. Med Anmærkninger og + Indledning_. Udgivet af G. Wiesener. Kristiania, 1880.] + +Wiesener's edition was published in 1880 in Christiania. The text is +that of the Cambridge edition with a few necessary cuttings to adapt it +for school reading. His introduction covers fifty-two closely printed +pages and gives, within these limits, an exceedingly detailed account of +the English drama, the Elizabethan stage, Shakespeare's life and work, +and a careful study of _The Merchant of Venice_ itself. The editor does +not pretend to originality; he has simply tried to bring together well +ascertained facts and to present them in the simplest, clearest fashion +possible. But the _Indledning_ is to-day, thirty-five years after it was +written, fully up to the standard of the best annotated school editions +in this country or in England. It is, of course, a little dry and +schematic; that could hardly be avoided in an attempt to compress such a +vast amount of information into such a small compass, but, for the most +part, the details are so clear and vivid that their mass rather +heightens than blurs the picture. + +From the fact that nothing in this introduction is original, it is +hardly necessary to criticise it at length; all that may be demanded +is a short survey of the contents. The whole consists of two great +divisions, a general introduction to Shakespeare and a special +introduction to _The Merchant of Venice_. The first division is, in +turn, subdivided into seven heads: 1. _The Pre-Shakespearean Drama_. +2. _The Life of Shakespeare_. 3. _Shakespeare's Works--Order and +Chronology_. 4. _Shakespeare as a Dramatist_. 5. _Shakespeare's +Versification_. 6. _The Text of Shakespeare_. 7. _The Theatres of +Shakespeare's Time_. This introduction fills thirty-nine pages and +presents an exceedingly useful compendium for the student and the +general reader. The short introduction to the play itself discusses +briefly the texts, the sources, the characters, Shakespeare's relation +to his material and, finally, the meaning of the play. The last section +is, however, a translation from Taine and not Wiesener's at all. + +The text itself is provided with elaborate notes of the usual text-book +sort. In addition to these there is, at the back, an admirable series +of notes on the language of Shakespeare. Wiesener explains in simple, +compact fashion some of the differences between Elizabethan and modern +English and traces these phenomena back to their origins in Anglo-Saxon +and Middle English. Inadequate as they are, these linguistic notes +cannot be too highly praised for the conviction of which they bear +evidence--that a complete knowledge of Shakespeare without a knowledge +of his language is impossible. To the student of that day these notes +must have been a revelation. + +The second text edition of a Shakespearean play in Norway was Collin's +_The Merchant of Venice_.[25] His introduction covers much the same +ground as Wiesener's, but he offers no sketch of the Elizabethan drama, +of Shakespeare's life, or of his development as a dramatic artist. On +the other hand, his critical analysis of the play is fuller and, instead +of a mere summary, he gives an elaborate exposition of Shakespeare's +versification. + + [25. _The Merchant of Venice_. Med Indledning og Anmærkninger ved + Chr. Collin. Kristiania. 1902.] + +Collin is a critic of rare insight. Accordingly, although he says +nothing new in his discussion of the purport and content of the play, +he makes the old story live anew. He images Shakespeare in the midst of +his materials--how he found them, how he gave them life and being. The +section on Shakespeare's language is not so solid and scientific as +Wiesener's, but his discussion of Shakespeare's versification is +both longer and more valuable than Wiesener's fragmentary essay, and +Shakespeare's relation to his sources is treated much more suggestively. + +He points out, first of all, that in Shakespeare's "classical" plays the +characters of high rank commonly use verse and those of low rank, prose. +This is, however, not a law. The real principle of the interchange of +prose and verse is in the emotions to be conveyed. Where these are +tense, passionate, exalted, they are communicated in verse; where they +are ordinary, commonplace, they are expressed in prose. This rule will +hold both for characters of high station and for the most humble. In Act +I, for example, Portia speaks in prose to her maid "obviously because +Shakespeare would lower the pitch and reduce the suspense. In the +following scene, the conversation between Shylock and Bassanio begins in +prose. But as soon as Antonio appears, Shylock's emotions are roused to +their highest pitch, and his speech turns naturally to verse--even +though he is alone and his speech an aside. A storm of passions sets +his mind and speech in rhythmic motion. And from that point on, the +conversations of Shylock, Bassanio, and Antonio are in verse. In short, +rhythmic speech when there is a transition to strong, more dramatic +feeling." + +The use of prose or verse depends, then, on the kind and depth of +feeling rather than on the characters. "In Act II Launcelot Gobbo and +his father are the only ones who employ prose. All the others speak in +verse--even the servant who tells of Bassanio's arrival. Not only that, +but he speaks in splendid verse even though he is merely announcing a +messenger:" + + "Yet have I not seen + So likely an ambassador of love," etc. + +Again, in _Lear_, the servant who protests against Cornwall's cruelty to +Gloster, nameless though he is, speaks in noble and stately lines: + + Hold your hand, my lord; + I've served you ever since I was a child; + But better service have I never done you + Than now to bid you hold. + +When the dramatic feeling warrants it, the humblest rise to the highest +poetry. The renaissance was an age of deeper, mightier feelings than +our own, and this intense life speaks in verse, for only thus can it +adequately express itself. + +All this is romantic enough. But it is to be doubted if the men of the +renaissance were so different from us that they felt an instinctive need +of bursting into song. The causes of the efflorescence of Elizabethan +dramatic poetry are not, I think, to be sought in such subtleties as +these. + +Collin further insists that the only way to understand Shakespeare's +versification is to understand his situations and his characters. Rules +avail little. If we do not _feel_ the meaning of the music, we shall +never understand the meaning of the verse. Shakespeare's variations from +the normal blank verse are to be interpreted from this point of view. +Hence what the metricists call "irregularities" are not irregularities +at all. Collin examines the more important of these irregularities and +tries to account for them. + +1. Short broken lines as in I, 1-5: _I am to learn._ Antonio completes +this line by a shrug of the shoulders or a gesture. "It would be +remarkable," concludes Collin, "if there were no interruptions or pauses +even though the characters speak in verse." Another example of this +breaking of the line for dramatic purposes is found in I, 3-123 where +Shylock suddenly stops after "say this" as if to draw breath and arrange +his features. (Sic!) + +2. A verse may be abnormally long and contain six feet. This is +frequently accidental, but in _M of V_ it is used at least once +deliberately--in the oracular inscriptions on the caskets: + + "Who chooseth me shall gain what men desire." + "Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves." + "Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he has." + +Collin explains that putting these formulas into Alexandrines gives them +a stiffness and formality appropriate to their purpose. + +3. Frequently one or two light syllables are added to the close of the +verse: + + Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster. + +or + + Sleep when he wakes and creep into the jaundice. + +Again, in III, 2-214 we have two unstressed syllables: + + But who comes here? Lorenzo and his infidel? + +"Shakespeare uses this unaccented gliding ending more in his later works +to give an easier more unconstrained movement." + +4. Occasionally a syllable is lacking, and the foot seems to halt as in +V, 1-17: + + As far as Belmont. In such a night, etc. + +Here a syllable is lacking in the third foot. But artistically this is +no defect. We cannot ask that Jessica and Lorenzo always have the right +word at hand. The defective line simply means a pause and, therefore, +instead of being a blemish, is exactly right. + +5. On the other hand, there is often an extra light syllable before the +caesura. (I, 1-48): + + Because you are not merry; and 'twere as easy, etc. + +This extra syllable before the pause gives the effect of a slight +retardation. It was another device to make the verse easy and +unconstrained. + +6. Though the prevailing verse is iambic pentameter, we rarely find +more than three or four real accents. The iambic movement is constantly +broken and compelled to fight its way through. This gives an added +delight, since the ear, attuned to the iambic beat, readily recognizes +it when it recurs. The presence of a trochee is no blemish, but a +relief: + + Vailing her high tops higher than her ribs. (I, 1-28) + +This inverted stress occurs frequently in Norwegian poetry. Wergeland +was a master of it and used it with great effect, for instance, in his +poem to Ludvig Daa beginning: + + Med døden i mit hjerte, + og smilet om min mund,-- + +All this gives to Shakespeare's verse a marvellous flexibility and +power. Nor are these devices all that the poet had at his disposal. We +frequently find three syllables to the foot, giving the line a certain +fluidity which a translator only rarely can reproduce. Finally, a +further difficulty in translating Shakespeare lies in the richness of +the English language in words of one syllable. What literature can rival +the grace and smoothness of: + + In sooth I know not why I am so sad. + +Ten monosyllables in succession! It is enough to drive a translator to +despair. Or take: + + To be or not to be, that is the question. + +To summarize, no other language can rival English in dramatic dialogue +in verse, and this is notably true of Shakespeare's English, where the +word order is frequently simpler and more elastic than it is in modern +English. + +Two reviews of Collin quickly appeared in a pedagogical magazine, _Den +Höiere Skole_. The first of them,[26] by Ivar Alnæs, is a brief, rather +perfunctory review. He points out that _The Merchant of Venice_ is +especially adapted to reading in the gymnasium, for it is unified in +structure, the characters are clearly presented, the language is not +difficult, and the picture is worth while historically. Collin has, +therefore, done a great service in making the play available for +teaching purposes. Alnæs warmly praises the introduction; it is +clear, full, interesting, and marked throughout by a tone of genuine +appreciation. But right here lies its weakness. It is not always easy +to distinguish ascertained facts from Collin's imaginative combinations. +Every page, however, gives evidence of the editor's endeavor to give to +the student fresh, stimulating impressions, and new, revealing points of +view. This is a great merit and throws a cloak over many eccentricities +of language. + + [26. Vol. 5 (1903), pp. 51 ff.] + +But Collin was not to escape so easily. In the same volume Dr. +August Western[27] wrote a severe criticism of Collin's treatment +of Shakespeare's versification. + + [27. _Ibid._ pp. 142 ff.] + +He agrees, as a matter of course, that Shakespeare is a master of +versification, but he does not believe that Collin has proved it. That +blank verse is the natural speech of the chief characters or of the +minor characters under emotional stress, that prose is _usually_ used by +minor characters or by important characters under no emotional strain +is, in Dr. Western's opinion, all wrong. Nor is prose per se more +restful than poetry. And is not Shylock more emotional in his scene +(I, 3) than any of the characters in the casket scene immediately +following (II, 1)? According to Collin, then, I, 3 should be in verse +and II, 1 in prose! Equally absurd is the theory that Shakespeare's +characters speak in verse because their natures demand it. Does Shylock +go contrary to nature in III, 1? There is no psychological reason for +Verse in Shakespeare. He wrote as he did because convention prescribed +it. The same is true of Goethe and Schiller, of Bjørnson and Ibsen in +their earlier plays. Shakespeare's lapses into prose are, moreover, easy +to explain. There must always be something to amuse the gallery. Act +III, 1 must be so understood, for though Shakespeare was undoubtedly +moved, the effect of the scene was comic. The same is true of the +dialogue between Portia and Nerissa in Act I, and of all the scenes +in which Launcelot Gobbo appears. + +Western admits, however, that much of the prose in Shakespeare cannot +be so explained; for example, the opening scenes in _Lear_ and _The +Tempest_. And this brings up another point, i.e., Collin's supposition +that Shakespeare's texts as we have them are exactly as he wrote them. +When the line halts, Collin simply finds proof of the poet's fine ear! +The truth probably is that Shakespeare had a good ear and that he always +wrote good lines, but that he took no pains to see that these lines were +correctly printed. Take, for example, such a line as: + + As far as Belmont. + In such a night + +This would, if written by anyone else, always be considered bad, and Dr. +Western does not believe that Collin's theory of the pauses will hold. +The pause plays no part in verse. A line consists of a fixed number +of _heard_ syllables. Collin would say that a line like I, 1-73: + + I will not fail you, + +is filled out with a bow and a swinging of the hat. Then why are the +lines just before it, in which Salarino and Salario take leave of each +other, not defective? Indeed, how can we be sure that much of what +passes for "Shakespeare's versification" is not based on printers' +errors? In the folio of 1623 there are long passages printed in prose +which, after closer study, we must believe were written in verse--the +opening of _Lear_ and _The Tempest_. Often, too, it is plain that +the beginnings and endings of lines have been run together. Take the +passage: + + _Sal_: + Why, then you are in love. + + _Ant_: + Fie, fie! + + _Sal_: + Not in love neither? Then let us say you are sad-- + +The first line is one foot short, the second one foot too long. This +Collin would call a stroke of genius; each _fie_ is a complete foot, +and the line is complete! But what if the line were printed thus: + + _Sal_: + Why, then you are in love. + + _Ant_: + Fie, fie! + + _Sal_: + Not in + Love neither? Then let us say you are sad. + +or possibly: + + Love neither? Then let's say that you are sad. + +Another possible printer's error is found in I, 3-116: + + With bated breath and whispering humbleness + Say this; + Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last. + +Are we here to imagine a pause of four feet? And what are we to do with +the first folio which has + + Say this; Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last. + +all in one line? Perhaps some printer chose between the two. At any +rate, Collin's theory will not hold. In the schools, of course, one +cannot be a text critic but, on the other hand, one must not praise in +Shakespeare what may be the tricks of the printer's devil. The text is +not always faultless. + +Finally, Dr. Western objects to the statement that the difficulty in +translating Shakespeare lies in the great number of monosyllables and +gives + + In sooth, I know not why I am so sad + +as proof. Ten monosyllables in one line! But this is not impossible in +Norwegian: + + For sand, jeg ved ei, hvi jeg er saa trist-- + +It is not easy to translate Shakespeare, but the difficulty goes deeper +than his richness in words of one syllable. + +With the greater part of Dr. Western's article everyone will agree. It +is doubtful if any case could be made out for the division of prose and +verse based on psychology. Shakespeare probably wrote his plays in verse +for the same reason that Goethe and Schiller and Oehlenschläger did. It +was the fashion. And how difficult it is to break with fashion or with +old tradition, the history of Ibsen's transition from poetry to prose +shows. It is equally certain that in Collin's _Introduction_ it is +difficult to distinguish ascertained facts from brilliant speculation. +But it is not easy to agree with Dr. Western that Collin's explanation +of the "pause" is a tissue of fancy. + +In the first place, no one denies that the printers have at times +played havoc with Shakespeare's text. Van Dam and Stoffel, to whose book +Western refers and whose suggestions are directly responsible for this +article, have shown this clearly enough. But when Dr. Western argues +that because printers have corrupted the text in some places, they must +be held accountable for every defective short line, we answer, it does +not follow. In the second place, why should not a pause play a part in +prosody as well as in music? Recall Tennyson's verse: + + Break, break, break, + On thy cold, grey stones, o sea! + +where no one feels that the first line is defective. Of course the +answer is that in Tennyson no accented syllable is lacking. But it is +difficult to understand what difference this makes. When the reader has +finished pronouncing _Belmont_ there _must_ be a moment's hesitation +before Lorenzo breaks in with: + + In such a night + +and this pause may have metrical value. The only judge of verse, after +all, is the hearer, and, in my opinion, Collin is right when he points +out the value of the slight metrical pause between the bits of repartee. +Whether Shakespeare counted the syllables beforehand or not, is another +matter. In the third place, Collin did not quote in support of his +theory the preposterous lines which Dr. Western uses against him. Collin +does quote I, 1-5: + + I am to learn. + +and I, 1-73: + + I will not fail you + +is a close parallel, but Collin probably would not insist that his +theory accounts for every case. As to Dr. Western's other example of +good meter spoiled by corrupt texts, Collin would, no doubt, admit +the possibility of the proposed emendations. It would not alter his +contention that a pause in the line, like a pause in music, is not +necessarily void, but may be very significant indeed. + +The array of Shakespearean critics in Norway, as we said at the +beginning, is not imposing. Nor are their contributions important. +But they show, at least, a sound acquaintance with Shakespeare and +Shakespeareana, and some of them, like the articles of Just Bing, +Brettville Jensen, Christen Collin, and August Western, are interesting +and illuminating. Bjørnson's article in _Aftenbladet_ is not merely +suggestive as Shakespearean criticism, but it throws valuable light +on Bjørnson himself and his literary development. When we come to the +dramatic criticism of Shakespeare's plays, we shall find renewed +evidence of a wide and intelligent knowledge of Shakespeare in Norway. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Performances Of Shakespeare's Plays In Norway + +_Christiania_ + + +The first public theater in Christiania was opened by the Swedish +actor, Johan Peter Strömberg, on January 30, 1827, but no Shakespeare +production was put on during his short and troubled administration. +Not quite two years later this strictly private undertaking became a +semi-public one under the immediate direction of J.K. Böcher, and at +the close of the season 1829-30, Böcher gave by way of epilogue to +the year, two performances including scenes from Holberg's _Melampe_, +Shakespeare's _Hamlet_, and Oehlenschläger's _Aladdin_. The Danish actor +Berg played Hamlet, but we have no further details of the performance. +We may be sure, however, that of the two translations available, Boye's +and Foersom's, the latter was used. _Hamlet_, or a part of it, was thus +given for the first time in Norway nearly seventeen years after Foersom +himself had brought it upon the stage in Denmark.[1] + + [1. Blanc: _Christianias Theaters Historie_, p. 51.] + +More than fourteen years were to elapse before the theater took +up Shakespeare in earnest. On July 28, 1844, the first complete +Shakespearean play was given. This was _Macbeth_ in Foersom's version +of Schiller's "bearbeitung," which we shall take up in our studies of +Shakespeare in Denmark.[2] No reviews of it are to be found in the +newspapers of the time, not even an announcement. This, however, does +not prove that the event was unnoticed, for the press of that day was +a naive one. Extensive reviews were unknown; the most that the public +expected was a notice. + + [2. Blanc does not refer to this performance in his _Historie_. + But this and all other data of performances from 1844 to 1899 are + taken from his "Fortegnelse over alle dramatiske Arbeider, som + siden Kristiania Offentlige Theaters Aabning, den 30. Januar 1827, + har vært opført af dets Personale indtil 15 Juni 1899." The work + is unpublished. Ms 4to, No. 940 in the University Library, + Christiania.] + +We are equally ignorant of the fate of _Othello_, performed the next +season, being given for the first time on January 3, 1845. Wulff's +Danish translation was used. Blanc says in his _Historie_[3] that +Desdemona and Iago were highly praised, but that the play as a whole +was greatly beyond the powers of the theater. + + [3. See p. 94, note 1.] + +Nearly eight years later, November 11, 1852, _Romeo and Juliet_ in +Foersom's translation received its Norwegian premiere. The acting +version used was that made for the Royal Theater in Copenhagen by A.E. +Boye in 1828.[4] _Christiania Posten_[5] reports a packed house and a +tremendous enthusiasm. Romeo (by Wiehe) and Juliet (by Jomfru Svendsen) +revealed careful study and complete understanding. The reviewer in +_Morgenbladet_[6] begins with the little essay on Shakespeare so common +at the time; "Everyone knows with what colors the immortal Shakespeare +depicts human passions. In _Othello_, jealousy; in _Hamlet_, despair; +in _Romeo and Juliet_, love, are sung in tones which penetrate to the +depths of the soul. Against the background of bitter feud, the love of +Romeo and Juliet stands out victorious and beneficent. Even if we cannot +comprehend this passion, we can, at least, feel the ennobling power of +the story." Both of the leading parts are warmly praised. Of Wiehe the +reviewer says: "Der var et Liv af Varme hos ham i fuldt Maal, og den +grændseløse Fortvivlelse blev gjengivet med en næsten forfærdelig +Troskab." + + [4. See Aumont og Collin: _Det Danske Nationalteater_. V Afsnit, + pp. 118 ff.] + + [5. _Christiania Posten_. November 15, 1845.] + + [6. _Morgenbladet_. November 15, 1845.] + +The same season (Dec. 11, 1852) the theater also presented _As You +Like It_ in the Danish version by Sille Beyer. The performance of two +Shakespearean plays within a year may rightly be called an ambitious +undertaking for a small theatre without a cent of subsidy. _Christiania +Posten_ says: "It is a real kindness to the public to make it acquainted +with these old masterpieces. One feels refreshed, as though coming +out of a bath, after a plunge into their boundless, pure poetry. The +marvellous thing about this comedy (_As You Like It_) is its wonderful, +spontaneous freshness, and its freedom from all sentimentality and +emotional nonsense." The acting, says the critic, was admirable, but +its high quality must, in a measure, be attributed to the sympathy and +enthusiasm of the audience. Wiehe is praised for his interpretation of +Orlando and Jomfru Svendsen for her Rosalind.[7] Apparently none of the +reviewers noticed that Sille Beyer had turned Shakespeare upside down. +Her version was given for the last time on Sept. 25, 1878, and in this +connection an interesting discussion sprang up in the press. + + [7. _Christiania Posten_. Dec. 12, 1852.] + +The play was presented by student actors, and the performance +was therefore less finished than it would have been under other +circumstances. _Aftenposten_ was doubtless right when it criticised the +director for entrusting so great a play to unpractised hands, assuming +that Shakespeare should be played at all. "For our part, we do not +believe the time far distant when Shakespeare will cease to be a +regular part of the repertoire."[8] To this statement a contributor in +_Aftenposten_ for Sept. 28 objected. He admits that Shakespeare wrote +his plays for a stage different from our own, that the ease with which +Elizabethan scenery was shifted gave his plays a form that makes them +difficult to play today. Too often at a modern presentation we feel that +we are seeing a succession of scenes rather than unified, organic drama. +But, after all, the main thing is the substance--"the weighty content, +and this will most certainly secure for them for a long time to come a +place in the repertoire of the theater of the Germanic world. So long +as we admit that in the delineation of character, in the presentation +of noble figures, and in the mastery of dialogue, Shakespeare is +unexcelled, so long we must admit that Shakespeare has a place on the +modern stage." + + [8. _Aftenposten_. Sept. 21, 1878.] + +Where did _Aftenposten_'s reviewer get the idea that Shakespeare's plays +are not adapted to the modern stage? Was it from Charles Lamb? At any +rate, it is certain that he anticipated a movement that has led to many +devices both in the English-speaking countries and in Germany to +reproduce the stage conditions under which Shakespeare's plays were +performed during his own life. + +Of the next Shakespearean piece to be performed in Christiania, +_All's Well That Ends Well_, there is but the briefest mention in +the newspapers. We know that it was given in the curiously perverted +arrangement by Sille Beyer and was presented twelve times from January +15, 1854 to May 23, 1869. On that day a new version based on Lembcke's +translation was used, and in this form the play was given eight times +the following seasons. Since January 24, 1882, it has not been performed +in Norway.[9] + + [9. See Blanc's _Fortegnelse_. p. 93.] + +At the beginning of the next season, October 29, 1854, _Much Ado About +Nothing_ was introduced to Kristiania theater-goers under the title +_Blind Alarm_. The translation was by Carl Borgaard, director of the +theater. But here, too, contemporary documents leave us in the dark. +There is merely a brief announcement in the newspapers. Blanc informs +us that Jomfru Svendsen played Hero, and Wiehe, Benedict.[10] + + [10. See Blanc's _Fortegnelse_. p. 93.] + +After _Blind Alarm_ Shakespeare disappears from the repertoire for +nearly four years. A version of _The Taming of the Shrew_ under the +title _Hun Maa Tæmmes_ was given on March 28, 1858, but with no great +success. Most of the papers ignored it. _Aftenbladet_ merely announced +that it had been given.[11] + + [11. _Aftenbladet_. March 22, 1858.] + +_Viola_, Sille Beyer's adaptation of _Twelfth Night_ was presented at +Christiania Theater on November 20, 1860, the eighth of Shakespeare's +plays to be presented in Norway, and again not merely in a Danish text +but in a version made for the Copenhagen Theater. + +Neither the critics nor the public were exacting. The press hailed +_Viola_ as a tremendous relief from the frothy stuff with which +theater-goers had been sickened for a season or two. "The theater +finally justified its existence," says _Morgenbladet_,[12] "by a +performance of one of Shakespeare's plays. Viola was beautifully done." +The writer then explains in conventional fashion the meaning of the +English title and goes on--"But since the celebration of _Twelfth Night_ +could interest only the English, the Germans have "bearbeidet" the play +and centered the interest around Viola. We have adopted this version." +He approves of Sille Beyer's cutting, though he admits that much is lost +of the breadth and overwhelming romantic fulness that mark the original. +But this he thinks is compensated for by greater intelligibility and the +resulting dramatic effect. "Men hvad Stykket ved saadan Forandring, +Beklippelse, og Udeladelse saaatsige taber af sin Fylde idet ikke alt +det Leende, Sorgløse og Romantiske vandre saa ligeberettiget side om +side igjennem Stykket, mens det Øvrige samler sig om Viola, det opveies +ved den større Forstaaelighed for vort Publikum og denne mere afrundede +sceniske Virkning, Stykket ved Bearbeidelsen har faaet." As the piece is +arranged now, Viola and her brother are not on the stage at the same +time until Act V. Both rôles may therefore be played by Jomfru Svendsen. +The critic is captivated by her acting of the double rôle, and +Jørgensen's Malvolio and Johannes Brun's Sir Andrew Aguecheek share +with her the glory of a thoroughly successful performance. + + [12. November 23, 1860.] + +Sille Beyer's _Viola_ was given twelve times. From the thirteenth +performance, January 21, 1890, _Twelfth Night_ was given in a new form +based on Lembcke's translation. + +A thorough search through the newspaper files fails to reveal even a +slight notice of _The Merchant of Venice_ (Kjøbmanden i Venedig) played +for the first time on Sept. 17, 1861. Rahbek's translation was used, and +this continued to be the standard until 1874, when, beginning with the +eighth performance, it was replaced by Lembcke's. + +We come, then, to _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ (Skjærsommernatsdrømmen) +played in Oehlenschläger's translation under Bjørnson's direction on +April 17, 1865. The play was given ten times from that date till +May 27, 1866. In spite of this unusual run it appears to have been only +moderately successful, and when Bjørnson dropped it in the spring of +1866, it was to disappear from the repertoire for thirty-seven years. +On January 15, 1903, it was revived by Bjørnson's son, Bjørn Bjørnson. +This time, however, it was called _Midsommernatsdrömmen_, and the acting +version was based on Lembcke's translation. In this new shape it has +been played twenty-seven times up to January, 1913. + +The interesting polemic which Bjørnson's production occasioned has +already been discussed at some length. This may be added, however: +A play which, according to the poet's confession, influenced his life as +this one did, has played an important part in Norwegian literature. The +influence may be intangible. It is none the less real. + +More popular than any of the plays which had thus far been presented in +Norway was _A Winter's Tale_, performed at Christiania Theater for the +first time on May 4, 1866. The version used had, however, but a faint +resemblance to the original. It was a Danish revision of Dingelstedt's +_Ein Wintermärchen_. I shall discuss this Holst-Dingelstedt text in +another place. At this point it is enough to say that Shakespeare is +highly diluted. It seems, nevertheless, to have been successful, for +between the date of its premiere and March 21, 1893, when it was given +for the last time, it received fifty-seven performances, easily breaking +all records for Shakespearean plays at the old theater. And at the new +National Theater, where it has never been given, no Shakespearean play, +with the exception of _The Taming of the Shrew_ has approached its +record. + +_Aftenbladet_[13] in its preliminary review said: "Although this is +not one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, it is well worth putting on, +especially in the form which Dingelstedt has given to it. It was +received with the greatest enthusiasm." But _Aftenbladet's_ promised +critical review never appeared. + + [13. May 5, 1866.] + +More interesting and more important than most of the performances +which we have thus far considered is that of _Henry IV_ in 1867, while +Bjørnson was still director. To his desire to give Johannes Brun an +opportunity for the display of his genius in the greatest of comic rôles +we owe this version of the play. Bjørnson obviously could not give both +parts, and he chose to combine cuttings from the two into a single play +with Falstaff as the central figure. The translation used was Lembcke's +and the text was only slightly norvagicized. + +Bjørnson's original prompt book is not now available. In 1910, however, +H. Wiers Jensen, a playwright associated with the National Theater, +shortened and slightly adapted the version for a revival of the play, +which had not been seen in Kristiania since February 8, 1885. We may +assume that in all essentials the prompt book of 1910 reproduces that of +1867. + +In this _Kong Henrik IV_ the action opens with I Henry IV, II-4, and Act +I consists of this scene freely cut and equally freely handled in the +distribution of speeches. The opening of the scene, for example, is cut +away entirely and replaced by a brief account of the robbery put naively +into the mouth of Poins. The opening of Act II is entirely new. Since +all the historical scenes of Act I of the original have been omitted, it +becomes necessary to give the audience some notion of the background. +This is done in a few lines in which the King tells of the revolt of +the nobles and of his own difficult situation. Then follows the king's +speech from Part I, Act III, Sc. 2: + + Lords, give us leave; the prince of Wales and I + must have some conference... + +and what follows is the remainder of the scene with many cuttings. Sir +Walter Blunt does not appear. His rôle is taken by Warwick. + +Act II, Sc. 2 of Bjørnson's text follows Part I, Act III, Sc. 3 closely. + +Act III, Sc. 1 corresponds with Part I, Act III, Sc. 1 to the point +where Lady Mortimer and Lady Percy enter. This episode is cut and the +scene resumes with the entrance of the messenger in Part I, Act IV, +Sc. 1, line 14. This scene is then followed in outline to the end. + +Act III, Sc. 2 begins with Part I, Act IV, Sc. 3 from the entrance of +Falstaff, and follows it to the end of the scene. To this is added most +of Scene 4, but there is little left of the original action. Only the +Falstaff episodes are retained intact. + +The last act (IV) is a wonderful composite. Scene 1 corresponds closely +to Part II, Act III, Sc. 4, but it is, as usual, severely cut. Scene 2 +reverts back to Part II, Act III, Sc. 2 and is based on this scene to +line 246, after which it is free handling of Part II, Act V, Sc. 3. +Scene 3 is based on Part II, Act V, Sc. 5. + +A careful reading of Bjørnson's text with the above as a guide will +show that this collection of episodes, chaotic as it seems, makes no +ineffective play. With a genius--and a genius Johannes Brun was--as +Falstaff, one can imagine that the piece went brilliantly. The press +received it favorably, though the reviewers were much too critical to +allow Bjørnson's mangling of the text to go unrebuked. + +_Aftenbladet_ has a careful review.[14] The writer admits that in our +day it requires courage and labor to put on one of Shakespeare's +historical plays, for they were written for a stage radically different +from ours. In the Elizabethan times the immense scale of these +"histories" presented no difficulties. On a modern stage the mere +bulk makes a faithful rendition impossible. And the moment one starts +tampering with Shakespeare, trouble begins. No two adapters will agree +as to what or how to cut. Moreover, it may well be questioned whether +any such cutting as that made for the theater here would be tolerated in +any other country with a higher and older Shakespeare "Kultur." The +attempt to fuse the two parts of _Henry IV_ would be impossible in a +country with higher standards. "Our theater can, however, venture +undisturbed to combine these two comprehensive series of scenes into +one which shall not require more time than each one of them singly--a +venture, to be sure, which is not wholly without precedent in foreign +countries. It is clear that the result cannot give an adequate notion of +Shakespeare's 'histories' in all their richness of content, but it does, +perhaps, give to the theater a series of worth-while problems to work +out, the importance of which should not be underestimated. The attempt, +too, has made our theater-goers familiar with Shakespeare's greatest +comic character, apparently to their immense delight. Added to all this +is the fact that the acting was uniformly excellent." + + [14. February 18, 1867.] + +But by what right is the play called Henry IV? Practically nothing is +left of the historical setting, and the spectator is at a loss to know +just what the whole thing is about. Certainly the whole emphasis is +shifted, for the king, instead of being an important character is +overshadowed by Prince Hal. The Falstaff scenes, on the other hand, are +left almost in their original fulness, and thus constitute a much more +important part of the play than they do in the original. The article +closes with a glowing tribute to Johannes Brun as Falstaff. + +_Morgenbladet_[15] goes into greater detail. The reviewer seems to think +that Shakespeare had some deep purpose in dividing the material into two +parts--he wished to have room to develop the character of Prince Henry. +"Accordingly, in the first part he gives us the early stages of Prince +Hal's growth, beginning with the Prince of Wales as a sort of superior +rake and tracing the development of his better qualities. In Part II we +see the complete assertion of his spiritual and intellectual powers." +The writer overlooks the fact that what Shakespeare was writing first of +all--or rather, what he was revising--was a chronicle. If he required +more than five acts to give the history of Henry IV he could use ten and +call it two plays. If, in so doing, he gave admirable characterization, +it was something inherent in his own genius, not in the materials with +which he was working. + + [15. February 17, 1867.] + +The history, says the reviewer, and the Falstaff scenes are the +background for the study of the Prince, each one serving a distinct +purpose. But here the history has been made meaningless and the Falstaff +episodes have been put in the foreground. He points out that balance, +proportion, and perspective are all lost by this. Yet, granting that +such revolutionizing of a masterpiece is ever allowable, it must be +admitted that Bjørnson has done it with considerable skill. Bjørnson's +purpose is clear enough. He knew that Johannes Brun as Falstaff would +score a triumph, and this success for his theater he was determined to +secure. The same motive was back of the version which Stjernstrøm put on +in Stockholm, and there can be little doubt that his success suggested +the idea to Bjørnson. The nature of the cutting reveals the purpose at +every step. For instance, the scene in which the Gadskill robbery is +made clear, is cut entirely. We thus lose the first glimpse of the +sterner and manlier side of the royal reveller. In fact, if Bjørnson had +been frank he would have called his play _Falstaff--based on certain +scenes from Shakespeare's Henry IV, Parts I and II_. + +Yet, though much has been lost, much of what remains is excellent. +Brun's Falstaff almost reconciles us to the sacrifice. Long may he live +and delight us with it! It is one of his most superb creations. The cast +as a whole is warmly praised. It is interesting to note that at the +close of the review the critic suggests that the text be revised with +Hagberg's Swedish translation at hand, for Lembcke's Danish contains +many words unusual or even unfamiliar in Norwegian. + +_Henry IV_ remained popular in Norway, although from February 8, +1885 to February 10, 1910 it was not given in Kristiania. When, in 1910, +it was revived with Løvaas as Falstaff, the reception given it by the +press was about what it had been a quarter of a century before. +_Aftenposten_'s[16] comment is characteristic: "The play is turned +upside down. The comic sub-plot with Falstaff as central figure is +brought forward to the exclusion of all the rest. More than this, what +is retained is shamelessly altered." Much more scathing is a short +review by Christian Elster in the magazine _Kringsjaa_.[17] The play, +he declares, has obviously been given to help out the box office by +speculating in the popularity of Falstaff. "There is no unity, no +coherence, no consistency in the delineation of characters, and even +from the comic scenes the spirit has fled."[17] + + [16. _Aftenposten_. February 25, 1910.] + + [17. _Kringsjaa_ XV, III (1910), p. 173.] + +To all this it may be replied that the public was right when it +accepted Falstaff for what he was regardless of the violence done to the +original. The Norwegian public cared little about the wars, little even +about the king and the prince; but people will tell one today of those +glorious evenings when they sat in the theater and revelled in Johannes +Brun as the big, elephantine knight. + +In the spring of 1813, Foersom himself brought out _Hamlet_ on the +Danish stage. Nearly sixty years were to pass before this play was put +on in Norway, March 4, 1870. + +The press was not lavish in its praise. _Dagbladet_[18] remarks +that though the performance was not what it ought to have been, the +audience followed it from first to last with undivided attention. +_Aftenbladet_[19] has a long and interesting review. Most of it is +given over to a criticism of Isaachson's Hamlet. First of all, says +the reviewer, Isaachson labors under the delusion that every line is +cryptic, embodying a secret. This leads him to forget the volume of the +part and to invent all sorts of fanciful interpretations for details. +Thus he loses the unity of the character. Things are hurried through to +a conclusion and the fine transitions are lost. For example, "Oh, that +this too, too solid flesh would melt" is started well, but the speech at +once gains in clearness and decision until one wonders at the close why +such a Hamlet does not act at once with promptness and vigor. There are, +to be sure, occasional excellences, but they do not conceal the fact +that, as a whole, Isaachson does not understand Hamlet. + + [18. March 5, 1870.] + + [19. March 8, 1870.] + +Since its first performance _Hamlet_ has been given often in +Norway--twenty-eight times at the old Christiania Theater, and (from +October 31, 1907) seventeen times at the new National Theater. Its +revival in 1907, after an intermission of twenty-four years, was a +complete success, although _Morgenbladet_[20] complained that the +performance lacked light and inspiration. The house was full and the +audience appreciative. + + [20. November 1, 1907.] + +_Aftenposten_[21] found the production admirable. Christensen's Hamlet +was a stroke of genius. "Han er voxet i og med Rollen; han har trængt +sig ind i den danske Prins' dybeste Individualitet." And of the revival +the paper says: "The performance shows that a national theater can solve +difficult problems when the effort is made with sympathy, joy, and +devotion to art." + + [21. November 1, 1907.] + +In my judgment no theater could have given a better caste for +_The Merry Wives of Windsor_ than that with which Christiania Theater +was provided. All the actors were artists of distinction; and it is +not strange, therefore, that the first performance was a huge success. +_Aftenposten_[22] declares that Brun's Falstaff was a revelation. +_Morgenbladet_[23] says that the play was done only moderately well. +Brun as Falstaff was, however, "especially amusing." _Aftenbladet_[24] +is more generous. "_The Merry Wives of Windsor_ has been awaited with a +good deal of interest. Next to the curiosity about the play itself, the +chief attraction has been Brun as Falstaff. And though Falstaff as lover +gives no such opportunities as Falstaff, the mock hero, Brun makes a +notable rôle out of it because he knows how to seize upon and bring out +all there is in it." + + [22. May 15, 1873.] + + [23. May 15, 1873.] + + [24. May 15, 1873.] + +Johannes Brun's Falstaff is a classic to this day on the Norwegian +stage. In _Illustreret Tidende_ for July 12, 1874, K.A. Winterhjelm has +a short appreciation of his work. "Johannes Brun has, as nearly as we +can estimate, played something like three hundred rôles at Christiania +Theater. Many of them, to be sure, are minor parts--but there remains +a goodly number of important ones, from the clown in the farce to the +chief parts in the great comedies. Merely to enumerate his great +successes would carry us far afield. We recall in passing that he +has given us Falstaff both in _Henry IV_ and in _The Merry Wives of +Windsor_, Bottom in _A Midsummer Night's Dream_, and Autolycus in +_A Winter's Tale_. Perhaps he lacks something of the nobleman we feel +that he should be in _Henry IV_, but aside from this petty criticism, +what a wondrous comic character Brun has given us!" + +As to the success of _Coriolanus_, the sixteenth of Shakespeare's plays +to be put on in Kristiania, neither the newspapers nor the magazines +give us any clew. If we may believe a little puff in _Aftenposten_ for +January 20, 1874, the staging was to be magnificent. _Coriolanus_ was +played in a translation by Hartvig Lassen for the first time on January +21, 1874. After thirteen performances it was withdrawn on January 10, +1876, and has not been since presented. + +In 1877, _Richard III_ was brought on the boards for the first time, but +apparently the occasion was not considered significant, for there is +scarcely a notice of it. The public seemed surfeited with Shakespeare, +although the average had been less than one Shakespearean play a season. +At all events, it was ten years before the theater put on a new +one--_Julius Caesar_, on March 22, 1888. It had the unheard of +distinction of being acted sixteen times in one month, from the premiere +night to April 22. Yet the papers passed it by with indifference. Most +of them gave it merely a notice, and the promised review in +_Aftenposten_ never appeared. + +_Julius Caesar_ is the last new play to be presented at Christiania +Theater or at the National Theater, which replaced the old Christiania +Theater in 1899. From October, 1899 to January, 1913 the National +Theater has presented eight Shakespearean plays, but every one of +them has been a revival of plays previously presented. + + +_Bergen_ + +Up to a few years ago, the only theater of consequence in Norway, +outside of the capital, was at Bergen. In many respects the history of +the theater at Bergen is more interesting than that of the theater at +Christiania. Established in 1850, while Christiania Theater was still +largely Danish, to foster Norwegian dramatic art, it is associated with +the greatest names in Norwegian art and letters. The theater owes its +origin mainly to Ole Bull; Henrik Ibsen was official playwright from +1851 to 1857, and Bjørnson was director from 1857 to 1859. For a dozen +years or more "Den Nationale Scene i Bergen" led a precarious existence +and finally closed its doors in 1863. In 1876 the theater was reopened. +During the first period only two Shakespearean plays were +given--_Twelfth Night_ and _As You Like It_. + +_As You Like It_ in Stille Beyer's version was played twice during the +season 1855-56, on September 30 and October 3. The press is silent about +the performances, but doubtless we may accept Blanc's statement that the +task was too severe for the Bergen theater.[25] + + [25. Norges Første Nationale Scene. Kristiania. 1884, p. 206.] + +Rather more successful were the two performances of _Twelfth Night_ in +a stage version adapted from the German of Deinhardstein. The celebrated +Laura Svendsen played the double rôle of Sebastian-Viola with +conspicuous success.[26] + + [26. _Ibid._, p. 304.] + +_The Merchant of Venice_ was given for the first time on October 9, +1878, two years after the reopening of the theater. _Bergens +Tidende_[27] calls the production "a creditable piece of amateur +theatricals," insisting in a review of some length that the young +theater cannot measure up to the demands which a play of Shakespeare's +makes. _Bergensposten_ is less severe. Though far from faultless, the +presentation was creditable, in some details excellent. But, quite apart +from its absolute merits, there is great satisfaction in seeing the +theater undertake plays that are worth while.[28] Both papers agree +that the audience was large and enthusiastic. + + [27. _Bergens Tidende_, October 10, 1878.] + + [28. _Bergensposten_, October 11, 1878.] + +The next season _A Winter's Tale_ was given in H.P. Holst's +translation and adaptation of Dingelstedt's German acting version +_Ein Wintermärchen_. The press greeted it enthusiastically. _Bergens +Tidende_[29] says: "_A Winter's Tale_ was performed at our theater +yesterday in a manner that won the enthusiastic applause of a large +gathering. The principal actors were called before the curtain again and +again. It is greatly to the credit of any theater to give a Shakespeare +drama, and all the more so when it can do it in a form as artistically +perfect as was yesterday's presentation." + + [29. April 20, 1880. Cf. also _Bergensposten_, April 21, 1880.] + +Concerning _Othello_, third in order in the Shakespearean repertoire in +Bergen, the reviews of the first performance, November 13, 1881, are +conflicting. _Bergens Tidende_[30] is all praise. It has no hesitation +in pronouncing Johannesen's Iago a masterpiece. _Bergensposten_[31] +calls the performance passable but utterly damns Johannesen--"nothing +short of a colossal blunder." Hr. Johannesen is commended to the easily +accessible commentaries of Taine and Genée, and to Hamlet's speech to +the players. Desdemona and Cassio are dismissed in much the same +fashion. + + [30. November 14, 1881.] + + [31. November 15, 1881.] + +A few days later, November 18, _Bergensposten_ reviewed the performance +again and was glad to note a great improvement. + +_Bergens Addressecontoirs Efterretninger_[32] agrees with +_Bergensposten_ in its estimate of Johannesen. "He gives us only the +villain in Iago, not the cunning Ensign who deceives so many." But +Desdemona was thoroughly satisfying. + + [32. November 15, 1881.] + +Whatever may have been its initial success, _Othello_ did not last. It +was given four times during the season 1881-2, but was then dropped and +has never since been taken up. + +Three different groups of _Hamlet_ performances have been given in +Bergen. In September, 1883, the Ophelia scenes from Act IV were given; +the complete play, however, was not given till November 28, 1886. The +press,[33] for once, was unanimous in declaring the production a +success. It is interesting that an untried actor at his debut was +entrusted with the rôle. But, to judge from the press comments, Hr. +Løchen more than justified the confidence in him. His interpretation of +the subtlest character in Shakespeare was thoroughly satisfying.[34] + + [33. Cf. _Bergens Tidende_, November 29, 1886; _Bergens + Aftenblad_, November 29, 1886; _Bergensposten_, December 2, 1886.] + + [34. Cf. _Bergens Tidende_, November 30, 1886; _Bergens + Aftenblad_, November 29, 1886; _Bergensposten_, December 1, 1886.] + +Finally, it should be noted that a Swedish travelling company under the +direction of the well-known August Lindberg played _Hamlet_ in Bergen on +November 5, 1895. + +It is apparent, from the tone of the press comment that a Shakespearean +production was regarded as a serious undertaking. The theater approached +the task hesitatingly, and the newspapers always qualify their praise or +their blame with some apologetic remark about "the limited resources of +our theater." This explains the long gaps between new productions, five +years between _Othello_ (1881) and the complete _Hamlet_ (1886); five +years likewise between _Hamlet_ and _King Henry IV_. + +_Henry IV_ in Bjørnson's stage cutting promised at first to establish +itself. Its first performance was greeted by a crowded house, and +enthusiasm ran high. The press questions the right of the play to the +title of _Henry IV_, since it is a collection of scenes grouped about +Prince Hal and Falstaff. But aside from this purely objective criticism +the comment is favorable.[35] + + [35. Cf. _Bergens Tidende_, March 2, 1891; _Bergens Aftenblad_, + March 2, 1891.] + +With the second performance (March 4, 1891) comes a change. _Bergens +Tidende_ remarks that it is a common experience that a second +performance is not so successful as the first. Certainly this was true +in the case of _Henry IV_. The life and sparkle were gone, and the +sallies of Falstaff awakened no such infectious laughter as they had a +few evenings before.[36] There was no applause from the crowded house, +and the coolness of the audience reacted upon the players--all in +violent contrast to the first performance. The reviewer in _Aftenbladet_ +predicts that the production will have no very long life.[37] He was +right. It was given once more, on March 6. Since then the theater-goers +of Bergen have not seen it on their own stage. + + [36. Cf. March 5, 1891.] + + [37. Cf. March 5, 1891.] + +Sille Beyer's _Viola_ (which, in turn, is an adaptation of the German of +Deinhardstein) had been played twice at the old Bergen Theater, July 17 +and 18, 1861. It was now (Oct. 9, 1892) revived in a new cutting based +on Lembcke's Danish translation. _Bergens Aftenblad_ declares that the +cutting was reckless and the staging almost beggarly. The presentation +itself hardly rose above the mediocre.[38] _Bergens Tidende_, on the +other hand, reports that the performance was an entire success. The +caste was unexpectedly strong; the costumes and scenery splendid. The +audience was appreciative and there was generous applause.[39] + + [38. October 10, 1892.] + + [39. October 10 and 13, 1892.] + +The last new play to find a place on the repertoire at Bergen is _Romeo +and Juliet_. This was performed four times in May, 1897. Like _Henry +IV_, it promised to be a great success, but it survived only four +performances. _Bergens Tidende_[40] gives a careful, well-written +analysis of the play and of the presentation. The reviewer gives full +credit for the beauty of the staging and the excellence of the acting, +but criticises the censor sharply for the unskillful cutting, and the +stage manager for the long, tiresome waits. _Bergens Aftenblad_[41] +praises the performance almost without reserve. + + [40. May 15, 1897.] + + [41. May 15, 1897.] + +And the last chapter in the history of Shakespeare's dramas in Bergen +is a revival of _A Winter's Tale_ in the season 1902-3. The theater had +done its utmost to give a spendid and worthy setting, and great care was +given to the rehearsals. The result was a performance which, for beauty, +symmetry, and artistic unity ranks among the very best that have ever +been seen at the theater. The press was unanimous in its cordial +recognition.[42] The play was given no less than nine times during +October, 1902. Since then Shakespeare has not been given at _Den +Nationale Scene i Bergen_. + + [42. See _Bergens Aftenblad_ for October 6-9, 1902; _Bergens + Tidende_, October 6, 1902.] + + + + +APPENDIX + +Register Of Shakespearean Performances In Norway + + +_Kristiania_ + +I. Christiania Theater. + +The following record is an excerpt of all the data relating to +Shakespeare in T. Blanc: _Fortegnelse over alle dramatiske Arbeider, som +siden Kristiania Theaters offentlige Aabning den 30 Januar, 1827, har +været opførte paa samme af dets Personale indtil 15 Juni 1899_. This +_Fortegnelse_ is still unpublished. The MS. is quarto No. 940 in the +University Library, Kristiania. + +1. Blind Alarm. Skuespil i fem Akter af Shakespeare. (Original Title: +_Much Ado About Nothing_). Translated by Carl Borgaard, from the +nineteenth performance, May 18, 1878, under the title _Stor Staahei +for Ingenting_, Oct. 29, 1854, May 26, 1878. 18 times. + +2. Coriolanus. Sørgespil i 5 Akter af Shakespeare, bearbeidet for Scenen +af H. Lassen. Jan. 21, 1874--Jan. 10, 1876. 13 times. + +3. De Muntre Koner i Windsor. Lystspil i 5 Akter af Shakespeare. +(Adapted for the stage by H. Lassen.) May 14, 1873, Nov. 8, 1876. +12 times. + +4. En Skjærsommernatsdrøm. Eventyrkomedie i 5 Akter af W. Shakespeare. +(Original Title: _A Midsummer Night's Dream_.) Translated by +Oehlenschlæger. Music by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. April 17, 1865, May 27, +1866. 10 times. + +5. Et Vintereventyr. Romantisk Skuespil i 5 Akter. Adapted from +Shakespeare's _A Winter's Tale_ and Dinglestedt's _Ein Wintermärchen_ +by H.P. Holst. Music by Flotow. May 4, 1866, March 21, 1893. 57 times. + +6. Hamlet. Tragedie i 5 Akter af W. Shakespeare. Translated by Foersom +and Lembcke. March 4, 1870, April 27, 1883. 28 times. + +7. Hun Maa Tæmmes. Lystspil i 4 Akter. Adapted from Shakespeare's +_Taming of the Shrew_. March 21, 1858, April 12, 1881. 28 times. + +8. Julius Caesar. Tragedie i 5 Akter af William Shakespeare. Translated +by H. Lassen. March 22, 1887, April 22, 1887. 16 times. + +9. Kjøbmanden i Venedig. Skuespil i 5 Akter af Shakespeare. Adapted for +the stage from Rahbek's translation. From the eighth performance (Oct. +14, 1874) probably in a new translation by Lembcke. Sept. 17, 1861, +June 12, 1882. 23 times. + +10. Kong Henrik Den Fjerde. Skuespil i 5 Akter af W. Shakespeare. +Adapted by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson from _King Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2_ +in Lembcke's translation. Feb. 12, 1867, Feb. 8, 1885. 17 times. + +11. Kong Richard III. Tragedie i 5 Akter af W. Shakespeare. Translated +by Lembcke. May 27, 1877, March 10, 1891. 26 times. + +12. Kongens Læge. Romantisk Lystspil i 5 Akter efter Shakespeares +_All's Well That Ends Well_. Adapted by Sille Beyer. From the thirteenth +performance (May 23, 1869) given under the title _Naar Enden er god er +Alting godt_ in a new translation by Edvard Lembcke. Jan. 5, 1854, Jan. +24, 1882. 20 times. + +13. Livet i Skoven. Romantisk Lystspil i 4 Akter efter Shakespeares +_As You Like It_. Adapted by Sille Beyer. Dec. 9, 1852, Sept. 25, 1878. +19 times. + +14. Macbeth. Tragedie i 5 Akter af W. Shakespeare. Schiller's version +translated by Peter Foersom. Music by Weyse. July 28, 1844, Jan. 6, +1896. 37 times. + +15. Othello, Moren af Venedig. Tragedie i 5 Akter af Shakespeare. +Translated by P.L. Wulff. Jan. 3, 1845, March 10, 1872. 10 times. + +16. Romeo og Julie. Tragedie i 5 Akter af W. Shakespeare. Translated by +P. Foersom and A.E. Boye. From the sixth performance (April 4, 1880) +probably in a new translation by Lembcke. Nov. 11, 1852, July 12, 1899. +42 times. + +17. Viola. Lystspil i 5 Akter efter Shakespeare's _Twelfth Night_. +Translated and adapted by Sille Beyer. From the thirteenth performance +(Jan. 21, 1890) under the title _Helligtrekongersaften, eller hvad man +vil_. (In Lembcke's translation with music by Catherinus Elling.) Nov. +20, 1860, May 31, 1891. 30 times. + + +II. Nationaltheatret. + +The record of the Shakespearean performances at Nationaltheatret has +been compiled from the summary of performances given in the decade +1899-1909 contained in _Beretning om Nationaltheatrets Virksomhed i +Aaret 1909-1910_. Kristiania, 1910. The record of performances +subsequent to 1910, as well as the date of the first performances of +all plays, has been found in the Journal of the theater. + +1. Helligtrekongersaften. (Twelfth Night). Oct. 5, 1899. 10 times. + +2. Trold Kan Tæmmes. (The Taming of the Shrew.) Dec. 26, 1900. 35 times. + +3. En Sommernats Dröm. (A Midsummer Night's Dream) Jan. 15, 1903. +20 times. + +4. Kjöbmanden i Venedig. (The Merchant of Venice) Sept. 5, 1906. +20 times. + +5. Hamlet. Oct. 31, 1907. 17 times. + +6. Othello. Oct. 22, 1908. 12 times. + +7. Henry IV. Feb. 10, 1910. 10 times. + +8. As You Like It. Nov. 7, 1912. This play was still being given when +the investigation ceased. Ten performances had been given. + + +_Bergen_ + +I. The First Theater in Bergen (1850-1863) + +The information relating to Shakespeare at the old theater is gathered +from T. Blanc: _Norges første nationale Scene. Bergen 1850-1863. Et +Bidrag til den norske dramatiske Kunsts Historie. Kristiania, 1884_. + +1. Livet I Skoven. Romantisk Skuespil i 4 Akter efter Shakespeares +_As You Like It_. Adapted by Sille Beyer. Sept. 30 and Oct. 9, 1855. +2 times. + +2. Viola. Lystspil i 5 Akter efter Deinhardsteins Bearbeidelse af +Shakespeares _What You Will_. Adapted by Sille Beyer. July 17 and 18, +1861. 2 times. + + +II. The New Theater at Bergen (1876) + +The following data have been communicated to me by Hr. Christian Landal, +of the theater at Bergen. They have been compiled from the _Journal +(Spillejournal)_ of the theater. + +1. Kjöbmanden i Venedig (The Merchant of Venice) Oct. 9, 11, 13, 1878. +Friday, June 18, 1880, the Shylock scenes, with Emil Paulsen (of the +Royal Theater in Copenhagen) as guest. 4 times. + +2. Et Vintereventyr. (A Winter's Tale) April 19, 21, 25, 26, 28, 1880; +May 9, 1880; Nov. 28, 29, 1889; Oct. 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 20, +1902. 18 times. + +3. Othello. Nov. 13, 16, 18, 28, 1881. 4 times. + +4. Hamlet. Nov. 28 and 29; Dec. 1, 5, 19, 1886. The Ophelia scenes from +Act 4 with Ida Falberg Kiachas as guest. Sept. 12, 14, 16, 21, 1883. +Guest performance by August Lindberg and his Swedish company. Nov. 15, +1895. 10 times. + +5. Helligtrekongersaften. (_Twelfth Night_) in Lembcke's translation. +Oct. 9, 12, 14, 16, 1892; April 23, 1893 in Stavanger. 5 times. + +6. Romeo og Julie. May 12, 16, 19, 27, 1897. 4 times. + + +SUMMARY + +There have been played in Christiania seventeen plays of Shakespeare's +with a total of 540 performances. In Bergen seven Shakespearean plays +have been played with a total of 49 performances. + + + * * * * * + +[Errors and Anomalies Noted by Transcriber: + +English: + +_passim_ + Oehlenschläger/Oehlenschlæger + _variant spellings in original_ + +p. 6n. + after 1807 the history of Shakespeare in Denmark is more complicated + _original has_ Denkmark + +p. 9 + It is Coriolanus' outburst of wrath against the pretensions of the + tribunes (III, 1) + _original has_ 111-1 + +p. 15 + even to thought as sophisticated as this + _original has_ sophiscated + +p. 32 + And when we read the scenes in which Lancelot Gobbo figures... + _spelling as in original_ + +p. 36 + Titania's instructions to the fairies + _original has_ faries + +p. 39 + though there seems to be little to choose between them + _original has_ thought here + +p. 43 + the Foersom-Lembcke version has become standard + _original has_ Forsom-Lembcke + +p. 50 + notably in the duke's speech + _original has_ notaby + (Silvius and Pippa) + _original has_ anid + +p. 51 + dialogue between Orlando and Rosalind in II, 2 + _so in original_ + +p. 57 + Also he has acquitted himself well + _original has_ aquitted + +p. 68 + nothing to do with the case. + _original has_ ...with case. + +p. 69 + Molière + _original has_ Moliére + +p. 80 + Cassius' weakness for strong drink + _so in original_ + +p. 81n. + The Shakespearean Controversy + _original has_ Shakespeareen + +p. 82n. + and Bierfreund, to declare + _original has_ ...Bierfreund to, declare + +p. 86 + He images Shakespeare + _so in original_: imagines? + +p. 88 + in I, 3-123 where Shylock suddenly stops after "say this" + _original has_ I-3-1.3 + (Sic!) + _so in original_ + Occasionally a syllable is lacking + _original has_ Occassionally + +p. 89 + Vailing her high tops higher than her ribs. (I, 1-28) + _original has_ I-1-28 + +p. 95nn. + See p. 94, note 1. + _original has_ p. 85, note 1 + November 15, 1845 (_twice_) + _date and year as in original_ + +p. 97n. + March 22, 1858. + _date as in original_ + +p. 98 + This may be added, however: A play which, according to the... + _original has_ + This may be according added, however: A play which, to the... + +p. 98 + As the piece is arranged now, Viola and her brother + _original has_ now Viola, and + +p. 102, 103 + in the magazine _Kringsjaa_.[17] .... the spirit has fled."[17] + _duplicate footnote reference in original_ + +p. 103n. + November 1, 1907. + _original has_ 1917 + +p. 104 + no theater could have given a better caste + _spelling as in original_ + +p. 107 + commentaries of Taine and Genée + _original has_ Genèe + +p. 108 + The caste was unexpectedly strong + _spelling as in original_ + + +Danish and Norwegian: + +p. 2 + hvad for en Aarsag afholder + _original has_ an Aarsag + Mig synes der er megen Fornuft + _original has_ Meg synes... + +p. 3 + Du maae læse Testamentet for os, Cæsars Testament! + _original has_ Cæsars Testamment + +p. 7 + Maaskee I har det hørt, men da de + _original has_ Maaskee i har... + Slags Smil, der sig fra Lungen ikke skrev + _original has_ Smill + +p. 8 + Endskjøndt de ikke alle kunde see + _original has_ ...ikke all kunne... + +p. 10 + Der mer agtværdig er end nogensinde + _original has_ ...en nogensinde + +p. 11 + endnu citeres af Fords _Perkin Warbeck_, II, 2 + _original has_ 11, 2 + +p. 13 + Kinn-Ljosken hadde skemt dei Stjernor (_second occurrence_) + _original has_ Sternor + +p. 17 + og aldrig hev eg set ein Engel gaa + _original has_ en Engel + og gjenta mi ser støtt eg gaa paa Jori + _original has_ Jorl + +p. 19 + Trojas Murtinder Troilus besteg, + _original has_ trojas + +p. 20 + de Trolddomsurter der foryngede / den gamle Aeson + _original has_ + ...de Troldomsurter der foryngede den / gamle Aeson + Løb fra Venedig med en lystig Elsker + _original has_ er lystig Elsker + hvis jeg ei hørte nogen komme--tys! + _original has_ komm-/tys at line break + +p. 22 + Brum saa dette stolte Hierte brister; + _original has_ brist er + +p. 33 + han hadde som ein attaat-snev; + _original has_ altaat-snev + +p. 33 + "Du fenden," segjer eg, "du raader meg godt." + _original has_ "Du fenden, segjer eg... _missing close quote_ + +p. 33 + "I _Soga um Kaupmannen i Venetia_ + _original has_ I, Soga um... + +p. 34 + Velkomen, vandrar; hev du blomen der? + _original has_ Velkomon + This is all in the first selection in _Syn og Segn_, No. 3. + _original has_ Syn og segn + +p. 36 + _Fjerde Alven_: + _original has_ Fjorde + Til Nattljos hennar voksbein slit i fleng + _original has_ slitt + +p. 37 + so god natt og bysselull (_first occurrence_) + _original has_ byselul + faa vaar dronning ottefull (_first occurrence_) + _original has_ ottefulls + faa vaar dronning ottefull (_second occurrence_) + _original has_ otteful + +p. 41 + _Mønsaas_: + Her er ei liste... + _original has_ Mónsaas + +p. 42 + langt fleir enn kvinnelippur fram hev bori + _original has_ fler + +p. 44 + _Bernardo_: + _original has_ Bernado + +p. 94n. + "Fortegnelse over alle dramatiske Arbeider..." + _original has_ over all + +p. 97 + saaatsige taber af sin Fylde + _not an error_ (saa at sige) + +p. 107 + Bergens Addressecontoirs Efterretninger + _spelling as in original_ + +p. 110 + har været opførte paa samme + _original has_ varet opforte + +p. 110 + bearbeidet for Scenen af H. Lassen + _original has_ bearbeidet for / for Scenen _at line break_ + +p. 111 + efter Shakespeares _All's Well That Ends Well_ + _original has_ after Shakespeare's... + +p. 111, 112 (twice) + Romeo og Julie. + _normal Dano-Norse form of name_ + +p. 112 + Deinhardsteins Bearbeidelse af Shakespeares _What You Will_ + _original has_ Shakespeare's ] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Essay Toward a History of +Shakespeare in Norway, by Martin Brown Ruud + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN ESSAY TOWARD A HISTORY OF *** + +***** This file should be named 16416-8.txt or 16416-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/4/1/16416/ + +Produced by Louise Hope, David Starner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: An Essay Toward a History of Shakespeare in Norway + +Author: Martin Brown Ruud + +Release Date: August 2, 2005 [EBook #16416] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN ESSAY TOWARD A HISTORY OF *** + + + + +Produced by Louise Hope, David Starner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + +<div class = "mynote"> +Transcriber's Note:<br> +<br> +A number of typographical errors have been corrected. They have been +marked in the text with <ins class = "correction" +title = "like this">popups</ins>. +</div> +<br> +<p align = "center"><b>The University of Chicago</b></p> +<hr class = "tiny"> +<br> +<p align = "center"><font size = "+3">An Essay Toward a History<br> +of Shakespeare in<br> +Norway</font><br> +<br> +<br> +<font size = "+1">A DISSERTATION</font><br> +<br> +SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY<br> +OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND LITERATURE<br> +IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF<br> +DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY<br> +<br> +<font size = "-1">DEPARTMENT OF GERMANICS AND ENGLISH</font></p> +<br> +<hr class = "tiny"> +<p align = "center"><font size = "-1">BY</font><br> +<br> +<font size = "+1">MARTIN BROWN RUUD</font></p> +<hr class = "tiny"> +<br> +<br> +<p align = "center">Reprint from<br> +Scandinavian Studies and Notes<br> +Urbana, Illinois<br> +1917</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align = "center"><b>The Collegiate Press</b><br> +<span class = "smallcaps">George Banta Publishing Company<br> +Menasha, Wisconsin</span></p> +<br> +<hr> +<br> +<table align = "center"> +<tr> +<td class = "contents"> +<a href = "#pref">Prefatory Note</a><br> +<a href = "#chap_i">Chapter I</a>: Shakespeare Translations in Norway<br> + <a href = "#note1_7">footnote I.7</a>: +early Danish translations of Shakespeare<br> +<a href = "#chap_ii">Chapter II</a>: Shakespeare Criticism in Norway<br> + <a href = "#note2_23">footnote II.23</a>: +<i>Det Geniale Menneske</i><br> +<a href = "#chap_iii">Chapter III</a>: +Performances of Shakespeare's Plays in Norway<br> +<a href = "#app">Appendix</a>: +Register of Shakespearean Performances in Norway +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<br> +<hr> +<a name = "pref"> </a><br> +<h1>PREFATORY NOTE</h1> + +<p>I have attempted in this study to trace the history of Shakespearean +translations, Shakespearean criticism, and the performances +of Shakespeare's plays in Norway. I have not attempted +to investigate Shakespeare's influence on Norwegian literature. +To do so would not, perhaps, be entirely fruitless, but it would +constitute a different kind of work.</p> + +<p>The investigation was made possible by a fellowship from the +University of Chicago and a scholarship from the American-Scandinavian +Foundation, and I am glad to express my gratitude to +these bodies for the opportunities given to me of study in the +Scandinavian countries. I am indebted for special help and +encouragement to Dr. C.N. Gould and Professor J.M. Manly, +of the University of Chicago, and to the authorities of the University +library in Kristiania for their unfailing courtesy. To my +wife, who has worked with me throughout, my obligations are +greater than I can express.</p> + +<p>It is my plan to follow this monograph with a second on the history of +Shakespeare in Denmark.</p> + +<p class = "ind1">M. B. R.</p> + +<p class = "ind2">Minneapolis, Minnesota.</p> + +<p class = "ind3">September, 1916.</p> +<br> +<hr> +<span class = "pagenum">1</span> +<a name = "chap_i"> </a><br> +<h1>CHAPTER I</h1> + +<h2>Shakespeare Translations in Norway</h2> + +<h2>A</h2> + +<p>In the years following 1750, there was gathered in the city +of Trondhjem a remarkable group of men: Nils Krog Bredal, +composer of the first Danish opera, John Gunnerus, theologian +and biologist, Gerhart Schøning, rector of the Cathedral School +and author of an elaborate history of the fatherland, and Peter +Suhm, whose 14,047 pages on the history of Denmark testify +to a learning, an industry, and a generous devotion to scholarship +which few have rivalled. Bredal was mayor (Borgermester), +Gunnerus was bishop, Schøning was rector, and Suhm was for +the moment merely the husband of a rich and unsympathetic +wife. But they were united in their interest in serious studies, +and in 1760, the last three—somewhat before Bredal's +arrival—founded "Videnskabsselkabet i Trondhjem." +A few years later the society received its charter as +"Det Kongelige Videnskabsselskab."</p> + +<p>A little provincial scientific body! Of what moment is it? +But in those days it was of moment. Norway was then and long +afterwards the political and intellectual dependency of Denmark. +For three hundred years she had been governed more or less effectively +from Copenhagen, and for two hundred years Danish had +supplanted Norwegian as the language of church and state, of +trade, and of higher social intercourse. The country had no +university; Norwegians were compelled to go to Copenhagen for +their degrees and there loaf about in the anterooms of ministers +waiting for preferment. Videnskabsselskabet was the first +tangible evidence of awakened national life, and we are not surprised +to find that it was in this circle that the demand for a +separate Norwegian university was first authoritatively presented. +Again, a little group of periodicals sprang up in which were discussed, +learnedly and pedantically, to be sure, but with keen +intelligence, the questions that were interesting the great world +outside. It is dreary business ploughing through these solemn, +badly printed octavos and quartos. Of a sudden, however, one +<span class = "pagenum">2</span> +comes upon the first, and for thirty-six years the only Norwegian +translation of Shakespeare.</p> + +<p>We find it in <i>Trondhjems Allehaande</i> for October 23, +1782—the third and last volume. The translator has hit upon +Antony's funeral oration and introduces it with a short +note:<a name = "tag1_1" href = "#note1_1"><sup>I.1</sup></a> +"The following is taken from the famous English play <i>Julius Caesar</i> +and may be regarded as a masterpiece. When Julius Caesar +was killed, Antonius secured permission from Brutus and the other +conspirators to speak at his funeral. The people, whose minds were +full of the prosperity to come, were satisfied with Caesar's murder +and regarded the murderers as benefactors. Antonius spoke +so as to turn their minds from rejoicing to regret at a great man's +untimely death and so as to justify himself and win the hearts of +the populace. And in what a masterly way Antonius won them! +We shall render, along with the oration, the interjected remarks +of the crowd, inasmuch as they too are evidences of Shakespeare's +understanding of the human soul and his realization of the manner +in which the oration gradually brought about the purpose toward +which he aimed:"</p> + +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Antonius:</span> +Venner, Medborgere, giver mig Gehør, jeg kommer for at jorde +Cæsars Legeme, ikke for at rose ham. Det Onde man gjør lever endnu efter +os; det Gode begraves ofte tilligemed vore Been. Saa Være det ogsaa med +Cæsar. Den ædle Brutus har sagt Eder, Cæsar var herskesyg. Var han det +saa var det en svær Forseelse: og Cæsar har ogsaa dyrt maattet bøde +derfor. Efter Brutus og de Øvriges Tilladelse—og Brutus er en +hederlig Mand, og det er de alle, lutter hederlige Mænd, kommer jeg hid +for at holde Cæsars Ligtale. Han var min Ven, trofast og oprigtig mod +mig! dog, Brutus siger, han var herskesyg, og Brutus er en hederlig Mand. +Han har bragt mange Fanger med til Rom, hvis Løsepenge formerede de +offentlige Skatter; synes Eder det herskesygt af Cæsar—naar de Arme +skreeg, saa græd Cæsar—Herskesyge maate dog vel væves af stærkere +Stof.—Dog Brutus siger han var herskesyg; og Brutus er en hederlig +Mand. I have alle seet at jeg paa Pans Fest tre Gange tilbød ham en +kongelig Krone, og at han tre Gange afslog den. Var det +herskesygt?—Dog Brutus siger han var herskesyg, og i Sandhed, han +er en hederlig Mand. Jeg taler ikke for at gjendrive det, som Brutus har +sagt; men jeg staar her, for at sige hvad jeg veed. I alle elskede ham +engang, uden Aarsag; hvad for <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'an'">en</ins> Aarsag afholder Eder fra at sørge +over ham? O! Fornuft! Du er flyed hen til de umælende Bæster, og +Menneskene have tabt deres Forstand. Haver Taalmodighed med mig; mit +Hjerte er hist i Kisten hos Cæsar, og jeg maa holde inde til det kommer +tilbage til mig. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Den Første af Folket:</span> +<ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Meg'">Mig</ins> synes der er megen Fornuft +i hans Tale. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Den Anden af Folket:</span> +Naar du ret overveier Sagen, saa er Cæsar skeet stor +Uret. +</div> +<span class = "pagenum">3</span> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Den Tredje:</span> +Mener I det, godt Folk? Jeg frygter der vil komme slemmere i hans +Sted. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Den Fjerde:</span> +Har I lagt Mærke til hvad han sagde? Han vilde ikke modtage Kronen, +det er altsaa vist at han ikke var herskesyg. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Den Første:</span> +Hvis saa er, vil det komme visse Folk dyrt at staae. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Den Anden:</span> +Den fromme Mand! Hans Øien er blodrøde af Graad. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Den Tredje:</span> +Der er ingen fortræffeligere Mand i Rom end Antonius. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Den Fjerde:</span> +Giver Agt, han begynder igjen at tale. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Antonius:</span> +Endnu i Gaar havde et Ord af Cæsar gjældt imod hele Verden, nu ligger han +der, endog den Usleste nægter ham Agtelse. O, I Folk! var jeg sindet, at +ophidse Eders Gemytter til Raserie og Oprør, saa skulde jeg skade Brutus +og Kassius, hvilke, som I alle veed, ere hederlige Mænd. Men jeg vil +intet Ondt gjøre dem: hellere vil jeg gjøre den Døde, mig selv, og Eder +Uret, end at jeg skulde volde slige hederlige Mænd Fortræd. Men her er et +Pergament med Cæsars Segl: jeg fandt det i hans Kammer; det er hans +sidste Villie. Lad Folket blot høre hans Testament, som jeg, tilgiv mig +det, ikke tænker at oplæse, da skulde de alle gaa hen og kysse den døde +Cæsars Saar; og dyppe deres Klæder i hans hellige Blod; skulde bede om et +Haar af ham til Erindring, og paa deres Dødsdag i deres sidste Villie +tænke paa dette Haar, og testamentere deres Efterkommere det som en rig +Arvedel. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Den Fjerde:</span> +Vi ville høre Testamentet! Læs det, Marcus Antonius. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Antonius:</span> +Haver Taalmodighed, mine Venner: jeg tør ikke forelæse det; deter ikke +raadeligt, at I erfare hvor kjær Cæsar havde Eder. I ere ikke Træe, +I ere ikke Stene, I ere Mennesker; og da I ere Mennesker saa skulde +Testamentet, om I hørte det, sætte Eder i Flamme, det skulde gjøre Eder +rasende. Det er godt at I ikke vide, at I ere hans Arvinger; thi vidste +I det, O, hvad vilde der da blive af? +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Den fjerde:</span> +Læs Testamentet; vi ville høre det, Antonius! Du maae læse +Testamentet for os, Cæsars <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Testamment'">Testament</ins>! +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Antonius:</span> +Ville i være rolige? Ville I bie lidt? Jeg er gaaen for vidt +at jeg har sagt Eder noget derom—jeg frygter jeg fornærmer de +hederlige Mænd, som have myrdet Cæsar—jeg befrygter det. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Den Fjerde:</span> +De vare Forrædere!—ha, hederlige Mænd! +</div> + +<p>The translation continues to the point where the plebeians, +roused to fury by the cunning appeal of Antony, rush out with +the cries:<a name = "tag1_2" href = "#note1_2"><sup>I.2</sup></a></p> + +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">2. Pleb:</span> +Go fetch fire! +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">3. Pleb:</span> +Plucke down Benches! +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">2. Pleb:</span> +Plucke down Formes, Windowes, anything. +</div> + +<p>But we have not space for a more extended quotation, and the +passage given is sufficiently representative.</p> + +<p>The faults are obvious. The translator has not ventured +to reproduce Shakespeare's blank verse, nor, indeed, could that +<span class = "pagenum">4</span> +be expected. The Alexandrine had long held sway in Danish +poetry. In <i>Rolf Krage</i> (1770), Ewald had broken with the tradition +and written an heroic tragedy in prose. Unquestionably he +had been moved to take this step by the example of his great model +Klopstock in <i>Bardiete</i>.<a name = "tag1_3" +href = "#note1_3"><sup>I.3</sup></a> +It seems equally certain, however, +that he was also inspired by the plays of Shakespeare, and the +songs of Ossian, which came to him in the translations of +Wieland.<a name = "tag1_4" href = "#note1_4"><sup>I.4</sup></a></p> + +<p>A few years later, when he had learned English and read Shakespeare +in the original, he wrote <i>Balders Død</i> in blank verse and +naturalized Shakespeare's metre in Denmark.<a name = "tag1_5" +href = "#note1_5"><sup>I.5</sup></a> At any rate, it +is not surprising that this unknown plodder far north in Trondhjem +had not progressed beyond Klopstock and Ewald. But +the result of turning Shakespeare's poetry into the journeyman +prose of a foreign language is necessarily bad. The translation +before us amounts to a paraphrase,—good, respectable Danish +untouched by genius. Two examples will illustrate this. The +lines:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +.... Now lies he there,<br> +And none so poor to do him reverence. +</div> + +<p>are rendered in the thoroughly matter-of-fact words, appropriate +for a letter or a newspaper "story":</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +.... Nu ligger han der,<br> +endog den Usleste nægter ham Agtelse. +</div> + +<p>Again,</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it, +</div> + +<p>is translated:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Jeg er gaaen for vidt at jeg sagde Eder noget derom. +</div> + +<p>On the other hand, the translation presents no glaring errors; +such slips as we do find are due rather to ineptitude, an inability +to find the right word, with the result that the writer has contented +himself with an accidental and approximate rendering. For example, +the translator no doubt understood the lines:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +The evil that men do lives after them,<br> +The good is oft interred with their bones. +</div> + +<p>but he could hit upon nothing better than:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Det Onde man gjør <i>lever endnu efter os</i>;<br> +det Gode begraves ofte tilligemed vore Been. +</div> + +<span class = "pagenum">5</span> +<p>which is both inaccurate and infelicitous. For the line</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +He was my friend, faithful and just to me. +</div> + +<p>our author has:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Han var min Ven, trofast og <i>oprigtig</i> mod mig! +</div> + +<p>Again:</p> + +<div class = "speech"> +Has he, Masters? I fear there will come a worse in his place. +</div> + +<p>Translation:</p> + +<div class = "speech"> +Mener I det, godt Folk?—etc. +</div> + +<p>Despite these faults—and many others could be cited,—it is +perfectly +clear that this unknown student of Shakespeare understood +his original and endeavored to reproduce it correctly in good +Danish. His very blunders showed that he tried not to be slavish, +and his style, while not remarkable, is easy and fluent. +Apparently, however, his work attracted no attention. His name +is unknown, as are his sources, and there is not, with one exception, +a single reference to him in the later Shakespeare literature +of Denmark and Norway. Not even Rahbek, who was remarkably +well informed in this field, mentions him. +Only Foersom,<a name = "tag1_6" href = "#note1_6"><sup>I.6</sup></a> +who let nothing referring to Shakespeare escape him, speaks +(in the notes to Part I of his translation) of a part of Act III of +<i>Julius Caesar</i> in <i>Trondhjems Allehaande</i>. That is all. It it +not too much to emphasize, therefore, that we have here the first +Danish version of any part of <i>Julius Caesar</i> as well as the first +Norwegian translation of any part of Shakespeare into what was +then the common literary language of Denmark and +Norway.<a name = "tag1_7" href = "#note1_7"><sup>I.7</sup></a>*</p> + + +<h2>B</h2> + +<p>It was many years before the anonymous contributor to +<i>Trondhjems Allehaande</i> was to have a follower. From 1782 +to 1807 Norwegians were engaged in accumulating wealth, an +occupation, indeed, in which they were remarkably successful. +There was no time to meddle with Shakespeare in a day when +<span class = "pagenum">6</span> +Norwegian shipping and Norwegian products were profitable as +never before. After 1807, when the blundering panic of the British +plunged Denmark and Norway into war on the side of Napoleon, +there were sterner things to think of. It was a sufficiently +difficult matter to get daily bread. But in 1818, when the country +had, as yet, scarcely begun to recover from the agony of the +Napoleonic wars, the second Norwegian translation from Shakespeare +appeared.<a name = "tag1_8" href = "#note1_8"><sup>I.8</sup></a></p> + +<p>The translator of this version of <i>Coriolanus</i> is unknown. +Beyond the bare statement on the title page that the translation +is made directly from Shakespeare and that it is printed and published +in Christiania by Jacob Lehmann, there is no information +to be had. Following the title there is a brief quotation from Dr. +Johnson and one from the "Zeitung für die elegante Welt." +Again Norway anticipates her sister nation; for not till the +following year did Denmark get her first translation of the +play.<a name = "tag1_9" href = "#note1_9"><sup>I.9</sup></a></p> + +<p>Ewald, <ins class = "correction" +title = "variant spellings in original">Oehlenschlæger</ins>, +and Foersom had by this time made +the blank verse of Shakespeare a commonplace in Dano-Norwegian +<span class = "pagenum">7</span> +literature. Even the mediocre could attempt it with +reasonable assurance of success. The <i>Coriolanus</i> of 1818 is +fairly correct, but its lumbering verse reveals plainly that the +translator had trouble with his metre. Two or three examples +will illustrate. First, the famous allegory of +Menenius:<a name = "tag1_10" href = "#note1_10"><sup>I.10</sup></a></p> + +<div class = "verse"> +<i>Menenius:</i><br> +I enten maae erkjende at I ere<br> +Heel ondskabsfulde, eller taale, man<br> +For Uforstandighed anklager Eder.<br> +Et snurrigt Eventyr jeg vil fortælle;<br> +Maaskee<ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'i'"> I </ins>har det hørt, men da det tjener<br> +Just til min Hensigt, jeg forsøge vil<br> +Nøiagtigen det Eder at forklare. +</div> +<div class = "verse3"> +. . . . . +</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Jeg Eder det fortælle skal; med et<br> +Slags <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Smill'">Smil</ins>, +der sig fra Lungen ikke skrev;<br> +Omtrent saaledes—thi I vide maae<br> +Naar jeg kan lade Maven tale, jeg<br> +Den og kan lade smile—stikende<br> +Den svarede hvert misfornøiet Lem<br> +Og hver Rebel, som den misundte al<br> +Sin Indtægt; Saa misunde I Senatet<br> +Fordi det ikke er det som I ere. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Første Borger:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Hvorledes. Det var Mavens Svar! Hvorledes?<br> +Og Hovedet, der kongeligt er kronet,<br> +Og Øiet, der er blot Aarvaagenhed;<br> +Og Hjertet, som os giver gode Raad;<br> +Og Tungen, vor Trumpet, vor Stridsmand, Armen,<br> +Og Foden, vores Pragthest, med de flere<br> +Befæstingner, der støtte vor Maskine,<br> +Hvis de nu skulde.... +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Menenius:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Nu hvad skulde de?...<br> +Den Karl mig lader ei til Orde komme,<br> +Hvad vil I sigte med det <i>hvis de skulde?</i> +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Første Borger:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Hvis de nu skulde sig betvinge lade<br> +Ved denne Slughals Maven som blot er<br> +En Afløbs-Rende for vort Legeme? +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Menenius:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Nu videre! +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Første Borger:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Hvad vilde Maven svare?<br> +Hvis hine Handlende med Klage fremstod? +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Menenius:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Hvis I mig skjænke vil det som I have<br> +Kun lidet af, Taalmodighed, jeg mener,<br> +Jeg Eder Mavens Svar da skal fortælle. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Første Borger:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +I! Den Fortælling ret i Langdrag trækker! +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Menenius:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Min gode Ven, nu allerførst bemærke.<br> +Agtværdig Mave brugte Overlæg;<br> +Ei ubetænksom den sig overiled<br> +Som dens Modstandere; og saa lød Svaret:<br> +<span class = "pagenum">8</span> +I Venner som fra mig ei skilles kan!<br> +Det Sandhed er, at jeg fra første Haand<br> +Modtager Næringen som Eder føder,<br> +Og dette i sin Orden er, thi jeg<br> +Et Varelager og et Forraads-Kammer<br> +Jo er for Legemet; men ei I glemme:<br> +Jeg Næringen igjennem Blodets Floder<br> +Og sender lige hen til Hoffet-Hjertet—<br> +Til Hjernens Sæde; jeg den flyde lader<br> +Igjennem Menneskets meest fine Dele;<br> +Og de meest fast Nerver, som de mindste<br> +Blandt Aarene fra mig modtager hver<br> +Naturlig Kraft, hvormed de leve, og<br> +Endskjøndt de ikke alle paa eengang—<br> +I gode Venner (det var Mavens Ord)<br> +Og mærker dem heel nøie.... +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Første Borger:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +</div> +<div class = "verse4"> +Det vil vi gjøre. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Menenius:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Endskjøndt de ikke <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'all kunne'">alle kunde</ins> see,<br> +Hvad jeg tilflyde lader hver især,<br> +Saa kan jeg dog med gyldigt Dokument<br> +Bevise at jeg overlader dem<br> +Den rene Kjærne, selv beholder Kliddet.<br> +Hvad siger I dertil? +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Første Borger:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +</div> +<div class = "verse4"> +Et svar det var—<br> +</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Men nu Andvendelsen! +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Menenius:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +</div> +<div class = "verse4"> +Senatet er<br> +</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Den gode Mave: I Rebellerne.<br> +I undersøge blot de Raad det giver<br> +Og alt dets Omhue. Overveier nøie<br> +Alt hvad til Statens Velferd monne sigte,<br> +Og da I finde vil, at fra Senatet<br> +Hver offentlig Velgjerning som I nyde<br> +Sit Udspring bar, men ei fra Eder selv—<br> +Hvad tænker I, som er den store Taae<br> +Her i Forsamlingen? +</div> + +<p>Aside from the preponderance of feminine endings, which is +inevitable in Scandinavian blank verse, what strikes us most in +this translation is its laboriousness. The language is set on end. +Inversion and transposition are the devices by which the translator +has managed to give Shakespeare in metrically decent lines. +The proof of this is so patent that I need scarcely point out instances. +But take the first seven lines of the quotation. Neither +in form nor content is this bad, yet no one with a feeling for the +Danish language can avoid an exclamation, "forskruet Stil" +and "poetiske Stylter." And lines 8-9 smack unmistakably +of <i>Peder Paars</i>. In the second place, the translator often does +<span class = "pagenum">9</span> +not attempt to translate at all. He gives merely a paraphrase. +Compare lines 1-3 with the English original; the whole of the +speech of the first citizen, 17-24, 25-27, where the whole implied +idea is fully expressed; 28-30, etc., etc. We might offer almost +every translation of Shakespeare's figures as an example. One +more instance. At times even paraphrase breaks down. Compare</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +And through the cranks and offices of man<br> +The strongest and small inferior veins,<br> +Receive from me that natural competency<br> +Whereby they live. +</div> + +<p>with our translator's version (lines 50-51)</p> + +<div class = "verse3"> +jeg den flyde lader<br> +</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Igjennem Menneskets meest fine Dele. +</div> + +<p>This is not even good paraphrase; it is simply bald and helpless +rendering.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, it would be grossly unfair to dismiss it +all with a sneer. The translator has succeeded for the most +part in giving the sense of Shakespeare in smooth and sounding +verse, in itself no small achievement. Rhetoric replaces poetry, +it is true, and paraphrase dries up the freshness and the sparkle +of the metaphor. But a Norwegian of that day who got his first +taste of Shakespeare from the translation before us, would at +least feel that here was the power of words, the music and sonorousness +of elevated dramatic poetry.</p> + +<p>One more extract and I am done. It is Coriolanus' outburst +of wrath against the pretensions of the tribunes +(<ins class = "correction" title = "original reads '111-1'">III.1</ins>). +With all its imperfections, the translation is almost adequate.</p> + +<div class = "speaker">Coriolanus:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Skal!<br> +Patrisier, I ædle, men ei vise!<br> +I høie Senatorer, som mon mangle<br> +Al Overlæg, hvi lod I Hydra vælge<br> +En Tjener som med sit bestemte Skal<br> +—Skjøndt blot Uhyrets Talerør og Lyd—<br> +Ei mangler Mod, at sige at han vil<br> +Forvandle Eders Havstrøm til en Sump,<br> +Og som vil gjøre Jer Kanal til sin.<br> +Hvis han har Magten, lad Enfoldighed<br> +Da for ham bukke; har han ingen Magt,<br> +Da vækker Eders Mildhed af sin Dvale,<br> +Den farlig er; hvis I ei mangle Klogskab,<br> +Da handler ei som Daaren; mangler den,<br> +Lad denne ved Jer Side faae en Pude.<br> +<span class = "pagenum">10</span> +Plebeier ere I, hvis Senatorer<br> +De ere, og de ere mindre ei<br> +Naar begge Eders Stemmer sammenblandes<br> +Og naar de kildres meest ved Fornemhed.<br> +De vælge deres egen Øvrighed,<br> +Og saadan Een, der sætte tør sit Skal,<br> +Ja sit gemene Skal mod en Forsamling,<br> +Der mer agtværdig er <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'en'">end</ins> nogensinde<br> +Man fandt i Grækenland. Ved Jupiter!<br> +Sligt Consulen fornedrer! Og det smerter<br> +Min Sjæl at vide, hvor der findes tvende<br> +Autoriteter, ingen af dem størst,<br> +Der kan Forvirring lettelig faae Indpas<br> +I Gabet, som er mellem dem, og hæve<br> +Den ene ved den anden. +</div> + + +<h2>C</h2> + +<p>In 1865, Paul Botten Hansen, best known to the English-speaking +world for his relations with Bjørnson and Ibsen, +reviewed<a name = "tag1_11" href = "#note1_11"><sup>I.11</sup></a> +the eleventh installment of Lembcke's translation of Shakespeare. +The article does not venture into criticism, but is almost entirely +a resumé of Shakespeare translation in Norway and Denmark. +It is less well informed than we should expect, and contains, among +several other slips, the following "...in 1855, Niels Hauge, +deceased the following year as teacher in Kragerø, translated +<i>Macbeth</i>, the first faithful version of this masterpiece +which Dano-Norwegian literature could boast of." Botten Hansen mentions +only one previous Danish or Norwegian version of +Shakespeare—Foersom's +adaptation of Schiller's stage version (1816). He is +quite obviously ignorant of Rosenfeldt's translation of 1790; and +the Rahbek-Sanders translation of 1801 seems also to have escaped +him, although Hauge expressly refers to this work in his introduction. +Both of these early attempts are in prose; Foersom's, to be sure, is in +blank verse, but Foersom's <i>Macbeth</i> is not Shakespeare's. +Accordingly, it is, in a sense, true that Hauge in 1855 did give the +Dano-Norwegian public their first taste of an unspoiled <i>Macbeth</i> +in the vernacular.<a name = "tag1_12" +href = "#note1_12"><sup>I.12</sup></a></p> + +<p>Hauge tells us that he had interested himself in English literature +at the risk of being called an eccentric. Modern languages +then offered no avenue to preferment, and why, forsooth, did men +<span class = "pagenum">11</span> +attend lectures and take examinations except to gain the means of +earning a livelihood? He justifies his interest, however, by the +seriousness and industry with which Shakespeare is studied in +Germany and England. With the founts of this study he is +apparently familiar, and with the influence of Shakespeare on +Lessing, Goethe, and the lesser romanticists. It is interesting +to note, too, that two scholars, well known in widely different +fields, Monrad, the philosopher—for some years a sort of Dr. +Johnson in the literary circles of Christiania—and Unger, the +scholarly editor of many Old Norse texts, assisted him in his work.</p> + +<p>The character of Hauge's work is best seen in his notes. They +consist of a careful defense of every liberty he takes with the text, +explanations of grammatical constructions, and interpretations of +debated matters. For example, he defends the witches on the +ground that they symbolize the power of evil in the human soul.</p> + +<blockquote> +Man kan sige at Shakespeare i dem og deres Slæng har givet de +nytestamentlige Dæmoner Kjød og Blod. +</blockquote> + +<p>(We may say that Shakespeare in them and their train has endowed +the demons of the New Testament with flesh and blood). +Again, he would change the word <i>incarnadine</i> to <i>incarnate</i> +on the ground that <i>Twelfth Night V</i> offers a similar instance of +the corrupt use of <i>incardinate</i> for <i>incarnate</i>. The word +occurs, moreover, in English only in this passage.<a name = "tag1_13" +href = "#note1_13"><sup>I.13</sup></a> Again, in his note to +Act IV, he points out that the dialogue in which Malcolm tests +the sincerity of Macduff is taken almost verbatim from Holinshed. +"In performing the play," he suggests, "it should, perhaps, +be omitted as it very well may be without injury to the +action since the complication which arises through Malcolm's +suspicion of Macduff is fully and satisfactorily resolved by the +appearance of Rosse." And his note to a passage in Act V is +interesting as showing that, wide and thorough as was Hauge's +acquaintance with Shakespearean criticism, he had, besides, a +first-hand knowledge of the minor Elizabethan dramatists. I +give the note in full. "<i>The way to dusty death—</i></p> + +<blockquote> +Til dette besynderlige Udtryk, kan foruden hvad Knight og Dyce have at +citere, endnu citeres af Fords <i>Perkin Warbeck</i>, +<ins class = "correction" title = +"original reads '11, 2'">II, 2</ins>, +"I take my leave to travel to my dust." +</blockquote> + +<span class = "pagenum">12</span> +<p>Hauge was a careful and conscientious scholar. He knew +his field and worked with the painstaking fidelity of the man who +realizes the difficulty of his task. The translation he gave is of +a piece with the man—faithful, laborious, uninspired. But it +is, at least, superior to Rosenfeldt and Sander, and Hauge justified +his work by giving to his countrymen the best version of +<i>Macbeth</i> up to that time.</p> + +<p>Monrad himself reviewed Hauge's <i>Macbeth</i> in a careful and +well-informed article, in <i>Nordisk Tidsskrift for Videnskab og +Literatur</i>, which I shall review later.</p> + + +<h2>D</h2> + +<p>One of the most significant elements in the intellectual life +of modern Norway is the so-called Landsmaal movement. It +is probably unnecessary to say that this movement is an effort on +the part of many Norwegians to substitute for the dominant Dano-Norwegian +a new literary language based on the "best" dialects. +This language, commonly called the Landsmaal, is, at all events +in its origin, the creation of one man, Ivar Aasen. Aasen published +the first edition of his grammar in 1848, and the first edition +of his dictionary in 1850. But obviously it was not enough to +provide a grammar and a word-book. The literary powers of +the new language must be developed and disciplined and, accordingly, +Aasen published in 1853 <i>Prøver af Landsmaalet i Norge</i>. +The little volume contains, besides other material, seven translations +from foreign classics; among these is Romeo's soliloquy +in the balcony scene.<a name = "tag1_14" +href = "#note1_14"><sup>I.14</sup></a> (Act II, Sc. 1) This modest +essay of Aasen's, then, antedates Hauge's rendering of <i>Macbeth</i> +and constitutes the first bit of Shakespeare translation in Norway since +the <i>Coriolanus</i> of 1818.</p> + +<p>Aasen knew that Landsmaal was adequate to the expression +of the homely and familiar. But would it do for belles lettres?</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Han lær aat Saar, som aldri kende Saar.—<br> +Men hyst!—Kvat Ljos er dat dar upp i glaset?<br> +Dat er i Aust, og Julia er Soli.<br> +Sprett, fagre Sol, og tyn dan Maane-Skjegla,<br> +som alt er sjuk og bleik av berre Ovund,<br> +at hennar Taus er fagrar' en ho sjølv.<br> +Ver inkje hennar Taus; dan Ovundsykja,<br> +<span class = "pagenum">13</span> +so sjukleg grøn er hennar Jomfru-Klædnad;<br> +d'er berre Narr, som ber han. Sleng han av!<br> +Ja, d'er mi Fru, d'er dan eg held i Hugen;<br> +aa, giv ho hadde vist dat, at ho er dat!<br> +Ho talar, utan Ord. Kvat skal ho med dei?<br> +Ho tala kann med Augom;—eg vil svara.<br> +Eg er for djerv; d'er inkje meg ho ser paa,<br> +d'er tvo av fegste Stjernom dar paa Himlen,<br> +som gekk ei Ærend, og fekk hennar Augo<br> +te blinka i sin Stad, til dei kem atter.<br> +Enn um dei var dar sjølve Augo hennar.<br> +Kinn-Ljosken hennar hadde skemt dei Stjernor,<br> +som Dagsljos skemmer Lampen; hennar Augo<br> +hadd' straatt so bjart eit Ljos i Himmels Høgdi,<br> +at Fuglar song og Trudde, dat var Dag.<br> +Sjaa, kor ho hallar Kinni lint paa Handi,<br> +Aa, giv eg var ein Vott paa denne Handi<br> +at eg fekk strjuka Kinni den.—Ho talar.—<br> +Aa tala meir, Ljos-Engel, med du lyser<br> +so klaart i denne Natti kring mitt Hovud,<br> +som naar dat kem ein utfløygd Himmels Sending<br> +mot Folk, som keika seg og stira beint upp<br> +med undrarsame kvit-snudd' Augo mot han,<br> +naar han skrid um dan seinleg-sigand' Skyi<br> +og sigler yver høge Himmels Barmen. +</div> + +<p>It was no peasant jargon that Aasen had invented; it was a +literary language of great power and beauty with the dignity and +fulness of any other literary medium. But it was new and untried. +It had no literature. Aasen, accordingly, set about creating +one. Indeed, much of what he wrote had no other purpose. +What, then, shall we say of the first appearance of Shakespeare +in "Ny Norsk"?</p> + +<p>First, that it was remarkably felicitous.</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Kinn-Ljosken hadde skemt dei <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Sternor'">Stjernor</ins><br> +som Dagsljos skemmer Lampen, hennar Augo, etc. +</div> + +<p>That is no inadequate rendering of:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Two of the fairest stars in all the Heaven, etc. +</div> + +<p>And equally good are the closing lines beginning:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Aa tala meir, Ljos-Engel med du lyser, etc. +</div> + +<p>Foersom is deservedly praised for his translation of the same +lines, but a comparison of the two is not altogether disastrous to +Aasen, though, to be sure, his lines lack some of Foersom's insinuating +softness:</p> + +<span class = "pagenum">14</span> +<div class = "verse"> +Tal atter, Lysets Engel! thi du straaler<br> +i Natten saa høiherlig over mig<br> +som en af Nattens vingede Cheruber<br> +for dødeliges himmelvendte Øine, etc. +</div> + +<p>But lines like these have an admirable and perfect loveliness:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +naar han skrid um dan seinleg-sigand' Skyi<br> +og sigler yver høge Himmels Barmen. +</div> + +<p>Aasen busied himself for some years with this effort to naturalize +his Landsmaal in all the forms of literature. Apparently +this was always uppermost in his thoughts. We find him trying +himself in this sort of work in the years before and after the +publication +of <i>Prøver af Landsmaalet</i>. In <i>Skrifter i Samling</i> is printed +another little fragment of <i>Romeo and Juliet</i>, which the editor, +without giving his reasons, assigns to a date earlier than that of +the balcony scene. It is Mercutio's description of Queen Mab +(Act I, Sc. 4). This is decidedly more successful than the other. +The vocabulary of the Norwegian dialects is rich in words of +fairy-lore, and one who knew this word treasure as Aasen did could +render the fancies of Mercutio with something very near the exuberance +of Shakespeare himself:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +No ser eg vel, at ho hev' vore hjaa deg<br> +ho gamle Mabba, Nærkona aat Vettom.<br> +So lita som ein Adelstein i Ringen<br> +paa fremste Fingren paa ein verdug Raadsmann,<br> +ho kjøyrer kring med smaa Soldumbe-Flokar<br> +paa Nasanna aat Folk, dan Tid dei søv.<br> +Hjulspikann' henna er av Kongleføter,<br> +Vognfelden er av Engjesprette-Vengjer,<br> +og Taumann' av den minste Kongleveven.<br> +Av Maanestraalanne paa Vatn er Selen,<br> +og av Sirissebein er Svipeskafted<br> +og Svipesnerten er av Agner smaa.<br> +Skjotskaren er eit nett graakjola My<br> +so stort som Holva av ein liten Mòl,<br> +som minste Vækja krasa kann med Fingren.<br> +Til Vogn ho fekk ei holut Haslenot<br> +av Snikkar Ikorn elder Natemakk,<br> +som altid var Vognmakarann' aat +Vettom.<a name = "tag1_15" href = "#note1_15"><sup>I.15</sup></a> +</div> + +<p>The translation ends with Mercutio's words:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +And being thus frightened, swears a prayer or two,<br> +And sleeps again. +</div> + +<span class = "pagenum">15</span> +<p>In my opinion this is consummately well done—at once accurate +and redolent of poesy; and certainly Aasen would have been +justified in feeling that Landsmaal is equal to Shakespeare's +most airy passages. The slight inaccuracy of one of the lines:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Av Maanestraalanne paa Vatn er Selen, +</div> + +<p>for Shakespeare's:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +The colors of the moonshine's watery beams, +</div> + +<p>is of no consequence. The discrepancy was doubtless as obvious +to the translator as it is to us.</p> + +<p>From about the same time we have another Shakespeare fragment +from Aasen's hand. Like the Queen Mab passage, it was +not published till 1911.<a name = "tag1_16" +href = "#note1_16"><sup>I.16</sup></a> +It is scarcely surprising that it is a +rendering of Hamlet's soliloquy: "To be or not to be." This +is, of course, a more difficult undertaking. For the interests +that make up the life of the people—their family and community +affairs, their arts and crafts and folk-lore, the dialects of Norway, +like the dialects of any other country, have a vocabulary amazingly +rich and complete.<a name = "tag1_17" +href = "#note1_17"><sup>I.17</sup></a> But +not all ideas belong in the realm of the +every-day, and the great difficulty of the Landsmaal movement +is precisely this—that it must develop a "culture language." +To a large degree it has already done so. The rest is largely a +matter of time. And surely Ivar Aasen's translation of the famous +soliloquy proved that the task of giving, even to thought as +<ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'sophiscated'">sophisticated</ins> +as this, adequate and final expression is not impossible. The +whole is worth giving:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Te vera elder ei,—d'er da her spyrst um;<br> +um d'er meir heirlegt i sitt Brjost aa tola<br> +kvar Styng og Støyt av ein hardsøkjen Lagnad<br> +eld taka Vaapn imot eit Hav med Harmar,<br> +staa mot og slaa dei veg?—Te døy, te sova,<br> +alt fraa seg gjort,—og i ein Sømn te enda<br> +dan Hjarteverk, dei tusend timleg' Støytar,<br> +som Kjøt er Erving til, da var ein Ende<br> +rett storleg ynskjande. Te døy, te sova,<br> +ja sova, kanskje drøyma,—au, d'er Knuten.<br> +Fyr' i dan Daudesømn, kva Draum kann koma,<br> +<span class = "pagenum">16</span> +naar mid ha kastat av dei daudleg Bandi,<br> +da kann vel giv' oss Tankar; da er Sakji,<br> +som gjerer Useldom so lang i Livet:<br> +kven vilde tolt slikt Hogg og Haad i Tidi,<br> +slik sterk Manns Urett, stolt Manns Skamlaus Medferd,<br> +slik vanvyrd Elskhugs Harm, slik Rettarløysa,<br> +slikt Embæt's Ovmod, slik Tilbakaspenning,<br> +som tolug, verdug Mann fær av uverdug;<br> +kven vilde da, naar sjølv han kunde løysa<br> +seg med ein nakjen Odd? Kven bar dan Byrda<br> +so sveitt og stynjand i so leid ein Livnad,<br> +naar inkj'an ottast eitkvart etter Dauden,<br> +da uforfarne Land, som ingjen Ferdmann<br> +er komen atter fraa, da viller Viljen,<br> +da læt oss helder ha dan Naud, mid hava,<br> +en fly til onnor Naud, som er oss ukjend.<br> +So gjer Samviskan Slavar av oss alle,<br> +so bi dan fyrste, djerve, bjarte Viljen<br> +skjemd ut med blakke Strik av Ettertankjen<br> +og store Tiltak, som var Merg og Magt i,<br> +maa soleid snu seg um og strøyma ovugt<br> +og tapa Namn av Tiltak. +</div> + +<p>This is a distinctly successful attempt—exact, fluent, poetic. +Compare it with the Danish of Foersom and Lembcke, with the +Swedish of Hagberg, or the new Norwegian "Riksmaal" translation, +and Ivar Aasen's early Landsmaal version holds its own. It +keeps the right tone. The dignity of the original is scarcely +marred by a note of the colloquial. Scarcely marred! For just +as many Norwegians are offended by such a phrase as "Hennar +Taus er fagrar' en ho sjølv" in the balcony scene, so many more +will object to the colloquial "Au, d'er Knuten." <i>Au</i> has no +place in dignified verse, and surely it is a most unhappy equivalent +for "Ay, there's the rub." Aasen would have replied that Hamlet's +words are themselves colloquial; but the English conveys no +such connotation of easy speech as does the Landsmaal to a great +part of the Norwegian people. But this is a trifle. The fact +remains that Aasen gave a noble form to Shakespeare's noble +verse.</p> + + +<h2>E</h2> + +<p>For many years the work of Hauge and Aasen stood alone in +Norwegian literature. The reading public was content to go to +Denmark, and the growing Landsmaal literature was concerned +<span class = "pagenum">17</span> +with other matters—first of all, with the task of establishing +itself and the even more complicated problem of finding +a form—orthography, +syntax, and inflexions which should command general +acceptance. For the Landsmaal of Ivar Aasen was frankly +based on "the best dialects," and by this he meant, of course, the +dialects that best preserved the forms of the Old Norse. These +were the dialects of the west coast and the mountains. To Aasen +the speech of the towns, of the south-east coast and of the great +eastern valleys and uplands was corrupt and vitiated. It seemed +foreign, saturated and spoiled by Danish. There were those, +however, who saw farther. If Landsmaal was to strike root, +it must take into account not merely "the purest dialects" but +the speech of the whole country. It could not, for example, +retain forms like "dat," "dan," etc., which were peculiar to +Søndmør, because they happened to be lineal descendants of Old +Norse, nor should it insist on preterites in <i>ade</i> and participles +in +<i>ad</i> merely because these forms were found in the sagas. We cannot +enter upon this subject; we can but point out that this movement +was born almost with Landsmaal itself, and that, after +Aasen's fragments, the first Norwegian translation of any part +of Shakespeare is a rendering of Sonnet CXXX in popularized +Eastern, as distinguished from Aasen's literary, aristocratic Western +Landsmaal. It is the first translation of a Shakespearean sonnet +on Norwegian soil. The new language was hewing out new paths.</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Som Soli Augunn' inkje skjin,<br> +og som Koraller inkje Lipunn' glansar,<br> +og snjokvit hev ho inkje Halsen sin,<br> +og Gullhaar inkje Hove hennar kransar, +</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Eg baae kvit' og raue Roser ser—,<br> +paa Kinni hennar deira Lit'kje blandast;<br> +og meire fin vel Blomsterangen er,<br> +en den som ut fraa Lipunn' hennar andast. +</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Eg høyrt hev hennar Røyst og veit endaa,<br> +at inkje som ein Song dei læter Ori;<br> +og aldrig hev eg set <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'en'">ein</ins> Engel gaa—<br> +og gjenta mi ser støtt eg gaa paa <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Jorl'">Jori</ins>. +</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Men ho er større Lov og Ære vær<br> +enn pyntedokkane me laana Glansen.<br> +Den reine Hugen seg i alting ter,<br> +og ljost ho smilar under Brurekransen.<a name = "tag1_18" +href = "#note1_18"><sup>I.18</sup></a> +</div> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">18</span> +Obviously this is not a sonnet at all. Not only does the translator +ignore Shakespeare's rime scheme, but he sets aside the elementary +definition of a sonnet—a poem of fourteen lines. We have +here sixteen lines and the last two add nothing to the original. +The poet, through lack of skill, has simply run on. He could have +ended with line 14 and then, whatever other criticism might have +been passed upon his work, we should have had at least the sonnet +form. The additional lines are in themselves fairly good poetry +but they have no place in what purports to be translation. The +translator signs himself simply "r." Whoever he was, he had poetic +feeling and power of expression. No mere poetaster could have +given lines so exquisite in their imagery, so full of music, and so +happy in their phrasing. This fact in itself makes it a poor translation, +for it is rather a paraphrase with a quality and excellence +all its own. Not a line exactly renders the English. The paraphrase +is never so good as the original but, considered by itself, +it is good poetry. The disillusionment comes only with comparison. +On the whole, this second attempt to put Shakespeare +into Landsmaal was distinctly less successful than the first. As +poetry it does not measure up to Aasen; as translation it is +periphrastic, arbitrary, not at all faithful.</p> + + +<h2>F</h2> + +<p>The translations which we have thus far considered were mere +fragments—brief soliloquies or a single sonnet, and they were +done into a dialect which was not then and is not now the prevailing +literary language of the country. They were earnest and, +in the case of Aasen, successful attempts to show that Landsmaal +was adequate to the most varied and remote of styles. But many +years were to elapse before anyone attempted the far more difficult +task of turning any considerable part of Shakespeare into +"Modern Norwegian."</p> + +<p>Norway still relied, with no apparent sense of humiliation, +on the translations of Shakespeare as they came up from Copenhagen. +In 1881, however, Hartvig Lassen (1824-1897) translated +<i>The Merchant of Venice</i>.<a name = "tag1_19" +href = "#note1_19"><sup>I.19</sup></a> +Lassen matriculated as a student in +<span class = "pagenum">19</span> +1842, and from 1850 supported himself as a literateur, writing +reviews of books and plays for <i>Krydseren</i> and +<i>Aftenposten</i>. In +1872 he was appointed Artistic Censor at the theater, and in that +office translated a multitude of plays from almost every language +of Western Europe. His published translations of Shakespeare +are, however, quite unrelated to his theatrical work. They were +done for school use and published by <i>Selskabet for Folkeoplysningens +Fremme</i> (Society for the Promotion of Popular Education).</p> + +<p>To <i>Kjøbmanden i Venedig</i> there is no introduction and no +notes—merely a postscript in which the translator declares that +he has endeavored everywhere faithfully to reproduce the peculiar +tone of the play and to preserve the concentration of style +which is everywhere characteristic of Shakespeare. He acknowledges +his indebtedness to the Swedish translation by Hagberg +and the German by Schlegel. Inasmuch as this work was published +for wide, general distribution and for reading in the schools, +Lassen cut out the passages which he deemed unsuitable for the +untutored mind. "But," he adds, "with the exception of the +last scene of Act III, which, in its expurgated form, would be too +fragmentary (and which, indeed, does not bear any immediate +relation to the action), only a few isolated passages have been cut. +Shakespeare has lost next to nothing, and a great deal has been +gained if I have hereby removed one ground for the hesitation +which most teachers would feel in using the book in the public +schools." In Act III, Scene 5 is omitted entirely, and obvious +passages in other parts of the play.</p> + +<p>It has frequently been said that Lassen did little more than +"norvagicize" Lembcke's Danish renderings. And certainly +even the most cursory reading will show that he had Lembcke at +hand. But comparison will also show that variations from Lembcke +are numerous and considerable. Lassen was a man of letters, +a critic, and a good student of foreign languages, but he was no +poet, and his <i>Merchant of Venice</i> is, generally speaking, much +inferior to Lembcke's. Compare, for example, the exquisite +opening of the fifth act:</p> + +<table> +<tr> +<td></td><td><b>Lassen</b></td><td><b>Lembcke</b></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i>Lor</i>:</td> +<td> +<div class = "verse"> +Klart skinner Maanen, i en Nat som denne,<br> +da Vinden gled med Lys igjennem Løvet,<br> +<span class = "pagenum">20</span> +og alt var tyst: i slig en Nat forvist<br> +<ins class = "correction" title = "original reads 'trojas'">Trojas</ins> +Murtinder Troilus besteg,<br> +til Grækerlejren, til sin Cressida<br> +udsukkende sin Sjæl.</div> +</td> +<td> +<div class = "verse"> +Klart skinner Maanen, i en Nat som denne,<br> +mens Luftningen saa sagte kyssed Træet<br> +at knapt det sused, i en saadan Nat<br> +steg Troilus vist up paa Trojas Mur<br> +og sukked ud sin Sjæl mod Grækerlejren<br> +der gjemte Cressida.</div> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<i>Jes</i>:</td> +<td> +<div class = "verse4"> +I slig en Nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +sig Thisbe listed ængstelig, over Duggen<br> +saa Løvens Skygge før hun saa den selv,<br> +og løb forskrækket bort.</div> +</td> +<td> +<div class = "verse4"> +En saadan Nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +gik Thisbe bange trippende paa Duggen<br> +og øjned Løvens Skygge før den selv<br> +og løb forfærdet bort.</div> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i>Lor</i>:</td> +<td> +<div class = "verse4"> +I slig en Nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +stod Dido med en Vidjevaand i Haanden<br> +paa vilden strand, og vinked til Kartago<br> +sin elsker hjem igjen.</div> +</td> +<td> +<div class = "verse4"> +En saadan Nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +stod Dido med en Vidjekvist i Haanden<br> +paa vilden Strand og vinkede sin Elsker<br> +tilbage til Carthagos Kyst.</div> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i>Jes</i>:</td> +<td> +<div class = "verse4"> +I slig en Nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Medea plukked Galder-Urt for Aeson<br> +hans Ungdom at forny.</div> +</td> +<td> +<div class = "verse4"> +Det var</div> +<div class = "verse"> +en saadan Nat, da sankede Medea<br> +de <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Troldomsurter'">Trolddomsurter</ins> +der <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'foryngede den / gamle'">foryngede<br> +den gamle</ins> Aeson.</div> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i>Lor</i>:</td> +<td> +<div class = "verse4"> +I slig en Nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +stjal Jessica sig fra den rige Jøde,<br> +Løb fra Venedig med <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'er'">en</ins> lystig Elsker<br> +til Belmont uden Stands.</div> +</td> +<td> +<div class = "verse4"> +Og en saadan Nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +sneg Jessica sig fra den rige Jøde<br> +og løb med en Landstryger fra Venedig<br> +herhid til Belmont.</div> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i>Jes</i>:</td> +<td> +<div class = "verse4"> +I slig en Nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +svor ung Lorenzo at han elsked hende,<br> +stjal hendes Sjæl med mange Troskabsløfter<br> +og ikke et var sandt.</div> +</td> +<td> +<div class = "verse4"> +Og en saadan Nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +svor ung Lorenzo hende Kjærlighed<br> +og stjal med Troskabseder hendes Hjerte<br> +og aldrig en var sand.</div> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i>Lor</i>:</td> +<td> +<div class = "verse4"> +I slig en Nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +skjøn Jessica, den lille Klaffertunge,<br> +løi paa sin Elsker, og han tilgav hende.<br></div> +</td> +<td> +<div class = "verse4"> +I slig en Nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +bagtalte just skjøn Jessica sin Elsker<br> +ret som en lille Trold, og han tilgav det.</div> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i>Jes</i>:</td> +<td> +<div class = "verse"> +Jeg gad fortalt dig mer om slig en Nat,<br> +hvis jeg ei hørte nogen <ins class = "correction" title = +"original reads 'komm-/tys' at line break">komme—tys</ins>!</div> +</td> +<td> +<div class = "verse"> +Jeg skulde sagtens "overnatte" dig<br> +hvis ingen kom; men tys, jeg hører der<br> +Trin af en Mand.</div> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>Lembcke's version is faithful to the point of slavishness. +Compare, for example, "Jeg skulde sagtens overnatte dig" with +"I would outnight you." Lassen, though never grossly inaccurate, +<span class = "pagenum">21</span> +allows himself greater liberties. Compare lines 2-6 with +the original and with Lembcke. In every case the Danish version +is more faithful than the Norwegian. And more mellifluous. +Why Lassen should choose such clumsy and banal lines as:</p> + +<div class = "verse4"> +I slig en Nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Trojas Murtinder Troilus besteg +</div> + +<p>when he could have used Lembcke's, is inexplicable except on +the hypothesis that he was eager to prove his own originality. +The remainder of Lorenzo's first speech is scarcely better. It is +neither good translation nor decent verse.</p> + +<p>In 1882 came Lassen's <i>Julius Caesar</i>,<a name = "tag1_20" +href = "#note1_20"><sup>I.20</sup></a> likewise published as +a supplement to <i>Folkevennen</i> for use in the schools. A short +postscript tells us that the principles which governed in the translation +of the earlier play have governed here also. Lassen specifically +declares that he used Foersom's translation (Copenhagen, +1811) as the basis for the translation of Antony's oration. A comparison +shows that in this scene Lassen follows Foersom closely—he +keeps archaisms which Lembcke amended. One or two instances:</p> + +<table> +<tr> +<td><i>Foersom</i>:</td> +<td> +Seer, her foer Casii Dolk igjennem den;<br> +seer, hvilken Rift den nidske Casca gjorde;<br> +her rammed' den høitelskte Bruti Dolk, etc. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i>Lembcke</i>:</td> +<td> +Se, her foer Cassius' Dolk igjennem den;<br> +se hvilken Rift den onde Casca gjorde.<br> +Her stødte Brutus den høitelskede, etc. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i>Lassen</i>:</td> +<td> +Se! her foer Casii Dolk igjennem den;<br> +se hvilken Rift den onde Casca gjorde.<br> +Her rammed den høielskte Bruti Dolk, etc. +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>For the rest, a reading of this translation leaves the same impression +as a reading of <i>The Merchant of Venice</i>—it is a reasonably +good piece of work but distinctly inferior to Foersom and to +Lembcke's modernization of Foersom. Lassen clearly had +Lembcke at hand; he seldom, however, followed him for more +than a line or two. What is more important is that there are +reminiscences of Foersom not only in the funeral scene, where +<span class = "pagenum">22</span> +Lassen himself acknowledges the fact, but elsewhere. Note a +few lines from the quarrel between Brutus and Cassius (Act IV, +Sc. 3) beginning with Cassius' speech:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Urge me no more, I shall forget myself. +</div> + +<p>Foersom (Ed. 1811) has:</p> + +<div class = "speaker">Cas:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Tir mig ei mer at jeg ei glemmer mig;<br> +husk Eders Vel—og frist mig ikke mere. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Bru:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Bort, svage Mand! +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Cas:</div> +<div class = "verse3"> +Er dette muligt? +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Bru:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Hør mig; jeg vil tale.<br> +Skal jeg for Eders vilde Sind mig bøie?<br> +Troer I jeg kyses af en gal Mands Blik? +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Cas:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +O Guder, Guder! skal jeg taale dette? +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Bru:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Ja, meer. Brum saa dette stolte Hierte <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'brist er'">brister</ins>;<br> +Gak, viis den Hæftighed for Eders Trælle,<br> +og faa dem til at skielve. Skal jeg vige,<br> +og føie Eder? Skal jeg staae og bøie<br> +mig under Eders Luners Arrighed?<br> +Ved Guderne, I skal nedsvælge selv<br> +al Eders Galdes Gift, om end I brast;<br> +thi fra i dag af bruger jeg Jer kun<br> +til Moerskab, ja til latter naar I vredes. +</div> + +<p>And Lassen has:</p> + +<div class = "speaker">Cas:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +<i>Tirr</i> mig ei mer; jeg kunde glemme mig.<br> +Tænk paa dit eget Vel, frist mig ei længer. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Bru:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +<i>Bort, svage Mand</i>! +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Cas:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Er dette muligt? +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Bru:</div> +<div class = "verse3"> +Hør mig, jeg vil tale.</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Skal jeg <i>mig bøie</i> for din Vredes Nykker?<br> +Og skræmmes, naar en gal Mand glor paa mig? +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Cas:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +O Guder, Guder! maa jeg taale dette? +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Bru:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Dette, ja mer end det. Stamp kun mod Brodden,<br> +ras kun, indtil dit stolte Hjerte brister;<br> +lad dine Slaver se hvor arg du er<br> +og <i>skjelve</i>. Jeg—skal jeg tilside smutte?<br> +Jeg gjøre Krus for dig? Jeg krumme Ryg<br> +naar det behager dig? Ved Guderne!<br> +Du selv skal <i>svælge</i> al din <i>Galdes Gift</i>,<br> +om saa du brister; thi fra denne Dag<br> +jeg bruger dig til Moro, ja til Latter,<br> +naar du er ilsk. +</div> + +<p>The <i>italicized</i> passages show that the influence of Foersom +was felt in more than one scene. It would be easy to give other +instances.</p> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">23</span> +After all this, we need scarcely more than mention Lassen's +<i>Macbeth</i><a name = "tag1_21" href = "#note1_21"><sup>I.21</sup></a> +published in 1883. The usual brief note at the end of +the play gives the usual information that, out of regard for the +purpose for which the translation has been made, certain parts +of the porter scene and certain speeches by Malcolm in Act IV, +Sc. 3 have been cut. Readers will have no difficulty in picking +them out.</p> + +<p><i>Macbeth</i> is, like all Lassen's work, dull and prosaic. Like +his other translations from Shakespeare, it has never become +popular. The standard translation in Norway is still the +Foersom-Lembcke, a trifle nationalized with Norwegian words and +phrases whenever a new acting version is to be prepared. And +while it is not true that Lassen's translations are merely norvagicized +editions of the Danish, it is true that they are often so +little independent of them that they do not deserve to supersede +the work of Foersom and Lembcke.</p> + + +<h2>G</h2> + +<p>Norwegian translations of Shakespeare cannot, thus far, be +called distinguished. There is no complete edition either in +Riksmaal or Landsmaal. A few sonnets, a play or two, a scrap +of dialogue—Norway has little Shakespeare translation of her +own. Qualitatively, the case is somewhat better. Several +of the renderings we have considered are extremely creditable, +though none of them can be compared with the best in +Danish or Swedish. It is a grateful task, therefore, to call attention +to the translations by Christen Collin. They are not numerous—only +eleven short fragments published as illustrative +material in his school edition (English text) of <i>The Merchant of +Venice</i><a name = "tag1_22" +href = "#note1_22"><sup>I.22</sup></a>—but +they are of notable quality, and they save the Riksmaal +literature from the reproach of surrendering completely to the +Landsmaal the task of turning Shakespeare into Norwegian. +With the exception of a few lines from <i>Macbeth</i> and <i>Othello</i>, +the +selections are all from <i>The Merchant of Venice</i>.</p> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">24</span> +A good part of Collin's success must be attributed to his +intimate familiarity with English. The fine nuances of the language +do not escape him, and he can use it not with precision +merely but with audacity and power. Long years of close and +sympathetic association with the literature of England has made +English well-nigh a second mother tongue to this fine and appreciative +critic. But he is more than a critic. He has more than +a little of the true poet's insight and the true poet's gift of song. +All this has combined to give us a body of translations which, for +fine felicity, stand unrivalled in Dano-Norwegian. Many of +these have been prepared for lecture purposes and have never +been printed.<a name = "tag1_23" +href = "#note1_23"><sup>I.23</sup></a> Only a +few have been perpetuated in this text +edition of <i>The Merchant of Venice</i>. We shall discuss the edition +itself below. Our concern here is with the translations. We +remember Lassen's and Lembcke's opening of the fifth act. Collin +is more successful than his countryman.</p> + +<div class = "speaker">Lor:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Hvor Maanen straaler! I en nat som denne,<br> +da milde vindpust kyssed skovens trær<br> +og alting var saa tyst, i slig en nat<br> +Troilus kanske steg op paa Trojas mure<br> +og stønned ud sin sjæl mod Grækerteltene<br> +hvor Cressida laa den nat. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Jes:</div> +<div class = "verse4">I slig en nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +kom Thisbe angstfuldt trippende over duggen,—<br> +saa løvens skygge, før hun saa den selv,<br> +og løb forskrækket bort. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Lor:</div> +<div class = "verse4">I slig en nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +stod Dido med en vidjekvist i haand<br> +paa havets strand og vinkede Æneas<br> +tilbage til Karthago. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Jes:</div> +<div class = "verse4">I slig en nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Medea sanked urter som foryngede<br> +den gamle Æsons liv. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Lor:</div> +<div class = "verse4">I slig en nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +stjal Jessica sig fra den rige Jøde<br> +med en forfløien elsker fra Venedig<br> +og fandt i Belmont ly. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Jes:</div> +<div class = "verse4">I en saadan nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +svor ung Lorenzo at hun var ham kjær<br> +og stjal med mange eder hendes hjerte,<br> +men ikke en var sand. +</div> +<span class = "pagenum">25</span> +<div class = "speaker">Lor:</div> +<div class = "verse4">I slig en nat</div> +<div class = "verse"> +skjøn Jessica, den lille heks, bagtalte<br> +sin elsker og han—tilgav hende alt. +</div> + +<p>"A translation of this passage," says Collin,<a name = "tag1_24" +href = "#note1_24"><sup>I.24</sup></a> "can hardly be +more than an approximation, but its inadequacy will only emphasize +the beauty of the original." Nevertheless we have here +more than a feeble approximation. It is not equal to Shakespeare, +but it is good Norwegian poetry and as faithful as translation +can or need be. It is difficult to refrain from giving Portia's +plea for mercy, but I shall give instead Collin's striking rendering +of Shylock's arraignment of Antonio:<a name = "tag1_25" +href = "#note1_25"><sup>I.25</sup></a></p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Signor Antonio, mangen en gang og tit<br> +har paa Rialto torv I skjældt mig ud<br> +for mine pengelaan og mine renter....<br> +Jeg bar det med taalmodigt skuldertræk,<br> +for taalmod er jo blit vor stammes merke. +</div> +<div class = "verse"> +I kalder mig en vantro, blodgrisk <i>hund</i><br> +og spytter paa min jødiske gaberdin—<br> +hvorfor? for brug af hvad der er mit eget!<br> +Nu synes det, I trænger til min hjælp. +</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Nei virkelig? I kommer nu til mig<br> +og siger: Shylock, laan os penge,—I,<br> +som slængte eders slim hen paa mit skjæg<br> +og satte foden paa mig, som I spændte,<br> +en kjøter fra Jer dør, I be'r om penge!<br> +Hvad skal jeg svare vel? Skal jeg 'ke svare:<br> +Har en hund penge? Er det muligt, at<br> +en kjøter har tre tusinde dukater?<br> +Eller skal jeg bukke dybt og i trælletone<br> +med sænket røst og underdanig hvisken<br> +formæle: +</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +"Min herre, I spytted paa mig sidste onsdag,</div> +<div class = "verse"> +en anden dag I spændte mig, en tredje<br> +I kaldte mig en hund; for al den artighed<br> +jeg laaner Jer saa og saa mange penge?" +</div> + +<p>It is to be regretted that Collin did not give us Shylock's +still more impassioned outburst to Salarino in Act III. He would +have done it well.</p> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">26</span> +It would be a gracious task to give more of this translator's +work. It is, slight though its quantity, a genuine contribution to +the body of excellent translation literature of the world. I shall +quote but one more passage, a few lines from +<i>Macbeth</i>.<a name = "tag1_26" +href = "#note1_26"><sup>I.26</sup></a></p> + +<div class = "verse"> +"Det tyktes mig som hørte jeg en røst;<br> +Sov aldrig mer! Macbeth har myrdet søvnen,<br> +den skyldfri søvn, som løser sorgens floke,<br> +hvert daglivs død, et bad for mødig møie,<br> +balsam for sjælesaar og alnaturens<br> +den søde efterret,—dog hovednæringen<br> +ved livets gjæstebud.... +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Lady Macbeth:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Hvad er det, du mener? +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Macbeth:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +"Sov aldrig mer," det skreg til hele huset.<br> +Glarais har myrdet søvnen, derfor Cawdor<br> +skal aldrig mer faa søvn,—Macbeth,<br> +Macbeth skal aldrig mer faa søvn!" +</div> + + +<h2>H</h2> + +<p>We have hitherto discussed the Norwegian translations of +Shakespeare in almost exact chronological order. It has been +possible to do this because the plays have either been translated +by a single man and issued close together, as in the case of Hartvig +Lassen, or they have appeared separately from the hands of different +translators and at widely different periods. We come now, +however, to a group of translations which, although the work of +different men and published independently from 1901 to 1912, +nevertheless belong together. They are all in Landsmaal and +they represent quite clearly an effort to enrich the literature of +the new dialect with translations from Shakespeare. To do this +successfully would, obviously, be a great gain. The Maalstrævere +would thereby prove the capacity of their tongue for the highest, +most exotic forms of literature. They would give to it, moreover, +the discipline which the translation of foreign classics could +not fail to afford. It was thus a renewal of the missionary spirit +of Ivar Aasen. And behind it all was the defiant feeling that +Norwegians should have Shakespeare in Norwegian, not in Danish +or bastard Danish.</p> + +<p>The spirit of these translations is obvious enough from the +opening sentence of Madhus' preface to his translation of +<i>Macbeth</i>:<a name = "tag1_27" +href = "#note1_27"><sup>I.27</sup></a> +<span class = "pagenum">27</span> +"I should hardly have ventured to publish this first attempt at +a Norwegian translation of Shakespeare if competent men had +not urged me to do so." It is frankly declared to be the first +Norwegian translation of Shakespeare. Hauge and Lassen, to +say nothing of the translator of 1818, are curtly dismissed from +Norwegian literature. They belong to Denmark. This might be +true if it were not for the bland assumption that nothing is really +Norwegian except what is written in the dialect of a particular +group of Norwegians. The fundamental error of the "Maalstrævere" +is the inability to comprehend the simple fact that language +has no natural, instinctive connection with race. An +American born in America of Norwegian parents <i>may</i>, if his +parents are energetic and circumstances favorable, learn the +tongue of his father and mother, but his natural speech, the medium +he uses easily, his real mother-tongue, will be English. Will it +be contended that this American has lost anything in spiritual +power or linguistic facility? Quite the contrary. The use of +Danish in Norway has had the unfortunate effect of stirring +up a bitter war between the two literary languages or the two +dialects of the same language, but it has imposed no bonds on the +literary or intellectual powers of a large part of the people, for +the simple reason that these people have long used the language +as their own. And because they live in Norway they have made +the speech Norwegian. Despite its Danish origin, Dano-Norwegian +is today as truly Norwegian as any other Norwegian +dialect, and in its literary form it is, in a sense, more Norwegian +than the literary Landsmaal, for the language of Bjørnson has +grown up gradually on Norwegian soil; the language of Ivar +Aasen is not yet acclimatized.</p> + +<p>For these reasons it will not do to let Madhus' calm assertion +go unchallenged. The fact is that to a large part of the Norwegian +people Lassen's translations represent merely a slightly Danicized +form of their own language, while to the same people the +language of Madhus is at least as foreign as Swedish. This is +not the place for a discussion of "Sprogstriden." We may give +full recognition to Landsmaal without subscribing to the creed of +enthusiasts. And it is still easier to give credit to the excellence +of the Shakespeare translations in Landsmaal without concerning +ourselves with the partisanship of the translator. What shall +we say, then, of the <i>Macbeth</i> of Olav Madhus?</p> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">28</span> +First, that it is decidedly good. The tragedy of Macbeth is +stark, grim, stern, and the vigorous, resonant Norwegian fits +admirably. There is little opportunity, as in Aasen's selections +from <i>Romeo and Juliet</i> for those unfortunate contrasts between +the homespun of the modern dialect and the exquisite silk and +gossamer of the vocabulary of romance of a "cultured language." +Madhus has been successful in rendering into Landsmaal scenes +as different as the witch-scene, the porter-scene (which Lassen +omitted for fear it would contaminate the minds of school children), +the exquisite lines of the King and Banquo on their arrival at +Macbeth's castle, and Macbeth's last, tragic soliloquy when he +learns of the death of his queen.</p> + +<p>Duncan and Banquo arrive at the castle of Macbeth and Duncan +speaks those lovely lines: "This castle has a pleasant seat," +etc. Madhus translates:</p> + +<div class = "speaker">Duncan:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Ho hev eit fagert lægje, denne borgi,<br> +og lufti lyar seg og gjer seg smeiki<br> +aat vaare glade sansar. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Banquo:</div> +<div class = "verse4">Sumar-gjesten,</div> +<div class = "verse"> +den tempel-kjære svala, vitnar med,<br> +at himlens ande blakrar smeikin her,<br> +med di at ho so gjerne her vil byggje.<br> +Det finst kje sule eller takskjeggs livd<br> +og ikkje voll hell vigskar, der ei ho<br> +hev hengt si lette seng og barne-vogge.<br> +Der ho mest bur og bræer, hev eg merkt meg,<br> +er lufti herleg. +</div> + +<p>This is as light and luminous as possible. Contrast it with +the slow, solemn tempo of the opening of Act I, Sc. 7—Macbeth's +"If it were done when 'tis done," etc.</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Um det var gjort, naar d'er gjort, var det væl,<br> +um det vart snart gjort; kunde løynmordsverke,<br> +stengje og binde alle vonde fylgdir<br> +og, med aa faa hurt honom, naa sitt maal,<br> +so denne eine støyten som maa til,<br> +vart enden, alt, det siste som det fyrste<br> +i tidi her—den havsens øyr og bode<br> +me sit paa no—,—med live som kjem etter<br> +det fekk daa vaage voni. Men i slikt<br> +vert domen sagd alt her. Blodtankane,<br> +me el, kjem vaksne att og piner oss,<br> +som gav deim liv og fostra deim; og drykken,<br> +<span class = "pagenum">29</span> +som me hev blanda eiter i aat andre,<br> +vert eingong uta miskunn bodin fram<br> +av rettferds hand aat vaare eigne munnar. +</div> + +<p>The deep tones of a language born in mountains and along +fjords finely re-echo the dark broodings in Macbeth's soul.</p> + +<p>Or take still another example, the witch-scene in Act IV. It +opens in Madhus' version:</p> + +<div class = "speaker">Fyrste Heks:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Tri gong mjava brandut katt. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Andre Heks:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Tri og ein gong bust-svin peip. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Tridje Heks:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Val-ramn skrik. D'er tid, d'er tid. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Fyrste Heks:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Ring um gryta gjeng me tri;<br> +sleng forgiftigt seid—mang i.<br> +Gyrme-gro, som under stein<br> +dagar tredive og ein<br> +sveita eiter, lat og leid,<br> +koke fyrst i vaaro seid. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Alle:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Tvifaldt træl og møda duble;<br> +brand frase, seid buble! +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Andre Heks:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Møyrkjøt av ein myr-orm kald<br> +so i gryta koke skal.<br> +Ødle-augo, skinnveng-haar,<br> +hundetunge, froskelaar,<br> +slève-brodd, firfisle-svórd,<br> +ule-veng og lyngaal-spórd<br> +til eit seid som sinn kann rengje<br> +hèl-sodd-heitt seg saman mengje! +</div> + +<p>This is not only accurate; it is a decidedly successful imitation +of the movement of the original. Madhus has done a first-rate +piece of work. The language of witch-craft is as international +as the language of science. But only a poet can turn it to poetic +use.</p> + +<p>Not quite so successful is Macbeth's soliloquy when the death +of Lady Macbeth is announced to him:</p> + +<div class = "verse4"> +Det skuld'ho drygt med.</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Aat slikt eit ord var komi betre stund.—<br> +"I morgo" og "i morgo" og "i morgo,"<br> +slik sig det smaatt fram etter, dag for dag,<br> +til siste ord i livsens sogubok;<br> +og kvart "i gaar" hev daarer vegen lyst<br> +til dust og daude. +</div> + +<p>It is difficult to say just where the fault lies, but the thing +seems uncouth, a trifle too colloquial and peasant-like. The +<span class = "pagenum">30</span> +fault may be the translator's, but something must also be charged +to his medium. The passage in Shakespeare is simple but it +breathes distinction. The Landsmaal version is merely colloquial, +even banal. One fine line there is:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +"til siste ord i livsens sogubok." +</div> + +<p>But the rest suggests too plainly the limitations of an uncultivated +speech.</p> + +<p>In 1905 came a translation of <i>The Merchant of Venice</i> +by Madhus,<a name = "tag1_28" href = "#note1_28"><sup>I.28</sup></a> +and, uniform with it, a little book—<i>Soga um Kaupmannen i +Venetia</i> (The Story of The Merchant of Venice) in which the action +of the play is told in simple prose. In the appendatory notes the +translator acknowledges his obligation to Arne Garborg—"Arne +Garborg hev gjort mig framifraa god hjelp, her som med <i>Macbeth</i>. +Takk og ære hev han."</p> + +<p>What we have said of <i>Macbeth</i> applies with no less force here. +The translation is more than merely creditable—it is distinctly +good. And certainly it is no small feat to have translated Shakespeare +in all his richness and fulness into what was only fifty years +ago a rustic and untrained dialect. It is the best answer possible +to the charge often made against Landsmaal that it is utterly +unable to convey the subtle thought of high and cosmopolitan +culture. This was the indictment of Bjørnson,<a name = "tag1_29" +href = "#note1_29"><sup>I.29</sup></a> of philologists +like Torp,<a name = "tag1_30" href = "#note1_30"><sup>I.30</sup></a> +and of a literary critic like Hjalmar Christensen.<a name = "tag1_31" +href = "#note1_31"><sup>I.31</sup></a> +The last named speaks repeatedly of the feebleness of Landsmaal +when it swerves from its task of depicting peasant life. His criticism +of the poetry of Ivar Mortensen is one long variation of this +theme—the immaturity of Landsmaal. All of this is true. A +finished literary language, even when its roots go deep into a +spoken language, cannot be created in a day. It must be enriched +and elaborated, and it must gain flexibility from constant +and varied use. It is precisely this apprentice stage that Landsmaal +is now in. The finished "Kultursprache" will come in +good time. No one who has read Garborg will deny that it can +<span class = "pagenum">31</span> +convey the subtlest emotions; and Madhus' translations of Shakespeare +are further evidence of its possibilities.</p> + +<p>That Madhus does not measure up to his original will astonish +no one who knows Shakespeare translations in other languages. +Even Tieck's and Schlegel's German, or Hagberg's Swedish, or +Foersom's Danish is no substitute for Shakespeare. Whether or +not Madhus measures up to these is not for me to decide, but I +feel very certain that he will not suffer by comparison with the +Danish versions by Wolff, Meisling, Wosemose, or even Lembcke, +or with the Norwegian versions of Hauge and Lassen. The feeling that +one gets in reading Madhus is not that he is uncouth, still less +inaccurate, but that in the presence of great imaginative richness +he becomes cold and barren. We felt it less in the tragedy of +<i>Macbeth</i>, where romantic color is absent; we feel it strongly in +<i>The Merchant of Venice</i>, where the richness of romance is instinct +in every line. The opening of the play offers a perfect illustration. +In answer to Antonio's complaint "In sooth I know not why I am so sad," +etc, Salarino replies in these stately and sounding lines:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Your mind is tossing on the ocean;<br> +There, where your argosies, with portly sail,—<br> +Like signiors and rich burghers of the flood,<br> +Or, as it were, the pageants of the sea,—<br> +Do overpeer the petty traffickers<br> +That curt'sy to them, do them reverence,<br> +As they fly by them with their woven wings. +</div> + +<p>The picture becomes very much less stately in Norwegian +folk-speech:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Paa storehave huskar hugen din,<br> +der dine langferd-skip med staute segl<br> +som hovdingar og herremenn paa sjø<br> +i drusteferd, aa kalle, gagar seg<br> +paa baara millom kræmarskutur smaa',<br> +som nigjer aat deim og som helsar audmjukt<br> +naar dei med vovne vengir framum stryk. +</div> + +<p>The last two lines are adequate, but the rest has too much +the flavor of Ole and Peer discussing the fate of their fishing-smacks. +Somewhat more successful is the translation of the opening +of Act V, doubtless because it is simpler, less full of remote and +sophisticated imagery. By way of comparison with Lassen and +Collin, it may be interesting to have it at hand.</p> + +<span class = "pagenum">32</span> +<div class = "speaker">Lor:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Ovfagert lyser maanen. Slik ei natt,<br> +daa milde vindar kysste ljuve tre<br> +so lindt at knapt dei susa, slik ei natt<br> +steig Troilus upp paa Troja-murane<br> +og sukka saali si til Greklands telt,<br> +der Kressida laag den natti. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Jes:</div> +<div class = "verse4">Slik ei natt</div> +<div class = "verse"> +gjekk Thisbe hugrædd yvi doggvaat voll<br> +og løveskuggen saag fyrr løva kom;<br> +og rædd ho der-fraa rømde. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Lor:</div> +<div class = "verse4">Slik ei natt</div> +<div class = "verse"> +stod Dido med ein siljutein i hand<br> +paa villan strand og vinka venen sin<br> +tilbake til Kartago. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Jes:</div> +<div class = "verse4">Slik ei natt</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Medea trolldoms-urtir fann, til upp<br> +aa yngje gamle Æson. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Lor:</div> +<div class = "verse4">Slik ei natt</div> +<div class = "verse"> +stal Jessika seg ut fraa judens hus<br> +og med ein fark til festarmann for av<br> +so langt som hit til Belmont. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Jes:</div> +<div class = "verse4">Slik ei natt</div> +<div class = "verse"> +svor ung Lorenso henne elskhugs eid<br> +og hjarta hennar stal med fagre ord<br> +som ikkje aatte sanning. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Lor:</div> +<div class = "verse4">Slik ei natt</div> +<div class = "verse"> +leksa ven' Jessika som eit lite troll<br> +upp for sin kjærst, og han tilgav ho. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Jes:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +I natteleik eg heldt nok ut med deg,<br> +um ingin kom; men hyss, eg høyrer stig. +</div> + +<p>But when Madhus turns from such flights of high poetry to +low comedy, his success is complete. It may be a long time +before Landsmaal can successfully render the mighty line of +Marlowe, or the manifold music of Shakespeare, but we should +expect it to give with perfect verity the language of the people. +And when we read the scenes in which <ins class = "correction" +title = "spelling as in original">Lancelot</ins> Gobbo figures, +there is no doubt that here Landsmaal is at home. Note, for +example, Act II, Sc. 1:</p> + +<div class = "speech"> +"Samvite mitt vil visst ikkje hjelpe meg med aa røme fraa denne juden, +husbond min. Fenden stend her attum òlbogen min og segjer til meg: +"Gobbo, Lanselot Gobbo; gode Lanselot, eller gode Gobbo, bruka leggine; +tak hyven; drag din veg." Samvite segjer: "nei, agta deg, ærlige Gobbo," +eller som fyr sagt: "ærlige Lanselot Gobbo, røm ikkje; set deg mot røming +med hæl og taa!" Men fenden, den stormodige, bed meg pakka meg; "fremad +mars!" segjer +<span class = "pagenum">33</span> +fenden; "legg i veg!" segjer fenden; "for alt som heilagt er," segjer +fenden; "vaaga paa; drag i veg!" Men samvite heng un halsen paa hjarta +mitt og talar visdom til meg; "min ærlige ven Lanselot, som er son av ein +ærlig mann, eller rettare: av eit ærligt kvende; for skal eg segja sant, +so teva det eit grand svidt av far min; han hadde som ein <ins class = +"correction" title = "original reads 'altaat-snev'">attaat-snev</ins>; +naah; samvite segjer: "du skal ikkje fantegaa." "Du skal fantegaa," +segjer fenden; "nei; ikkje fantegaa," segjer samvite. "Du samvit," segjer +eg, "du raader meg godt." "Du <ins class = "correction" title = +"close quote missing in original">fenden," segjer eg</ins>, "du raader +meg godt." Fylgde eg no samvite, so vart eg verande hjaa juden, +som—forlate mi synd—er noko som ein devel; og rømer eg fraa +juden, so lyder eg fenden, som—beintfram sagt—er develen +sjølv. Visst og sannt: juden er sjølve develen i karnition; men etter +mitt vit er samvite mit vitlaust, som vil raade meg til aa verta verande +hjaa juden. Fenden gjev meg den venlegaste raadi; eg tek kuten, fenden; +hælane mine stend til din kommando; eg tek kuten." +</div> + +<p>This has the genuine ring. The brisk colloquial vocabulary +fits admirably the brilliant sophistry of the argument. And both +could come only from Launcelot Gobbo. For "the simplicity +of the folk" is one of those fictions which romantic closet study +has woven around the study of "the people."</p> + +<p>Of the little re-telling of <i>The Merchant of Venice</i>, "Soga um +Kaupmannen i Venetia"<a name = "tag1_32" +href = "#note1_32"><sup>I.32</sup></a> +which appeared in the same year, nothing +need be said. It is a simple, unpretentious summary of the story +with a certain charm which simplicity and naïveté always give. +No name appears on the title-page, but we are probably safe in +attributing it to Madhus, for in the note to <i>Kaupmannen i Venetia</i> +we read: <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'I, Soga'">"I <i>Soga</i></ins> +<i>um Kaupmannen i Venetia</i> hev ein sjølve +forteljingi som stykkji er bygt paa."</p> + + +<h2>I</h2> + +<p>In the year 1903, midway between the publication of Madhus' +<i>Macbeth</i> and the appearance of his <i>Kaupmannen i Venetia</i>, +there appeared in the chief literary magazine of the Landsmaal movement, +"Syn og Segn," a translation of the fairy scenes of <i>A Midsummer +Night's Dream</i> by Erik Eggen.<a name = "tag1_33" +href = "#note1_33"><sup>I.33</sup></a> +This is the sort of material +which we should expect Landsmaal to render well. Oberon and +Titania are not greatly different from Nissen and Alverne in +Norwegian fairy tales, and the translator had but to fancy himself +in Alveland to be in the enchanted wood near Athens. The +spirit of the fairy scenes in Shakespeare is akin to the spirit of +<span class = "pagenum">34</span> +Asbjørnson's "Huldre-Eventyr." There is in them a community +of feeling, of fancy, of ideas. And whereas Madhus had difficulty +with the sunny romance of Italy, Eggen in the story of Puck +found material ready to hand. The passage translated begins Act +II, Sc. 1, and runs through Act II to Oberon's words immediately +before the entrance of Helen and Demetrius:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +But who comes here? I am invisible;<br> +And I will overhear their conference. +</div> + +<p>Then the translator omits everything until Puck re-enters and Oberon +greets him with the words:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +<ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Velkomon'">Velkomen</ins>, vandrar; hev du +blomen der?<br> +(Hast thou the flower there? Welcome, wanderer.) +</div> + +<p>Here the translation begins again and goes to the exit of Oberon +and the entrance of Lysander and Hermia. This is all in the +first selection in <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Syn og segn'"><i>Syn og Segn</i></ins>, +No. 3.</p> + +<p>In the sixth number of the same year (1903) the work is continued. The +translation here begins with Puck's words (Act III):</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +What hempen homespuns have we swaggering here?<br> +So near the cradle of the fairy queen?<br> +What, a play toward! I'll be an auditor;<br> +An actor, too, if I see cause. +</div> + +<p>Then it breaks off again and resumes with the entrance of Puck +and Bottom adorned with an ass's head. Quince's words: "O +monstrous! O strange!" are given and then Puck's speech: "I'll +follow you: I'll lead you about a round." After this there is a +break till Bottom's song:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +"The ousel cock, so black of hue," etc. +</div> + +<p>And now all proceeds without break to the <i>Hail</i> of the last elf +called in to serve Bottom, but the following speeches between +Bottom and the fairies, Cobweb, Mustardseed and Peaseblossom, +are all cut, and the scene ends with Titania's speech:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +"Come, wait upon him, lead him to my bower," etc. +</div> + +<p>Act III, Sc. 2, follows immediately, but the translation ends with the +first line of Oberon's speech to Puck before the entrance of Demetrius +and Hermia:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +"This falls out better than I could devise." +</div> + +<p>and resumes with Oberon's words:</p> + +<span class = "pagenum">35</span> +<div class = "verse"> +"I'll to my queen and beg her Indian boy," +</div> + +<p>and includes (with the omission of the last two lines) Oberon's speech +beginning:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +"But we are spirits of another sort." +</div> + +<p>Eggen then jumps to the fourth act and translates Titania's +opening speech. After this there is a break till the entrance of +Oberon. The dialogue between Titania and Oberon is given +faithfully, except that in the speech in which Oberon removes the +incantation, all the lines referring to the wedding of Theseus are +omitted; the speeches of Puck, Oberon, and Titania immediately +preceding the entrance of Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, and their +train, are rendered.</p> + +<p>From Act V the entire second scene is given.</p> + +<p>Eggen has, then, attempted to give a translation into Norwegian +Landsmaal of the fairy scenes in <i>A Midsummer Night's +Dream</i>. He has confined himself severely to his task as thus +limited, even cutting out lines from the middle of speeches when +these lines refer to another part of the action or to another group +of characters. What we have is, then, a fragment, to be defended +only as an experiment, and successful in proportion as it renders +single lines, speeches, or songs well. On the whole, Eggen has +been successful. There is a vigor and directness in his style +which, indeed, seem rather Norwegian than Shakespearean, but +which are, nevertheless, entirely convincing. One is scarcely +conscious that it is a translation. And in the lighter, more romantic +passages Eggen has hit the right tone with entire fidelity. His +knowledge is sound. His notes, though exhibiting no special +learning, show clearly that he is abreast of modern scholarship. +Whenever his rendering seems daring, he accompanies it with +a note that clearly and briefly sets forth why a particular word +or phrase was chosen. The standard Danish, Norwegian, and +German translations are known to him, and occasionally he borrows +from them. But he knows exactly why he does borrow. His +scholarship and his real poetic power combine to give us a translation +of which Landsmaal literature has every reason to be proud. +We need give only a few passages. I like the rollicking humor of +Puck's words:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Kor torer uhengt kjeltrings pakk daa skvaldre<br> +so nære vogga hennar alvemor?<br> +<span class = "pagenum">36</span> +Kva?—skodespel i gjerdom? Eg vil sjaa paa—<br> +kann hende spele med, um so eg synest. +</div> + +<p>And a little farther on when Bottom, adorned with his ass's head, +returns with Puck, and the simple players flee in terror and Puck +exclaims:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Eg fylgjer dykk og fører rundt i tunn,<br> +i myr og busk og ormegras og klunger,<br> +og snart eg er ein hest og snart ein hund,<br> +ein gris, ein mannvond bjørn, snart flammetungur,<br> +og kneggjer, gøyr og ryler, murrar, brenn,<br> +som hest, hund, gris, bjørn, varme—eitt um senn. +</div> + +<p>we give our unqualified admiration to the skill of the translator. Or, +compare Titania's instructions to the <ins class = "correction" title = +"original reads 'faries'">fairies</ins> to serve her Bottom:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Ver venlege imot og tén den herren!<br> +Dans vænt for augo hans, hopp der han gjeng!<br> +Gjev aprikos og frukt fraa blaabærlid,<br> +ei korg med druvur, fikjur, morbær i!<br> +Stel honningsekken bort fraa annsam bi!<br> +Til Nattljos hennar voksbein <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'slitt'">slit</ins> i fleng,—<br> +kveik deim paa jonsok-onn i buskeheng!<br> +Lys for min ven, naar han vil gaa i seng.<br> +Fraa maala fivreld slit ein fager veng,<br> +og fraa hans augo maaneljose steng.<br> +Hels honom so, og kyss til honom sleng. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Fyrste Alven:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Menneskje. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Andre Alven:</div> +<div class = "verse3"> +Heil deg! +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Tridje Alven:</div> +<div class = "verse4"> +Heil! +</div> +<div class = "speaker"><ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Fjorde'">Fjorde</ins> Alven:</div> +<div class = "verse5"> +Heil og sæl! +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Titania:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Tén honom so! Leid honom til mitt rom!<br> +Eg tykkjer maanen er i augo vaat;<br> +og naar han græt, daa græt kvar litin blom,<br> +og minnest daa ei tilnøydd dygd med graat.<br> +Legg handi paa hans munn! Og stilt far aat! +</div> + +<p>It is, however, in his exquisitely delicate rendering of the +songs of this play—certainly one of the most difficult tasks that +a +translator can undertake—that Eggen has done his best work. +There is more than a distant echo of the original in this happy +translation of Bottom's song:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Han trostefar med svarte kropp</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +og nebb som appelsin,</div> +<div class = "verse"> +og gjerdesmett med litin topp</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +og stare med tone fin.</div> +<div class = "verse"> +<span class = "pagenum">37</span> +Og finke, sporv og lerke graa</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +og gauk,—ho, ho!<a name = "tag1_34" +href = "#note1_34"><sup>I.34</sup></a> +han lær,</div> +<div class = "verse"> +so tidt han gjev sin næste smaa;</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +men aldri svar han fær. +</div> + +<p>The marvelous richness of the Norwegian dialects in the vocabulary +of folklore is admirably brought out in the song with which +the fairies sing Titania to sleep:<a name = "tag1_35" +href = "#note1_35"><sup>I.35</sup></a></p> + +<div class = "speaker">Ein alv:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Spettut orm med tungur tvo,<br> +kvass bust-igel, krjup kje her!<br> +Øle, staal-orm, fara no,<br> +kom vaar alvemor ei nær! +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Alle alvene:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Maaltrost, syng med tone full<br> +du med oss vaart bysselull:<br> +bysse, bysse, bysselull,</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +ei maa vald,<br> +ei heksegald</div> +<div class = "verse"> +faa vaar dronning <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'ottefulls'">ottefull</ins>;<br> +so god natt og <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'byselull'">bysselull</ins>. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Ein annan alv:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Ingi kongrov vil me sjaa,<br> +langbeint vevekjering, gakk!<br> +Svart tordivel, burt her fraa,<br> +burt med snigil og med makk! +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Alle alvene:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Maaltrost, syng med tone full<br> +du med oss vaart bysselull:<br> +bysse, bysse, bysselull,<br> +bysse, bysse, bysselull,</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +ei maa vald,<br> +ei heksegald</div> +<div class = "verse"> +faa vaar dronning <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'otteful'">ottefull</ins>;<br> +so god natt og bysselull. +</div> + +<p>It is easy to draw upon this fragment for further examples of +felicitous translation. It is scarcely necessary, however. What +has been given is sufficient to show the rare skill of the translator. +He is so fortunate as to possess in a high degree what Bayard +Taylor calls "secondary inspiration," without which the work of +a translator becomes a soulless mass and frequently degenerates +into the veriest drivel. Erik Eggen's <i>Alveliv</i> deserves a place in +the same high company with Taylor's <i>Faust</i>.</p> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">38</span> +Nine years later, in 1912, Eggen returned to the task he had +left unfinished with the fairy scenes in <i>Syn og Segn</i> and gave a +complete translation of <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i>. In a little +prefatory note he acknowledges his indebtedness to Arne Garborg, +who critically examined the manuscript and gave valuable suggestions +and advice. The introduction itself is a restatement in +two pages of the Shakespeare-Essex-Leicester-Elizabeth story. +Shakespeare recalls the festivities as he saw them in youth when +he writes in Act II, Sc. 2:</p> + +<div class = "verse3"> +thou rememberest</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Since once I sat upon a promontory,<br> +And heard a mermaid upon a dolphin's back, etc. +</div> + +<p>And it is Elizabeth he has in mind when, in the same scene, +we read:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +That very time I saw, but thou could'st not,<br> +Flying between the cold moon and the earth,<br> +Cupid all armed, etc. +</div> + +<p>All of this is given by way of background, and it is of little +importance to the general readers what modern Shakespeare scholars +may say of it.</p> + +<p>Eggen has not been content merely to reprint in the complete +translation his earlier work from <i>Syn og Segn</i>, but he has made +a thoroughgoing revision.<a name = "tag1_36" +href = "#note1_36"><sup>I.36</sup></a> +It cannot be said to be altogether +happy. Frequently, of course, a line or phrase is improved or an +awkward turn straightened out, but, as a whole, the first version +surpasses the second not in poetic beauty merely, but in accuracy. +Compare, for example, the two renderings of the opening lines:</p> + +<table> +<tr> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">Syn og Segn—1903</span></td> +<td width = "5%"> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">Revision of 1912</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<div class = "speaker">Nissen:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Kor no ande! seg, kvar skal du av?</div> +</td> +<td></td> +<td> +<div class = "speaker">Tuften:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Hallo! Kvar skal du av, du vesle vette?</div> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<div class = "speaker">Alven:</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +Yver dal, yver fjell,<br> +gjenom vatn, gjenom eld,<br> +yver gras, yver grind,<br> +gjenom klunger so stinn,</div> +<div class = "verse"> +yver alt eg smett og kliv<br> +snøggare enn maanen sviv;<br> +eg i gras dei ringar doggar,<br> +<span class = "pagenum">39</span> +der vaar mori dans seg voggar.<br> +Hennar vakt mun symrur vera,<br> +gyllne klæde mun dei bera;<br> +sjaa dei stjernur alvar gav deim!<br> +Derfraa kjem all angen av deim.<br> +Aa sanke dogg—til de eg kom;<br> +ei perle fester eg til kvar ein blom.<br> +Far vel, du ande-styving! Eg maa vekk;<br> +vaar dronning er her ho paa fljugand' flekk.</div> +</td> +<td></td> +<td> +<div class = "speaker">Alven:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Yver dal, yver fjell,</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +gjenom vatn, gjenom eld,</div> +<div class = "verse"> +yver gras, yver grind,</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +gjenom klunger so stinn,</div> +<div class = "verse"> +alle stad'r eg smett og kliv<br> +snøggare enn maanen sviv;</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +eg dogge maa<br> +dei grøne straa</div> +<div class = "verse"> +som vaar dronning dansar paa.</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +Kvart nykelband<br> +er adelsmann,</div> +<div class = "verse"> +med ordenar dei glime kann;</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +kvar blank rubin,<br> +paa bringa skin,</div> +<div class = "verse"> +utsender ange fin.</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +Doggdropar blanke<br> +skal eg sanke,<br> +mange, mange,<br> +dei skal hange<br> +kvar av hennar<br> +adels-mennar</div> +<div class = "verse"> +glimande i øyra.</div> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +Now, admitting that + +<div class = "verse2"> +eg dogge maa<br> +dei grøne straa</div> +<div class = "verse"> +som vaar dronning dansar paa. +</div> + +<p>is a better translation than in the <i>Syn og Segn</i> +text—which is doubtful enough—it is difficult to see what can +be the excuse for such pompous banality as</p> + +<div class = "verse2"> +Kvart nykelband<br> +er adelsmann,</div> +<div class = "verse"> +med ordenar dei glime kann; +</div> + +<p>the first version is not above reproach in this respect. It might +fairly be asked: where does Eggen get his authority for</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +sjaa dei stjernur alvar gav deim! +</div> + +<p>But the lines are not loaded down with imagery which is both +misleading and in bad taste. Eggen should have left his first +version unchanged. Such uninspired prose as:</p> + +<div class = "verse2"> +kvar blank rubin,<br> +paa bringa skin,</div> +<div class = "verse"> +utsender ange fin. +</div> + +<p>have to the ears of most Norwegians the atmosphere of the back stairs. +Better the unadorned version of 1903.</p> + +<p>In the passage following, Robin's reply, the revised version +is probably better than the first, <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'thought here'">though there</ins> seems to be +little to choose between them. But in the fairy's next speech the +translator has gone quite beyond his legitimate province, and has +<span class = "pagenum">40</span> +improved Shakespeare by a picture from Norwegian folklore. Following the +lines of the original:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Misleade nightwanderers, laughing at their harm, +</div> + +<p>Eggen has added this homelike conception in his translation:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +som òg kann draga fôr til hest og naut,<br> +naar berre du kvar torsdag fær din graut. +</div> + +<p>Shakespeare in Elysium must have regretted that he was not born +in the mountains of Norway!</p> + +<p>And when Robin, in the speech that follows, tells of his antics, +one wonders just a little what has been gained by the revision. +The same query is constantly suggested to anyone who compares +the two texts.</p> + +<p>Nor do I think that the lyrics have gained by the revision. +Just a single comparison—the lullaby in the two versions. We +have given it above as published in <i>Syn og Segn</i>. The following +is its revised form:</p> + +<div class = "speaker">Fyrste alven:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Spettut orm, bustyvel kvass,<br> +eiter-ødle, sleve graa,<br> +fare burt fraa denne plass,<br> +so vaar dronning sova maa! +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Alle:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Maaltrost, syng med oss i lund<br> +dronningi i sælan blund:</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +Byssam, byssam barne,<br> +gryta heng i jarne.</div> +<div class = "verse3"> +Troll og nykk,</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +gakk burt med dykk</div> +<div class = "verse"> +denne sæle skymingsstund!<br> +So god natt! Sov søtt i lund! +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Andre alven:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Burt, tordivel, kom kje her!<br> +Makk og snigill, burt dykk vinn!<br> +Kongro, far ei onnor ferd,<br> +langt ifraa oss din spune spinn! +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Alle:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Maaltrost, syng med oss i lund, etc. +</div> + +<p>The first version is not only more literal but, so far as I can +judge, superior in every way—in music and delicacy of phrase. +And again, Eggen has taken it upon himself to patch up Shakespeare +with homespun rags from his native Norwegian parish. +It is difficult to say upon what grounds such tinkerings with the +text as:</p> + +<span class = "pagenum">41</span> +<div class = "verse"> +Byssam, byssam barne,<br> +gryta, heng i jarne, +</div> + +<p>can be defended.</p> + +<p>But we have already devoted too much space to this matter. +Save for a few isolated lines, Eggen might very well have left +these scenes as he gave them to us in 1903. We then ask, "What +of the much greater part of the play now translated for the first +time?" Well, no one will dispute the translator's triumph in +this scene:<a name = "tag1_37" href = "#note1_37"><sup>I.37</sup></a></p> + +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Mønsaas:</span> +Er heile kompanie samla? +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Varp:</span> +Det er best du ropar deim upp alle saman, mann for mann, etter lista. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr"><ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Mónsaas'">Mønsaas</ins>:</span> +Her er ei liste yver namni paa alle deim som me i heile Atén finn +mest høvelege til aa spela i millomstykke vaareses framfyre hertugen +og frua hans paa brudlaupsdagen um kvelden. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Varp:</span> +Du Per Mønsaas, lyt fyrst segja kva stykke gjeng ut paa; les so upp +namni paa spelarne, og so—til saki. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Mønsaas:</span> +Ja vel. Stykke heiter: "Det grøtelege gamanspele um Pyramus +og Tisbi og deira syndlege daude." +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Varp:</span> +Verkeleg eit godt stykke arbeid, skal eg segja dykk, og morsamt +med. No, min gode Per Mønsaas, ropa upp spelarne etter lista. +Godtfolk, spreid dykk. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Mønsaas:</span> +Svara ettersom eg ropar dykk upp.<br> +Nils Varp, vevar? +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Varp:</span> +Her! Seg kva for ein rolle eg skal hava, og haldt so fram. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Mønsaas:</span> +Du, Nils Varp, er skrivin for Pyramus. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Varp:</span> +Kva er Pyramus for slags kar? Ein elskar eller ein fark? +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Mønsaas:</span> +Ein elskar som drep seg sjølv paa ægte riddarvis av kjærleik. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Varp:</span> +Det kjem til aa koste taarur um ein spelar det retteleg. Fær eg +spela det, so lyt nok dei som ser paa, sjaa til kvar dei hev augo +sine; eg skal grøte steinen, eg skal jamre so fælt so. For resten, +mi gaave ligg best for ein berserk. Eg skulde spela herr Kules +fraamifra—eller ein rolle, der eg kann klore og bite og slaa +all ting i mòl og mas: +</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +Og sprikk det fjell<br> +med toresmell,<br> +daa sunder fell<br> +kvar port so sterk.<br> +Stig Føbus fram<br> +bak skyatram,<br> +daa sprikk med skam<br> +alt gygere-herk. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +Det der laag no høgt det. Nemn so resten av spelarane.<br> +Dette var rase til herr Kules, berserk-ras; ein elskar er meir klagande. +</div> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">42</span> +There can be no doubt about the genuineness of this. It +catches the spirit of the original and communicates it irresistibly +to the reader. When Bottom (Varp) says "Kva er Pyramus for +slags kar?" or when he threatens, "Eg skal grøte steinen, eg skal +jamre so fælt so," one who has something of Norwegian "Sprachgefühl" +will exclaim that this is exactly what it should be. It is +not the language of Norwegian artisans—they do not speak Landsmaal. +But neither is the language of Shakespeare's craftsmen +the genuine spoken language of Elizabethan craftsmen. The +important thing is that the tone is right. And this feeling of a +right tone is still further satisfied in the rehearsal scene (III, Sc. +1). +Certain slight liberties do not diminish our pleasure. The reminiscence +of <i>Richard III</i> in Bottom's, "A calendar, a calendar, +looke in the Almanack, finde out moonshine," translated "Ei +almanakke, ei almanakke, mit kongerike for ei almanakke," +seems, however, a labored piece of business. One line, too, has +been added to this speech which is a gratuitous invention of the +translator, or rather, taken from the curious malaprop speech of +the laboring classes; "Det er rett, Per Mønsaas; sjaa millom +aspektarane!" There can be no objection to an interpolation +like this if the translation does not aim to be scholarly and definitive, +but merely an effort to bring a foreign classic home to the masses. +And this is, obviously, Eggen's purpose. Personally I do +not think, therefore, that there is any objection to a slight freedom +like this. But it has no place at all in the fairies' lullaby.</p> + +<p>When we move to the circle of the high-place lovers or the +court, I cannot feel that the Landsmaal is quite so convincing. +There is something appallingly clumsy, labored, hard, in this speech +of Hermia's:</p> + +<div class = "verse4"> +Min eigin gut,</div> +<div class = "verse"> +eg sver ved beste bogen Amor hev,<br> +ved beste pili hans, med odd av gull,<br> +ved duvune, dei reine og dei kvite<br> +som flyg paa tun hjaa fagre Afrodite,<br> +ved det som knyter mannehjarto saman,<br> +ved det som føder kjærlerks fryd og gaman,<br> +ved baale, der seg dronning Dido brende,<br> +daa seg Æneas trulaus fraa ho vende,<br> +ved kvar den eid som falske menn hev svori—<br> +langt <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'fler'">fleir</ins> enn kvinnelippur +fram hev bori,<br> +<span class = "pagenum">43</span> +at paa den staden du hev nemnt for meg,<br> +der skal i morgo natt eg møte deg. +</div> + +<p>In spite of the translator's obvious effort to put fire into the +passage, his failure is all too evident. Even the ornament of +these lines—to which there is nothing to +correspond in the original—only +makes the poetry more forcibly feeble:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +ved duvune, dei reine og dei kvite<br> +som flyg paa tun hjaa fagre Afrodite, +</div> + +<p>Shakespeare says quite simply:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +By the simplicity of Venus Doves, +</div> + +<p>and to anyone but a Landsmaal fanatic it seems ridiculous to +have Theseus tell Hermia: "Demetrius er so gild ein kar som +nokon." "Demetrius is a worthy gentleman," says Shakespeare +and this has "the grand Manner." But to a cultivated +Norwegian the translation is "Bauernsprache," such as a local +magnate might use in forcing a suitor on his daughter.</p> + +<p>All of which goes back to the present condition of Landsmaal. +It has little flexibility, little inward grace. It is not a finished +literary language. But, despite its archaisms, Landsmaal is a +living language and it has, therefore, unlike the Karathevusa +of Greece, the possibility of growth. The translations of Madhus +and Aasen and Eggen have made notable contributions to this +development. They are worthy of all praise. Their weaknesses +are the result of conditions which time will change.</p> + + +<h2>J</h2> + +<p>One might be tempted to believe from the foregoing that the +propagandists of "Maalet" had completely monopolized the +noble task of making Shakespeare accessible in the vernacular. +And this is almost true. But the reason is not far to seek. Aside +from the fact that in Norway, as elsewhere, Shakespeare is read +mainly by cultivated people, among whom a sound reading knowledge +of English is general, we have further to remember that the +<ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Forsom'">Foersom</ins>-Lembcke +version has become standard in Norway and +no real need has been felt of a separate Norwegian version in +the dominant literary language. In Landsmaal the case is different. +This dialect must be trained to "Literaturfähigkeit." +It is not so much that Norway must have her own Shakespeare +<span class = "pagenum">44</span> +as that Landsmaal must be put to use in every type of literature. +The results of this missionary spirit we have seen.</p> + +<p>One of the few translations of Shakespeare that have been made +into Riksmaal appeared in 1912, <i>Hamlet</i>, by C.H. Blom. As an +experiment it is worthy of respect, but as a piece of literature it is +not to be taken seriously. Like Lassen's work, it is honest, +faithful, and utterly uninspired.</p> + +<p>The opening scene of <i>Hamlet</i> is no mean test of a translator's +ability—this quick, tense scene, one of the finest in dramatic +literature. Foersom did it with conspicuous success. Blom has +reduced it to the following prosy stuff:</p> + +<div class = "speaker"> +<ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Bernado'">Bernardo</ins>:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Hvem der? +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Francisco:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Nei, svar mig først; gjør holdt og sig hvem der! +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Ber:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Vor konge længe leve! +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Fra:</div> +<div class = "verse4"> +De, Bernardo? +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Ber:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Ja vel. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Fra:</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +De kommer jo paa klokkeslaget. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Ber:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Ja, den slog tolv nu. Gaa til ro, Francisco. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Fra:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Tak for De løser av. Her er saa surt, og jeg er dødsens træt. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Ber:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Har du hat rolig vagt? +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Fra:</div> +<div class = "verse4">En mus har ei</div> +<div class = "verse"> +sig rørt. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Ber:</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +Nu vel, god nat.<br> +Hvis du Marcellus og Horatio ser,<br> +som skal ha vakt med mig, bed dem sig skynde. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Fra:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Jeg hører dem vist nu. Holdt hoi! Hvem der.</div> +<div class = "verse3"> +(Horatio og Marcellus kommer.) +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Horatio:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Kun landets venner. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Marcellus:</div> +<div class = "verse3"> +Danekongens folk! +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Fra:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +God nat, sov godt! +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Mar:</div> +<div class = "verse3"> +Godnat, du bra soldat!</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Hvem har løst av? +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Fra:</div> +<div class = "verse3"> +Bernardo staar paa post.</div> +<div class = "verse"> +God nat igjen. (Gaar.) +</div> + +<p>It requires little knowledge of Norwegian to dismiss this as +dull and insipid prose, a part of which has accidentally been +turned into mechanical blank verse. Moreover, the work is +marked throughout by inconsistency and carelessness in details. +For instance the king begins (p. 7) by addressing Laertes:</p> + +<div class = "speech"> +Hvad melder <i>De</i> mig on <i>Dem</i> selv, Laertes? +</div> + +<p>and two lines below:</p> + +<div class = "speech"> +Hvad kan <i>du</i> be mig om? +</div> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">45</span> +It might be a mere slip that the translator in one line uses the +formal <i>De</i> and in another the familiar <i>du</i>, +but the same inconsistency +occurs again and again throughout the volume. In itself +a trifle, it indicates clearly enough the careless, slipshod manner +of work—and an utter lack of a sense of humor, for no one with +a spark of humor would use the modern, essentially German <i>De</i> +in a Norwegian translation of Shakespeare. If a formal form +must be used it should, as a matter of course, be <i>I</i>.</p> + +<p>Nor is the translation itself so accurate as it should be. For +example, what does it mean when Marcellus tells Bernardo that +he had implored Horatio "at vogte paa minutterne inat" (to +watch over the minutes this night)? Again, in the King's speech +to Hamlet (Act I, Sc. 2) the phrase "bend you to remain" is +rendered by the categorical "se til at bli herhjemme," which is +at least misleading. Little inaccuracies of this sort are not +infrequent.</p> + +<p>But, after all, a translator with a new variorum and a wealth +of critical material at hand cannot go far wrong in point of mere +translation. The chief indictment to be made against Blom's +translation is its prosiness, its prosy, involved sentences, its +banality. What in Shakespeare is easy and mellifluous often becomes +in Blom so vague that its meaning has to be discovered by a reference +to the original.</p> + +<p>We gave, some pages back, Ivar Aasen's translation of Hamlet's +soliloquy. The interesting thing about that translation is not +only that it is the first one in Norwegian but that it was made +into a new dialect by the creator of that dialect himself. When +we look back and consider what Aasen had to do—first, make a +literary medium, and then pour into the still rigid and inelastic +forms of that language the subtlest thinking of a great world +literature—we gain a new respect for his genius. Fifty years later +Blom tried his hand at the same soliloquy. He was working in +an old and tried literary medium—Dano-Norwegian. But he +was unequal to the task:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +At være eller ikke være, det<br> +problemet er: Om det er større av<br> +en sjæl at taale skjæbnens pil og slynge<br> +end ta til vaaben mot et hav av plager<br> +og ende dem i kamp? At dø,—at sove,<br> +ei mer; og tro, at ved en søvn vi ender<br> +<span class = "pagenum">46</span> +vor hjerteve og livets tusen støt,<br> +som kjød er arving til—det maal for livet<br> +maa ønskes inderlig. At dø,—at sove—<br> +at sove!—Kanske drømme! Der er knuten;<br> +for hvad i dødsens søvn vi monne drømme,<br> +naar livets lænke vi har viklet av,<br> +det holder os igjen; det er det hensyn,<br> +som gir vor jammer her saa langt et liv' etc. +</div> + + +<h2>K</h2> + +<p>Much more interesting than Blom's attempt, and much more +significant, is a translation and working over of <i>As You Like It</i> +which appeared in November of the same year. The circumstances +under which this translation were made are interesting. +Fru Johanne Dybwad, one of the "stars" at the National Theater +was completing her twenty-fifth year of service on the stage, and +the theater wished to commemorate the event in a manner worthy +of the actress. For the gala performance, Herman Wildenvey, +a poet of the young Norway, made a new translation and adaptation +of <i>As You Like It</i>.<a name = "tag1_38" +href = "#note1_38"><sup>I.38</sup></a> And no choice could have been more +felicitous. Fru Dybwad had scored her greatest success as Puck; +the life and sparkle and jollity of that mischievous wight seemed +like a poetic glorification of her own character. It might be expected, +then, that she would triumph in the rôle of Rosalind.</p> + +<p>Then came the problem of a stage version. A simple cutting +of Lembcke seemed inappropriate to this intensely modern +woman. There was danger, too, that Lembcke's faithful Danish +would hang heavy on the light and sparkling Norwegian. Herman +Wildenvey undertook to prepare an acting version that should +fit the actress and the occasion. The result is the text before us. +For the songs and intermissions, Johan Halvorsen, Kapelmester of +the theater, composed new music and the theater provided a +magnificent staging. The tremendous stage-success of Wildenvey's +<i>As You Like It</i> belongs rather to stage history, and for the +present we shall confine ourselves to the translation itself.</p> + +<p>First, what of the cutting? In a short introduction the translator +has given an apologia for his procedure. It is worth quoting +at some length. "To adapt a piece of literature is, as a rule, +<span class = "pagenum">47</span> +not especially commendable. And now, I who should be the last +to do it, have become the first in this country to attempt anything +of the sort with Shakespeare.</p> + +<p>"I will not defend myself by saying that most of Shakespeare's +plays require some sort of adaptation to the modern stage if they +are to be played at all. But, as a matter of fact, I have done little +adapting. I have dusted some of the speeches, maltreated others, +and finally cut out a few which would have sputtered out of the +mouths of the actors like fringes of an old tapestry. But, above +all, I have tried to reproduce the imperishable woodland spirit, +the fresh breath of out-of-doors which permeates this play."</p> + +<p>Wildenvey then states that in his cuttings he has followed the +edition of the British Empire Shakespeare Society. But the performance +in Kristiania has demanded more, "and my adaptation +could not be so wonderfully ideal. <i>As You Like It</i> is, probably +more than any other of Shakespeare's plays, a jest and only in part +a play. Through the title he has given his work, he has given me +the right to make my own arrangement which is accordingly, yours +truly <i>As You Like It</i>."</p> + +<p>But the most cursory examination will show that this is more +than a mere "cutting." In the first place, the five acts have been +cut to four and scenes widely separated, have often been brought +together. In this way unnecessary scene-shifts have been avoided. +But the action has been kept intact and only two characters have +been eliminated: Jacques de Bois, whose speeches have been given +to Le Beau, and Hymen, whose rôle has been given to Celia. Two +or three speeches have been shifted. But to a reader unacquainted +with Shakespeare all this would pass unnoticed, as would also, +doubtless, the serious cutting and the free translation.</p> + +<p>A brief sketch of Wildenvey's arrangement will be of service.</p> + +<div class = "mynote"> +Transcriber's note:<br> +The summary is given here exactly as it appears in the Ruud text. +Note in particular Wildenvey's I, 2, and Shakespeare's II, 1. +</div> + +<table> +<tr> +<td>Act I, Sc. 1.</td> +<td> +An open place on the road to Sir Oliver's house.<br> +The scene opens with a short, exceedingly free rendering of Orlando's +speech and runs on to the end of Scene 1 in Shakespeare. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Act I, Sc. 2.</td> +<td> +Outside of Duke Frederik's Palace.<br> +Begins with I, 2 and goes to I, 3. Then follows without +change of scene, I, 3. and, following that, 1, 3. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Act II</td> +<td> +In Wildenvey this is all one scene.<br> +Opens with a rhapsodical conversation between the +<span class = "pagenum">48</span> +banished duke and Amiens on the glories of nature and +the joys of out-door life. It is fully in Shakespeare's +tone, but Wildenvey's own invention. After this +the scene continues with II, 1. The first lord's +speech in Wildenvey, however, is merely a free +adaptation of the original, and the later speech of +the first lord, describing Jacques' reveries on the +hunt, is put into the mouth of Jacques himself. +A few entirely new speeches follow and the company +goes out upon the hunt.<br> +There is then a slight pause, but no scene division, +and Shakespeare's II, 4 follows. This is succeeded +again without a break, by II, 5, II, 6, and II, 7 (the +opening of II, 7 to the entrance of Jacques, is +omitted altogether) to the end of the act. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Act III.</td> +<td> +This act has two scenes.<br> +Sc. 1. In Duke Frederik's palace. It opens with II, I and then +follows III, 1.<br> +Sc. 2. In the Forest of Arden. Evening.<br> +Begins with III, 2. Then follows III, 4, III, 5, IV, 1. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Act IV.</td> +<td> +Wildenvey's last act (IV) opens with Shakespeare's IV, 2 and +continues: IV, 3, V, 1, V, 2, V, 3, V, 4. +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>A study of this scheme shows that Wildenvey has done no +great violence to the fable nor to the characters. His shifts and +changes are sensible enough. In the treatment of the text, however, +he has had no scruples. Shakespeare is mercilessly cut +and mangled.</p> + +<p>The ways in which this is done are many. A favorite device +is to break up long speeches into dialogue. To make this possible +he has to put speeches of his own invention into the mouths of +other characters. The opening of the play gives an excellent +illustration. In Wildenvey we read:</p> + +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Orlando:</span> +(kommer ind med tjeneren Adam)<br> +Nu kan du likesaa godt faa vite hvordan alle mine bedrøveligheter +begynder, Adam! Min salig far testamenterte mig nogen fattige +tusen kroner og paala uttrykkelig min bror at gi mig en standsmæssig +opdragelse. Men se hvordan han opfylder sin broderpligt mot +<span class = "pagenum">49</span> +mig! Han lar min bror Jacques studere, og rygtet melder om hans +store fremgang. Men mig underholder han hjemme, det vil si, han +holder mig hjemme uten at underholde mig. For man kan da vel +ikke kalde det at underholde en adelsmand som ellers regnes for at +staldfore en okse! +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Adam:</span> +Det er synd om Eder, herre, I som er min gamle herres bedste søn! +Men jeg tjener Eders bror, og er alene tjener... +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Orl:</span> +Her hos ham har jeg ikke kunnet lægge mig til noget andet end +vækst, og det kan jeg være ham likesaa forbunden for som hans +husdyr hist og her. Formodentlig er det det jeg har arvet av min +fars aand som gjør oprør mot denne behandling. Jeg har ingen +utsigt til nogen forandring til det bedre, men hvad der end hænder, +vil jeg ikke taale det længer. +</div> + +<p>Orlando's speech, we see, has been broken up into two, and between the +two new speeches has been interpolated a speech by Adam which does not +occur in the original. The same trick is resorted to repeatedly. Note, +for instance, Jacques first speech on the deer (Act II, 7) and +Oliver's long speech in IV, 3. The purpose of this is plain +enough—to enliven the dialogue and speed up the action. Whether or +not it is a legitimate way of handling Shakespeare is another matter.</p> + +<p>More serious than this is Wildenvey's trick of adding whole +series of speeches. We have noted in our survey of the "bearbeidelse" +that the second act opens with a dialogue between the +Duke and Amiens which is a gratuitous addition of Wildenvey's. +It is suggested by the original, but departs from it radically both in +form and content.</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +<ins class = "correction" title = "format as in original">Den +Landflygtige Hertug</ins> (kommer ut fra en grotte i skogen)<br> +Vær hilset, dag, som lægges til de andre<br> +av mine mange motgangs dage.<br> +Vær hilset nu, naar solen atter stempler<br> +sit gyldne segl paa jordens stolte pande.<br> +Vær hilset, morgen, med din nye rigdom,<br> +med dug og duft fra alle trær og blomster.<br> +Glade, blanke fugleøines perler<br> +blinker alt av sol som duggens draaper,<br> +hilser mig som herre og som ven. (En fugl flyver op over hans hode.)<br> +Ei, lille sangerskjelm, godt ord igjen? +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Amiens:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +(hertugens ven, kommer likeledes ut av hulen).<br> +Godmorgen, ven og broder i eksilet. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Hertugen:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Godmorgen, Amiens, du glade sanger!<br> +Du er vel enig i at slik en morgen<br> +i skogen her med al dens liv og lek<br> +<span class = "pagenum">50</span> +er fuld erstatning for den pragt vi tapte,<br> +ja mer end hoffets smigergyldne falskhet? +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Amiens:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Det ligner litt paa selve Edens have,<br> +og trær og dyr og andre forekomster<br> +betragter os som Adamer, kanhænde. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Hertugen:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Din spøg er vel en saadan sanger værd.<br> +Du mener med at her er alting herlig,<br> +sommer, vinter, vaar og høsttid veksler.<br> +Solen skinner, vind og veiret driver.<br> +Vinterblaasten blaaser op og biter<br> +og fortæller uden sminket smiger<br> +hvem vi er, og hvor vi os befinder.<br> +Ja, livet her er ei ly for verdens ondskap,<br> +er stolt og frit og fuldt av rike glæder:<br> +hver graasten synes god og kirkeklok,<br> +hvert redetræ er jo en sangers slot,<br> +og alt er skjønt, og alt er saare godt. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Amiens:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Du er en godt benaadet oversætter,<br> +naar du kan tolke skjæbnens harske talesæt<br> +i slike sterke, stemningsfulde ord... +</div> +<div class = "verse"> +(En hofmand, derefter Jacques og tjenere kommer.) +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Hertugen:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Godmorgen, venner—vel, saa skal vi jage<br> +paa vildtet her, de vakre, dumme borgere<br> +av denne øde og forlate stad... +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Jacques:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Det er synd at søndre deres vakre lemmer<br> +med pile-odd. +</div> +<div class = "speaker">Amiens:</div> +<div class = "verse3"> +Det samme sier du altid,</div> +<div class = "verse"> +du er for melankolsk og bitter, Jacques. +</div> + +<p>A careful comparison of the translation with the original will reveal +certain verbal resemblances, <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'notaby'">notably</ins> in the duke's speech:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Din spøk er vel en saadan sanger værd, etc. +</div> + +<p>But, even allowing for that, it is a rephrasing rather than a +translation. The stage action, too, is changed. Notice that Jacques +appears in the scene, and that in the episode immediately following, +the second part of the first lord's speech is put into Jacques' +mouth. In other words, he is made to caricature himself!</p> + +<p>This is Wildenvey's attitude throughout. To take still another +example. Act IV, 2 begins in the English with a brief dialogue in +prose between Jacques and the two lords. In Wildenvey this is +changed to a rhymed dialogue in iambic tetrameters between +Jacques and Amiens. In like manner, the blank verse dialogue +between Silvius and Phebe (Silvius <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'anid'">and</ins> Pippa) is in Norwegian +<span class = "pagenum">51</span> +rendered, or rather paraphrased, in iambic verse rhyming regularly +abab.</p> + +<p>Occasionally meanings are read into the play which not only +do not belong in Shakespeare but which are ridiculously out of +place. As an illustration, note the dialogue between Orlando and +Rosalind in <ins class = "correction" +title = "so in original">II, 2</ins> +(Original, III, 2). Orlando remarks: "Your +accent is something finer than could be purchased in so remote a +dwelling." Wildenvey renders this: "Eders sprog er mer elevert +end man skulde vente i disse vilde trakter. De taler ikke Landsmaal." +Probably no one would be deceived by this gratuitous +satire on the Landsmaal, but, obviously, it has no place in what +pretends to be a translation. The one justification for it is that +Shakespeare himself could not have resisted so neat a word-play.</p> + +<p>Wildenvey's version, therefore, can only be characterized +as needlessly free. For the text as such he has absolutely no +regard. But for the fact that he has kept the fable and, for the +most part, the characters, intact, we should characterize it as a +belated specimen of Sille Beyer's notorious Shakespeare "bearbeidelser" +in Denmark. But Wildenvey does not take Sille +Beyer's liberties with the dramatis personae and he has, moreover, +what she utterly lacked—poetic genius.</p> + +<p>For that is the redeeming feature of <i>Livet i Skogen</i>—it +does not translate Shakespeare but it makes him live. The delighted +audience which sat night after night in Christiania and +Copenhagen and drank in the loveliness of Wildenvey's verse and +Halvorsen's music cared little whether the lines that came over +the footlights were philologically an accurate translation or not. +They were enchanted by Norwegian verse and moved to unfeigned +delight by the cleverness of the prose. If Wildenvey did not succeed in +translating <i>As You Like It</i>—one cannot believe that he ever +intended to,—he did succeed in reproducing something of "its +imperishable woodland spirit, its fresh breath of out-of-doors."</p> + +<p>We have already quoted the opening of Act II. It is not +Shakespeare but it is good poetry in itself. And the immortal +scene between Touchstone and Corin in III, 2 (Shak. III, 2), in +which Touchstone clearly proves that the shepherd is damned, is +a capital piece of work. The following fragment must serve as +an example:</p> + +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Touchstone:</span> +Har du været ved hoffet, hyrde? +</div> +<span class = "pagenum">52</span> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Korin:</span> +Visselig ikke. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Touch:</span> +Da er du evig fordømt. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Korin:</span> +Det haaber jeg da ikke. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Touch:</span> +Visselig, da er du fordømt som en sviske. +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Korin:</span> +Fordi jeg ikke har været ved hoffet? Hvad mener I? +</div> +<div class = "speech"> +<span class = "prosespkr">Touch:</span> +Hvis du ikke har været ved hoffet, saa har du aldrig set gode +seder, og hvis du ikke har set gode seder, saa maa dine seder +være slette, og slette seder er synd, og syndens sold er død og +fordømmelse. Du er i en betænkelig tilstand, hyrde! +</div> + +<p>And the mocking verses all rhyming in <i>in-ind</i> in III, 3 +(Shak. III, 2): "From the East to western Ind," etc., are given with +marvelous cleverness:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Fra øst til vest er ei at finde<br> +en ædelsten som Rosalinde.<br> +Al verden om paa alle vinde<br> +skal rygtet gaa om Rosalinde.<br> +Hvor har en maler nogensinde<br> +et kunstverk skapt som Rosalinde?<br> +Al anden deilighet maa svinde<br> +av tanken bort—for Rosalinde. +</div> + +<p>Or Touchstone's parody:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Hjorten skriker efter hinde,<br> +skrik da efter Rosalinde,<br> +kat vil katte gjerne finde,<br> +hvem vil finde Rosalinde.<br> +Vinterklær er tit for tynde,<br> +det er ogsaa Rosalinde.<br> +Nøtten søt har surhamshinde,<br> +slik en nøtt er Rosalinde.<br> +Den som ros' med torn vil finde,<br> +finder den—og Rosalinde. +</div> + +<p>With even greater felicity Wildenvey has rendered the songs +of the play. His verses are not, in any strict sense, translations, +but they have a life and movement which, perhaps, interpret the +original more fully than any translation could interpret it. What +freshness and sparkle in "Under the Greenwood Tree!" I give +only the first stanza:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Under de grønne trær<br> +hvem vil mig møte der?<br> +Hvem vil en tone slaa<br> +frit mot det blide blaa?<br> +Kom hit og herhen, hit og herhen,<br> +<span class = "pagenum">53</span> +kom, kjære ven,</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +her skal du se,<br> +trær skal du se,</div> +<div class = "verse"> +sommer og herlig veir skal du se. +</div> + +<p>Or what could be better than the exhilirating text of "Blow, blow, +thou winter wind," as Wildenvey has given it? Again only the first +stanza:</p> + +<div class = "verse2"> +Blaas, blaas du barske vind,<br> +troløse venners sind<br> +synes os mere raa.<br> +Bar du dig end saa sint,<br> +bet du dog ei saa blindt,<br> +pustet du ogsaa paa.</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Heiho! Syng heiho! i vor skog under løvet.<br> +Alt venskap er vammelt, al elskov er tøvet,</div> +<div class = "verse2"> +men her under løvet<br> +er ingen bedrøvet. +</div> + +<p><i>Livet i Skogen</i>, then, must not be read as a translation of +<i>As You Like It</i>, but is immensely worth reading for its own sake. +Schiller recast and rewrote <i>Macbeth</i> in somewhat the same way, +but Schiller's <i>Macbeth</i>, condemned by its absurd porter-scene, is +today nothing more than a literary curiosity. I firmly believe +that Wildenvey's "bearbeidelse" deserves a better fate. It gave +new life to the Shakespeare tradition on the Norwegian stage, +and is in itself, a genuine contribution to the literature of Norway.</p> + + +<h3>SUMMARY</h3> + +<p>If we look over the field of Norwegian translation of Shakespeare, +the impression we get is not one to inspire awe. The +translations are neither numerous nor important. There is +nothing to be compared with the German of Tieck and Schlegel +the Danish of Foersom, or the Swedish of Hagberg.</p> + +<p>But the reason is obvious. Down to 1814 Norway was politically +and culturally a dependency of Denmark. Copenhagen was +the seat of government, of literature, and of polite life. To +Copenhagen cultivated Norwegians looked for their models and +their ideals. When Shakespeare made his first appearance in +the Danish literary world—Denmark and Norway—it was, of +course, in pure Danish garb. Boye, Rosenfeldt, and Foersom +gave to their contemporaries more or less satisfactory translations +of Shakespeare, and Norwegians were content to accept the Danish +<span class = "pagenum">54</span> +versions. In one or two instances they made experiments of their +own. An unknown man of letters translated a scene from <i>Julius +Caesar</i> in 1782, and in 1818 appeared a translation of +<i>Coriolanus</i>. +But there is little that is typically Norwegian about either of +these—a word or a phrase here and there. For the rest, they are +written in pure Danish, and but for the title-page, no one could tell +whether they were published in Copenhagen or Christiania and +Trondhjem.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Foersom had begun his admirable Danish +translations, and the work stopped in Norway. The building +of a nation and literary interests of another character absorbed +the attention of the cultivated world. Hauge's translation of +<i>Macbeth</i> is not significant, nor are those of Lassen thirty years +later. A scholar could, of course, easily show that they are Norwegian, +but that is all. They never succeeded in displacing Foersom-Lembcke.</p> + +<p>More important are the Landsmaal translations beginning +with Ivar Aasen's in 1853. They are interesting because they +mark one of the most important events in modern Norwegian +culture—the language struggle. Ivar Aasen set out to demonstrate +that "maalet" could be used in literature of every sort, and the +same purpose, though in greatly tempered form, is to be detected +in every Landsmaal translation since. Certainly in their outward +aim they have succeeded. And, despite the handicap of +working in a language new, rough, and untried, they have given +to their countrymen translations of parts of Shakespeare which are, +at least, as good as those in "Riksmaal."</p> + +<p>Herman Wildenvey stands alone. His work is neither a translation +nor a mere paraphrase; it is a reformulating of Shakespeare +into a new work of art. He has accomplished a feat worth performing, +but it cannot be called translating Shakespeare. It must +be judged as an independent work.</p> + +<p><p>Whether Norway is always to go to Denmark for her standard +Shakespeare, or whether she is to have one of her own is, as yet, +a question impossible to answer. A pure Landsmaal translation +cannot satisfy, and many Norwegians refuse to recognize +the Riksmaal as Norwegian at all. In the far, impenetrable +future the language question may settle itself, and when that +happy day comes, but not before, we may look with some confidence +for a "standard" Shakespeare in a literary garb which all Norwegians +will recognize as their own.</p> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_1" href = "#tag1_1">I.1.</a> +It has been thought best to give +such citations for the most part in translation. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_2" href = "#tag1_2">I.2.</a> +<i>Julius Caesar</i>. III, 2. 268-70. Variorum Edition Furness. +Phila. 1913. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_3" href = "#tag1_3">I.3.</a> +Rønning—<i>Rationalismens Tidsalder</i>. 11-95. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_4" href = "#tag1_4">I.4.</a> +Ewald—<i>Levnet og meninger</i>. Ed. Bobe. Kbhn. 1911, p. 166. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_5" href = "#tag1_5">I.5.</a> +<i>Ibid.</i> II, 234-235. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_6" href = "#tag1_6">I.6.</a> +<i>William Shakespeares Tragiske Værker—Første Deel.</i> Khbn. +1807. Notes at the back of the volume. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_7" href = "#tag1_7">I.7.</a>* +By way of background, a bare enumeration of the early Danish +translations of Shakespeare is here given. +<table> +<tr> +<td>1777.</td> +<td> +<i>Hamlet</i>. Translated by Johannes Boye. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1790.</td> +<td> +<i>Macbeth</i>. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt.<br> +<i>Othello</i>. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt.<br> +<i>All's Well that Ends Well</i>. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1792.</td> +<td> +<i>King Lear</i>. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt.<br> +<i>Cymbeline</i>. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt.<br> +<i>The Merchant of Venice</i>. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1794.</td> +<td> +<i>King Lear</i>. Nahum Tate's stage version. Translated by Hans Wilhelm +Riber. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1796.</td> +<td> +<i>Two Speeches.</i>—To be or not to be—<i>(Hamlet.)</i><br> + Is this a dagger—<i>(Macbeth.)</i><br> + Translated by Malthe Conrad Brun in <i>Svada</i>. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1800.</td> +<td> +Act III, Sc. 2 of <i>Julius Caesar</i>. +Translated by Knut Lyhne Rahbek in <i>Minerva</i>. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1801.</td> +<td> +<i>Macbeth</i>. Translated by Levin Sander and K.L. Rahbek. +Not published till 1804. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1804.</td> +<td> +Act V of <i>Julius Caesar</i>. +Translated by P.F. Foersom in <i>Minerva</i>. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1805.</td> +<td> +Act IV Sc. 3 of <i>Love's Labour Lost</i>. +Translated by P.F. Foersom in <i>Nytaarsgave for Skuespilyndere.</i> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1807.</td> +<td> +Hamlet's speech to the players. Translated by P.F. Foersom in +<i>Nytaarsgave for Skuespilyndere</i>. +</td> +</tr> +</table> +It may be added that in 1807 appeared the first volume of Foersom's +translation of Shakespeare's tragedies, and after 1807 the history of +Shakespeare in <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Denkmark'">Denmark</ins> is more +complicated. With these matters I shall deal at length in another study. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_8" href = "#tag1_8">I.8.</a> +<i>Coriolanus, efter Shakespeare</i>. Christiania. 1818. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_9" href = "#tag1_9">I.9.</a> +The first Danish translation of Coriolanus +by P.F. Wulff appeared in 1819. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_10" href = "#tag1_10">I.10.</a> +<i>Coriolanus</i>—Malone's ed. London. 1790. Vol. 7, pp. 148 ff. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_11" href = "#tag1_11">I.11.</a> +<i>Illustreret Nyhedsblad</i>—1865, p. 96. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_12" href = "#tag1_12">I.12.</a> +<i>Macbeth—Tragedie i fem Akter af William Shakespeare</i>. +Oversat og fortolket af N. Hauge. Christiania. 1855. Johan Dahl. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_13" href = "#tag1_13">I.13.</a> +This is, of course, incorrect. Cf. Macbeth, Variorum Edition. +Ed. Furness. Phila. 1903, p. 40. Note. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_14" href = "#tag1_14">I.14.</a> +Ivar Aasen—<i>Skrifter i Samling</i>—Christiania. +1911, Vol. 11, p. 165. Reprinted from <i>Prøver af Landsmaalet i Norge, +Første Udgave</i>. Kristiania. 1853, p. 114. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_15" href = "#tag1_15">I.15.</a> +Ivar Aasen: <i>Skrifter i Samling</i>. Christiania. 1911, Vol. I, p. 166. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_16" href = "#tag1_16">I.16.</a> +<i>Skrifter i Samling</i>, I, 168. Kristiania. 1911. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_17" href = "#tag1_17">I.17.</a> +Cf. Alf Torp. <i>Samtiden</i>, XIX (1908), p. 483. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_18" href = "#tag1_18">I.18.</a> +"Ein Sonett etter William Shakespeare." <i>Fram</i>—1872. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_19" href = "#tag1_19">I.19.</a> +<i>Kjøbmanden i Venedig</i>—Et Skuespil af William Shakespeare. +Oversat af Hartvig Lassen. Udgivet af Selskabet for Folkeoplysningens +Fremme som andet Tillægshefte til <i>Folkevennen</i> for 1881. +Kristiania, 1881. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_20" href = "#tag1_20">I.20.</a> +<i>Julius Caesar</i>. Et Skuespil af William Shakespeare. Oversat af +Hartvig Lassen. Udgivet af Selskabet for Folkeoplysningens Fremme som +første Tillægshefte til <i>Folkevennen</i> for 1882. Kristiania, 1882. +Grøndal +og Søn. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_21" href = "#tag1_21">I.21.</a> +<i>Macbeth</i>. Tragedie af William Shakespeare. Oversat af H. Lassen. +Udgivet af Selskabet for Folkeoplysningens Fremme som andet Tillægshefte +til <i>Folkevennen</i> for 1883. Kristiania. Grøndal og Søn. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_22" href = "#tag1_22">I.22.</a> +<i>The Merchant of Venice</i>. Med Indledning og Anmærkninger ved +Christen Collin. Kristiania. 1902. (This, of course, does not include the +translations of the sonnets referred to below.) +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_23" href = "#tag1_23">I.23.</a> +I have seen these translations in the typewritten copies +which Professor Collin distributed among his students. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_24" href = "#tag1_24">I.24.</a> +Collin, <i>op. cit.</i>, <i>Indledning</i>, XII. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_25" href = "#tag1_25">I.25.</a> +Collin, <i>op. cit.</i>, <i>Indledning</i>, XXVI. (<i>M. of V.</i>, 1-3) +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_26" href = "#tag1_26">I.26.</a> +Collin, <i>op. cit.</i>, <i>Indledning</i>, XXV. <i>Macbeth</i> II, 1. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_27" href = "#tag1_27">I.27.</a> +William Shakespeare: <i>Macbeth</i>. I norsk Umskrift ved Olav Madhus. +Kristiania. 1901. H. Aschehoug & Co. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_28" href = "#tag1_28">I.28.</a> +William Shakespeare—<i>Kaupmannen i Venetia</i>. +Paa Norsk ved Olav Madhus. Oslo. 1905. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_29" href = "#tag1_29">I.29.</a> +Bjørnson: <i>Vort Sprog</i>. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_30" href = "#tag1_30">I.30.</a> +Torp. <i>Samtiden</i>, Vol. XIX (1908), p. 408. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_31" href = "#tag1_31">I.31.</a> +<i>Vor Literatur</i>. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_32" href = "#tag1_32">I.32.</a> +<i>Soga um Kaupmannen i Venetia</i>. Oslo, 1905. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_33" href = "#tag1_33">I.33.</a> +<i>Alveliv. Eller Shakespeare's Midsumarnatt Draum</i> ved Erik Eggen. +<i>Syn og Segn</i>, 1903. No. 3-6, pp. (105-114); 248-259. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_34" href = "#tag1_34">I.34.</a> +The translator explains in a note the pun in the original. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_35" href = "#tag1_35">I.35.</a> +Act II, Sc. 2. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_36" href = "#tag1_36">I.36.</a> +William Shakespeare—<i>Jonsok Draumen</i>—Eit Gamenspel. +Paa Norsk ved Erik Eggen. Oslo, 1912. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_37" href = "#tag1_37">I.37.</a> +Act II, Sc. 2. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note1_38" href = "#tag1_38">I.38.</a> +<i>As You Like It</i>, eller <i>Livet i Skogen</i>. Dramatisk Skuespil +av William Shakespeare. Oversat og bearbeidet for Nationaltheatret av +Herman Wildenvey. Kristiania og København. 1912. +</div> + +<hr> +<span class = "pagenum">55</span> +<a name = "chap_ii"> </a><br> +<h1>CHAPTER II</h1> + +<h2>Shakespeare Criticism in Norway</h2> + +<p>The history of Shakespearean translation in Norway cannot, +by any stretch of the imagination, be called distinguished. It is +not, however, wholly lacking in interesting details. In like manner +the history of Shakespearean criticism, though it contains no +great names and no fascinating chapters, is not wholly without +appeal and significance. We shall, then, in the following, consider +this division of our subject.</p> + +<p>Our first bit of Shakespearean criticism is the little introductory +note which the anonymous translator of the scenes from +<i>Julius Caesar</i> put at the head of his translation in <i>Trondhjems +Allehaande</i> for October 23, 1782. And even this is a mere statement +that the passage in the original "may be regarded as a masterpiece," +and that the writer purposes to render not merely +Antony's eloquent appeal but also the interspersed ejaculations +of the crowd, "since these, too, are evidence of Shakespeare's +understanding of the human soul and of his realization of the +manner in which the oration gradually brought about the result +toward which Antony aimed."</p> + +<p>This is not profound criticism, to be sure, but it shows clearly +that this litterateur in far-away Trondhjem had a definite, if not +a very new and original, estimate of Shakespeare. It is significant +that there is no hint of apology, of that tone which is so +common in Shakespearean criticism of the day—Shakespeare was a +great poet, but his genius was wild and untamed. This unknown +Norwegian, apparently, had been struck only by the verity of +the scene, and in that simplicity showed himself a better critic +of Shakespeare than many more famous men. Whoever he was, +his name is lost to us now. He deserves better than to be forgotten, +but it seems that he was forgotten very early. Foersom +refers to him casually, as we have seen, but Rahbek does not mention +him.<a name = "tag2_1" href = "#note2_1"><sup>II.1</sup></a> +Many years later Paul Botten Hansen, one of the +best equipped bookmen that Norway has produced, wrote a +brief review of Lembcke's translation. In the course of this he +<span class = "pagenum">56</span> +enumerates the Dano-Norwegian translations known to him. +There is not a word about his countryman in +Trondhjem.<a name = "tag2_2" href = "#note2_2"><sup>II.2</sup></a></p> + +<p>After this solitary landmark, a long time passed before we again find +evidence of Shakespearean studies in Norway. The isolated translation of +<i>Coriolanus</i> from 1818 shows us that Shakespeare +was read, carefully and critically read, but no one turned +his attention to criticism or scholarly investigation. Indeed, I +have searched Norwegian periodical literature in vain for any +allusion to Shakespeare between 1782 and 1827. Finally, in +the latter year <i>Den Norske Husven</i> adorns its title-page with a +motto from Shakespeare. <i>Christiania Aftenbladet</i> for July 19, +1828, reprints Carl Bagger's clever poem on Shakespeare's reputed +love-affair with "Fanny," an adventure which got him into +trouble and gave rise to the bon-mot, "William the Conqueror +ruled before Richard III." The poem was reprinted from <i>Kjöbenhavns +Flyvende Post</i> (1828); we shall speak of it again in +connection with our study of Shakespeare in Denmark.</p> + +<p>After this there is another break. Not even a reference to +Shakespeare occurs in the hundreds of periodicals I have examined, +until the long silence is broken by a short, fourth-hand article +on Shakespeare's life in <i>Skilling Magazinet</i> for Sept. 23, 1843. +The same magazine gives a similar popular account in its issue for +Sept. 4, 1844. Indeed, several such articles and sketches may +be found in popular periodicals of the years following.</p> + +<p>In 1855, however, appeared Niels Hauge's afore mentioned +translation of <i>Macbeth</i>, and shortly afterward Professor Monrad, +who, according to Hauge himself, had at least given him valuable +counsel in his work, wrote a review in <i>Nordisk Tidsskrift for +Videnskab og Literatur</i>.<a name = "tag2_3" +href = "#note2_3"><sup>II.3</sup></a> +Monrad was a pedant, stiff and inflexible, +but he was a man of good sense, and when he was dealing +with acknowledged masterpieces he could be depended upon to +say the conventional things well.</p> + +<p>He begins by saying that if any author deserves translation +it is Shakespeare, for in him the whole poetic, romantic ideal of +Protestantism finds expression. He is the Luther of poetry, +though between Luther and Shakespeare there is all the difference +between religious zeal and the quiet contemplation of the beautiful. +<span class = "pagenum">57</span> +Both belong to the whole world, Shakespeare because his characters, +humor, art, reflections, are universal in their validity and +their appeal. Wherever he is read he becomes the spokesman +against narrowness, dogmatism, and intolerance. To translate +Shakespeare, he points out, is difficult because of the archaic +language, the obscure allusions, and the intense originality of +the expression. Shakespeare, indeed, is as much the creator as +the user of his mother-tongue. The one translation of <i>Macbeth</i> +in existence, Foersom's, is good, but it is only in part Shakespeare, +and the times require something more adequate and "something +more distinctly our own." Monrad feels that this should not +be altogether impossible "when we consider the intimate relations +between England and Norway, and the further coincidence that +the Norwegian language today is in the same state of flux and +transition, as was Elizabethan English." All translations at +present, he continues, can be but experiments, and should aim +primarily at a faithful rendering of the text. Monrad calls attention +to the fact—in which he was, of course, mistaken—that this +is the first translation of the original <i>Macbeth</i> into +Dano-Norwegian or into Danish. It is a work of undoubted merit, though +here and there a little stiff and hazy, "but Shakespeare is not easily +clarified." The humorous passages, thinks the reviewer, are a +severe test of a translator's powers and this test Hauge has met +with conspicuous success. Also he has <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'aquitted'">acquitted</ins> himself well in +the difficult matter of putting Shakespeare's meter into Norwegian.</p> + +<p>The last two pages are taken up with a detailed study of +single passages. The only serious error Monrad has noticed is +the following: In Act II, 3 one of the murderers calls out "A +light! A light!" Regarding this passage Monrad remarks: "It is +certainly a mistake to have the second murderer call out, "Bring +a light here!" (Lys hid!) The murderer does not demand a light, +but he detects a shimmer from Banquo's approaching torch." +The rest of the section is devoted to mere trifles.</p> + +<p>This is the sort of review which we should expect from an +intelligent and well-informed man. Monrad was not a scholar, +nor even a man of delicate and penetrating reactions. But he +had sound sense and perfect self-assurance, which made him something +of a Samuel Johnson in the little provincial Kristiania of +his day. At any rate, he was the only one who took the trouble +<span class = "pagenum">58</span> +to review Hauge's translation, and even he was doubtless led +to the task because of his personal interest in the translator. +If we may judge from the stir it made in periodical literature, +<i>Macbeth</i> fell dead from the press.</p> + +<p>The tercentenary of Shakespeare's birth (1864) aroused a +certain interest in Norway, and little notes and articles are not +infrequent in the newspapers and periodicals about that time. +<i>Illustreret Nyhedsblad</i><a name = "tag2_4" +href = "#note2_4"><sup>II.4</sup></a> has a short, +popular article on Stratford-on-Avon. +It contains the usual Shakespeare apocrypha—the Sir +Thomas Lucy story, the story of the apple tree under which +Shakespeare and his companions slept off the effects of too much +Bedford ale—and all the rest of it. It makes no pretense of +being anything but an interesting hodge-podge for popular consumption. +The next year, 1864, the same periodical +published<a name = "tag2_5" href = "#note2_5"><sup>II.5</sup></a> +on the traditional day of Shakespeare's birth a rather long and +suggestive article on the English drama before Shakespeare. If this +article had been original, it might have had a certain significance, +but, unfortunately, it is taken from the German of Bodenstedt. +The only significant thing about it is the line following +the title: "Til Erindring paa Trehundredsaarsdagen efter Shakespeares +Födsel, d. 23 April, 1563."</p> + +<p>More interesting than this, however, are the verses written +by the then highly esteemed poet, Andreas Munch, and published +in his own magazine, <i>For Hjemmet</i>,<a name = "tag2_6" +href = "#note2_6"><sup>II.6</sup></a> in April, 1864. Munch rarely +rises above mediocrity and his tribute to the bard of Avon is +the very essence of it. He begins:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +I disse Dage gaar et vældigt Navn<br> +Fra Mund til Mund, fra Kyst til Kyst rundt Jorden—<br> +Det straaler festligt over fjernest Havn,<br> +Og klinger selv igjennem Krigens Torden,<br> +Det slutter alle Folk i Aandens Favn,<br> +Og er et Eenheds Tegn i Striden vorden—<br> +I Stjerneskrift det staaer paa Tidens Bue,<br> +Og leder Slægterne med Hjertelue. +</div> + +<p>and, after four more stanzas, he concludes:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Hos os har ingen ydre Fest betegnet<br> +Vort Folks Tribut til denne store Mand.<br> +<span class = "pagenum">59</span> +Er vi af Hav og Fjelde saa omhegnet,<br> +At ei hans Straaler trænge til os kan?<br> +Nei,—Nordisk var hans Aand og netop egnet<br> +Til at opfattes af vort Norden-Land,<br> +Og mer maaske end selv vi tro og tænke,<br> +Har Shakespeare brudt for os en fremmed Lænke. +</div> + +<p>One has a feeling that Munch awoke one morning, discovered +from his calendar that Shakespeare's birthday was approaching, +and ground out this poem to fill space in <i>Hjemmet</i>. But his +intentions are good. No one can quarrel with the content. And +when all is said, he probably expressed, with a fair degree of +accuracy, the feeling of his time. It remains but to note a detail +or two. First, that the poet, even in dealing with Shakespeare, +found it necessary to draw upon the prevailing "Skandinavisme" +and label Shakespeare "Nordisk"; second, the accidental truth +of the closing couplet. If we could interpret this as referring to +Wergeland, who <i>did</i> break the chains of foreign bondage, and gave +Norway a place in the literature of the world, we should have the +first reference to an interesting fact in Norwegian literary history. +But doubtless we have no right to credit Munch with any such +acumen. The couplet was put into the poem merely because it +sounded well.</p> + +<p>More important than this effusion of bad verse from the +poet of fashion was a little article which Paul Botten Hansen +wrote in <i>Illustreret Nyhedsblad</i><a name = "tag2_7" +href = "#note2_7"><sup>II.7</sup></a> +in 1865. Botten Hansen had a +fine literary appreciation and a profound knowledge of books. +The effort, therefore, to give Denmark and Norway a complete +translation of Shakespeare was sure to meet with his sympathy. +In 1861 Lembcke began his revision of Foersom's work, and, +although it must have come up to Norway from Copenhagen almost +immediately, no allusion to it is found in periodical literature +till Botten Hansen wrote his review of Part (Hefte) XI. This +part contains <i>King John</i>. The reviewer, however, does not enter +upon any criticism of the play or of the translation; he gives +merely a short account of Shakespearean translation in the two +countries before Lembcke. Apparently the notice is written +without special research, for it is far from complete, but it gives, +at any rate, the best outline of the subject which we have had up +to the present. Save for a few lines of praise for Foersom and a +<span class = "pagenum">60</span> +word for Hauge, "who gave the first accurate translation of this +masterpiece (<i>Macbeth</i>) of which Dano-Norwegian literature can +boast before 1861," the review is simply a loosely connected +string of titles. Toward the close Botten Hansen writes: "When +to these plays (the standard Danish translations) we add (certain +others, which are given), we believe that we have enumerated all +the Danish translations of Shakespeare." This investigation +has shown, however, that there are serious gaps in the list. Botten +Hansen calls Foersom's the first Danish translation of Shakespeare. +It is curious that he should have overlooked Johannes Boye's +<i>Hamlet</i> of 1777, or Rosenfeldt's translation of six plays +(1790-1792). It is less strange that he did not know Sander and Rahbek's +translation of the unaltered <i>Macbeth</i> of 1801—which preceded +Hauge by half a century—for this was buried in Sander's lectures. +Nor is he greatly to be blamed for his ignorance of the +numerous Shakespearean fragments which the student may find +tucked away in Danish reviews, from M.C. Brun's <i>Svada</i> (1796) +and on. Botten Hansen took his task very lightly. If he had +read Foersom's notes to his translation he would have found a +clue of interest to him as a Norwegian. For Foersom specifically +refers to a translation of a scene from <i>Julius Caesar</i> in +<i>Trondhjems Allehaande</i>.</p> + +<p>Lembcke's revision, which is the occasion of the article, is +greeted with approval and encouragement. There is no need +for Norwegians to go about preparing an independent translation. +Quite the contrary. The article closes: "Whether or not Lembcke +has the strength and endurance for such a gigantic task, time alone +will tell. At any rate, it is the duty of the public to encourage +the undertaking and make possible its completion."</p> + +<p>We come now to the most interesting chapter in the history +of Shakespeare in Norway. This is a performance of <i>A Midsummer +Night's Dream</i> under the direction of Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson +at Christiania Theater, April 17, 1865. The story belongs rather +to the history of Shakespeare on the Norwegian stage, but the +documents of the affair are contributions to Shakespearean criticism +and must, accordingly, be discussed here. Bjørnson's fiery +reply to his critics of April 28 is especially valuable as an analysis +of his own attitude toward Shakespeare.</p> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">61</span> +Bjørnson became director of Christiania Theater in January, +1865, and the first important performance under his direction +was <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i> (Skjärsommernatsdrömmen) +in <ins class = "correction" +title = "variant spellings in original">Oehlenschläger</ins>'s +translation, with music by Mendelssohn.<a name = "tag2_8" +href = "#note2_8"><sup>II.8</sup></a> +Bjørnson had strained the resources of the theater to the utmost +to give the performance distinction. But the success was doubtful. +<i>Aftenposten</i> found it tiresome, and <i>Morgenbladet</i>, in two +long articles, tore it to shreds.<a name = "tag2_9" +href = "#note2_9"><sup>II.9</sup></a> It is worth while to review the +controversy in some detail.</p> + +<p>The reviewer begins by saying that the play is so well known +that it is needless to give an account of it. "But what is the +meaning," he exclaims, "of this bold and poetic mixture of clowns +and fairies, of mythology, and superstition, of high and low, of the +earthly and the supernatural? And the scene is neither Athens +nor Greece, but Shakespeare's own England; it is his own time +and his own spirit." We are transported to an English grove in +early summer with birds, flowers, soft breezes, and cooling shadows. +What wonder that a man coming in from the hunt or the society +of men should fill such a place with fairies and lovely ladies and +people it with sighs, and passions, and stories? And all this has +been brought together by a poet's fine feeling. This it is which +separates the play from so many others of its kind now so common +and often so well presented. Here a master's spirit pervades all, +unites all in lovely romance. Other plays are mere displays of +scenery and costume by comparison. Even the sport of the +clowns throws the whole into stronger relief.</p> + +<p>Now, how should such a play be given? Obviously, by actors +of the first order and with costumes and scenery the most splendid. +This goes without saying, for the play is intended quite as much +to be seen as to be heard. To do it justice, the performance must +bring out some of the splendor and the fantasy with which it was +conceived. As we read <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i> it is easy +to imagine the glorious succession of splendid scenes, but on the +stage the characters become flesh and blood with fixed limitations, +and the illusion is easily lost unless every agency is used to carry +it out. Hence the need of lights, of rich costumes, splendid backgrounds, +music, rhythm.</p> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">62</span> +The play opens in an apparently uninhabited wood. Suddenly +all comes to life—gay, full, romantic life. This is the scene to +which we are transported. "It is a grave question," continues +the reviewer, "if it is possible for the average audience to attain +the full illusion which the play demands, and with which, in +reading, we have no difficulty. One thing is certain, the audience +was under no illusion. Some, those who do not pretend to learning +or taste, wondered what it was all about. Only when the +lion moved his tail, or the ass wriggled his ears were they at all +interested. Others were frankly amused from first to last, no +less at Hermia's and Helen's quarrel than at the antics of the clowns. +Still others, the cultivated minority, were simply indifferent."</p> + +<p>The truth is that the performance was stiff and cold. Not +for an instant did it suggest the full and passionate life which +is the theme and the background of the play. Nor is this strange. +<i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i> is plainly beyond the powers of our +theatre. Individual scenes were well done, but the whole was a +cheerless piece of business.</p> + +<p>The next day the same writer continues his analysis. He +points out that the secret of the play is the curious interweaving +of the real world with the supernatural. Forget this but for a +moment, and the piece becomes an impossible monstrosity without +motivation or meaning. Shakespeare preserves this unity in +duality. The two worlds seem to meet and fuse, each giving +something of itself to the other. But this unity was absent from +the performance. The actors did not even know their lines, and +thus the spell was broken. The verse must flow from the lips +in a limpid stream, especially in a fairy play; the words must never +seem a burden. But even this elementary rule was ignored in +our performance. And the ballet of the fairies was so bad that +it might better have been omitted. Puck should not have been +given by a woman, but by a boy as he was in Shakespeare's day. +Only the clown scenes were unqualifiedly good, "as we might +expect," concludes the reviewer sarcastically.</p> + +<p>The article closes with a parting shot at the costuming and +the scenery. Not a little of it was inherited from "Orpheus in +the Lower World." Are we so poor as that? Better wait, and +for the present, give something which demands less of the theatre. +<span class = "pagenum">63</span> +The critic grants that the presentation may prove profitable but, +on the whole, Bjørnson must feel that he has assisted at the mutilation +of a master.</p> + +<p>Bjørnson did not permit this attack to go unchallenged. +He was not the man to suffer in silence, and in this case he could +not be silent. His directorate was an experiment, and there were +those in Christiania who were determined to make it unsuccessful. +It was his duty to set malicious criticism right. He did so in +<i>Aftenbladet</i><a name = "tag2_10" +href = "#note2_10"><sup>II.10</sup></a> +in an article which not only answered a bit of +ephemeral criticism but which remains to this day an almost +perfect example of Bjørnson's polemical prose—fresh, vigorous, +genuinely eloquent, with a marvelous fusing of power and fancy.</p> + +<p>He begins with an analysis of the play: The play is called +a dream. But wherein lies the dream? 'Why,' we are told, 'in +the fact that fairies sport, that honest citizens, with and without +asses' heads, put on a comedy, that lovers pursue each other in +the moonlight.' But where is the law in all this? If the play is +without law (Lov = organic unity), it is without validity.</p> + +<p>But it does have artistic validity. The dream is more than +a fantasy. The same experiences come to all of us. "The play +takes place, now in your life, now in mine. A young man happily +engaged or happily married dreams one night that this is all a +delusion. He must be engaged to, he must marry another. The +image of the 'chosen one' hovers before him, but he can not quite +visualize it, and he marries with a bad conscience. Then he +awakens and thanks God that it is all a bad dream (Lysander). +Or a youth is tired of her whom he adored for a time. He even +begins to flirt with another. And then one fine night he dreams +that he worships the very woman he loathes, that he implores +her, weeps for her, fights for her (Demetrius). Or a young girl, +or a young wife, who loves and is loved dreams, that her beloved +is fleeing from her. When she follows him with tears and petitions, +he lifts his hand against her. She pursues him, calls to +him to stop, but she cannot reach him. She feels all the agony +of death till she falls back in a calm, dreamless sleep. Or she +dreams that the lover she cannot get comes to her in a wood and +tells her that he really does love her, that her eyes are lovelier +<span class = "pagenum">64</span> +than the stars, her hands whiter than the snow on Taurus. But +other visions come, more confusing. Another, whom she has +never given a thought, comes and tells her the same story. His +protestations are even more glowing—and it all turns to contention +and sorrow, idle pursuit and strife, till her powers fail (Helena).</p> + +<p>"This is the dream chain of the lovers. The poet causes +the man to dream that he is unfaithful, or that he is enamored of +one whom he does not love. And he makes the woman dream +that she is deserted or that she is happy with one whom she cannot +get. And together these dreams tell us: watch your thoughts, +watch your passions, you, walking in perfect confidence at the side +of your beloved. They (the thoughts and passions) may bring +forth a flower called 'love in idleness'—a flower which changes +before you are aware of it. The dream gives us reality reversed, +but reversed in such a way that there is always the possibility +that it may, in an unguarded moment, take veritable shape.</p> + +<p>"And this dream of the lovers is given a paradoxical counterpart. +A respectable, fat citizen dreams one night that he is to experience +the great triumph of his life. He is to be presented before +the duke's throne as the greatest of heroes. He dreams that +he cannot get dressed, that he cannot get his head attended to, +because, as a matter of fact, his head is not his own excellent head, +but the head of an ass with long ears, a snout, and hair that itches. +'This is exactly like a fairy tale of my youth,' he dreams. And +indeed, it is a dream! The mountain opens, the captive princess +comes forth and leads him in, and he rests his head in her lap all +strewn with blossoms. The lovely trolls come and scratch his +head and music sounds from the rocks. It is characteristic of +Shakespeare that the lovers do not dream fairy tales of their +childhood. Higher culture has given them deeper passions, more +intense personal relations; in dreams they but continue the life +of waking. But the good weaver who lives thoroughly content +in his own self-satisfaction and in the esteem of his neighbors, who +has never reflected upon anything that has happened to him, +but has received each day's blessings as they have come—this +man sees, the moment he lays his head on the pillow, the fairies +and the fairy queen. To him the whole circle of childhood fantasy +reveals itself; nothing is changed, nothing but this absurd ass's +head which he wears, and this curious longing for dry, sweet hay.</p> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">65</span> +"This is the dream and the action of the play. Superficially, all this +magic is set in motion by the fairies; Theseus and his train, with whom +come hunting horn and hunting talk and processional—are, +in reality, the incarnation of the festival. And +the comedy at the close is added by way of counterpiece to the +light, delicate fancies of the dream. It is the thoughts we have +thought, the painfully-wrought products of the waking mind, +given in a sparkle of mocking laughter against the background of +nightly visions. See the play over and over again. Do not +study it with Bottom's ass's head, and do not be so blasé that +you reject the performance because it does not command the +latest electrical effects."</p> + +<p>Bjørnson then proceeds to discuss the staging. He admits +by implication that the machinery and the properties are not +so elaborate as they sometimes are in England, but points out +that the equipment of Christiania Theater is fully up to that which, +until a short time before, was considered entirely adequate in the +great cities of Europe. And is machinery so important? The +cutting of the play used at this performance was originally made +by Tieck for the court theater at Potsdam. From Germany it +was brought to Stockholm, and later to Christiania. "The spirit +of Tieck pervades this adaptation. It is easy and natural. The +spoken word has abundant opportunity to make itself felt, and is +neither overwhelmed by theater tricks nor set aside by machinery. +Tieck, who understood stage machinery perfectly, gave it free +play where, as in modern operas, machinery is everything. The +same is true of Mendelssohn. His music yields reverently to +the spoken word. It merely accompanies the play like a new +fairy who strews a strain or two across the stage before his companions +enter, and lends them wings by which they may again +disappear. Only when the words and the characters who utter +them have gone, does the music brood over the forest like a mist +of reminiscence, in which our imagination may once more synthesize +the picture of what has gone before."</p> + +<p>Tieck's adaptation is still the standard one. Englishmen +often stage Shakespeare's romantic plays more elaborately. They +even show us a ship at sea in <i>The Tempest</i>. But Shakespeare +has fled England; they are left with their properties, out of which +the spirit of Shakespeare will not rise. It is significant that +<span class = "pagenum">66</span> +the most distinguished dramaturg of Germany, Dingelstedt, +planned a few years before to go to London with some of the best actors +in Germany to teach Englishmen how to play Shakespeare once more.</p> + +<p>Bjørnson closes this general discussion of scenery and properties +with a word about the supreme importance of imagination +to the playgoer. "I cannot refrain from saying that the +imagination that delights in the familiar is stronger and healthier +than that which loses itself in longings for the impossible. +To visualize on the basis of a few and simple suggestions—that +is to possess imagination; to allow the images to dissolve and +dissipate—that is to have no imagination at all. Every allusion has +a definite relation to the familiar, and if our playgoers cannot, +after all that has been given here for years, feel the least illusion +in the presence of the properties in <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i>, +then it simply means that bad critics have broken the spell." +Why should Norwegians require an elaborate wood-scene to be +transported to the living woods? A boulevardier of Paris, indeed, +might have need of it, but not a Norwegian with the great +forests at his very doors. And what real illusion is there in a +waterfall tumbling over a painted curtain, or a ship tossing about +on rollers? Does not such apparatus rather destroy the illusion? +"The new inventions of stage mechanicians are far from being +under such perfect control that they do not often ruin art. We +are in a period of transition. Why should we here, who are obliged +to wait a long time for what is admittedly satisfactory, commit +all the blunders which mark the way to acknowledged perfection?"</p> + +<p>It would probably be difficult to find definite and tangible +evidence of Shakespeare's influence in Bjørnson's work, and we are, +therefore, doubly glad to have his own eloquent acknowledgement +of his debt to Shakespeare. The closing passus of Bjørnson's +article deserves quotation for this reason alone. Unfortunately +I cannot convey its warm, illuminating style: "Of all +the poetry I have ever read, Shakespeare's <i>A Midsummer Night's +Dream</i> has, unquestionably, had the greatest influence upon me. +It is his most delicate and most imaginative work, appealing quite +as much through its intellectual significance as through its noble, +humane spirit. I read it first in Eiksdal when I was writing +<i>Arne</i>, and I felt rebuked for the gloomy feelings under the spell +<span class = "pagenum">67</span> +of which that book was written. But I took the lesson to heart: +I felt that I had in my soul something that could produce a play +with a little of the fancy and joy of <i>A Midsummer Night's +Dream</i>—and I made resolutions. But the conditions under which +a worker in art lives in Norway are hard, and all we say or promise +avails nothing. But this I know: I am closer to the ideal of this +play now than then, I have a fuller capacity for joy and a greater +power to protect my joy and keep it inviolate. And if, after +all, I never succeed in writing such a play, it means that circumstances +have conquered, and that I have not achieved what I +have ever sought to achieve.</p> + +<p>"And one longs to present a play which has been a guiding star to +oneself. I knew perfectly well that a public fresh from <i>Orpheus</i> +would not at once respond, but I felt assured that response +would come in time. As soon, therefore, as I had become +acclimated as director and knew something of the resources of +the theater, I made the venture. This is not a play to be given +toward the end; it is too valuable as a means of gaining that which +is to be the end—for the players and for the audience. So far as +the actors are concerned, our exertions have been profitable. +The play might doubtless be better presented—we shall give +it better next year—but, all in all, we are making progress. You +may call this naivete, poetic innocence, or obstinacy and +arrogance—whatever it is, this play is of great moment to me, for +it is the link which binds me to my public, it is my appeal to the +public. If the public does not care to be led whither this leads, +then I am not the proper guide. If people wish to get me out +of the theater, they may attack me here. Here I am vulnerable."</p> + +<p>In <i>Morgenbladet</i> for May 1st the reviewer made a sharp reply. +He insists again that the local theater is not equal to <i>A Midsummer +Night's Dream</i>. But it is not strange that Bjørnson will not +admit his own failure. His eloquent tribute to the play and all +that it has meant to him has, moreover, nothing to do with the +question. All that he says may be true, but certainly such facts +ought to be the very thing to deter him from giving Shakespeare +into the hands of untrained actors. For if Bjørnson feels that +the play was adequately presented, then we are at a loss to understand +how he has been able to produce original work of unquestionable +merit. One is forced to believe that he is hiding a failure +<span class = "pagenum">68</span> +behind his own name and fame. After all, concludes the writer, +the director has no right to make this a personal matter. Criticism +has no right to turn aside for injured feelings, and all Bjørnson's +declarations about the passions of the hour have nothing to do with +<ins class = "correction" title = "original omits 'the'">the</ins> +case.</p> + +<p>This ended the discussion. At this day, of course, one cannot +pass judgment, and there is no reason why we should. The two +things which stand out are Bjørnson's protest against spectacular +productions of Shakespeare's plays, and his ardent, almost passionate +tribute to him as the poet whose influence had been greatest +in his life.</p> + +<p>And then there is a long silence. Norwegian periodicals—there +is not to this day a book on Shakespeare by a Norwegian—contain +not a single contribution to Shakespearean criticism till +1880, when a church paper, <i>Luthersk Ugeskrift</i><a name = "tag2_11" +href = "#note2_11"><sup>II.11</sup></a> published an +article which proved beyond cavil that Shakespeare is good and +safe reading for Lutheran Christians. The writer admits that +Shakespeare probably had several irregular love-affairs both +before and after marriage, but as he grew older his heart turned +to the comforts of religion, and in his epitaph he commends his +soul to God, his body to the dust. Shakespeare's extreme objectivity +makes snap judgments unsafe. We cannot always be sure +that his characters voice his own thoughts and judgments, but, +on the other hand, we have no right to assume that they never +do. The tragedies especially afford a safe basis for judgment, for +in them characterization is of the greatest importance. No great +character was ever created which did not spring from the poet's +own soul. In Shakespeare's characters sin, lust, cruelty, are +always punished; sympathy, love, kindness are everywhere glorified. +The writer illustrates his meaning with copious quotations.</p> + +<p>Apparently the good Lutheran who wrote this article felt +troubled about the splendor which Shakespeare throws about the +Catholic Church. But this is no evidence, he thinks, of any special +sympathy for it. Many Protestants have been attracted +by the pomp and circumstance of the Catholic Church, and they +have been none the worse Protestants for that. The writer had +the good sense not to make Shakespeare a Lutheran but, for the +rest, the article is a typical example of the sort of criticism that +<span class = "pagenum">69</span> +has made Shakespeare everything from a pious Catholic to a +champion of atheistic democracy. If, however, the readers of <i>Luthersk +Ugeskrift</i> were led to read Shakespeare after being assured +that they might do so safely, the article served a useful purpose.</p> + +<p>Eight years later the distinguished litterateur and critic, Just Bing, +wrote in <i>Vidar</i><a name = "tag2_12" +href = "#note2_12"><sup>II.12</sup></a>, +one of the best periodicals that Norway has +ever had, a brief character study of Ophelia, which, though it contains +nothing original, stands considerably higher as literary +criticism than anything we have yet considered, with the sole +exception of Bjørnson's article in <i>Aftenbladet</i>, twenty-three years +earlier.</p> + +<p>Bing begins by defining two kinds of writers. First, those +whose power is their keen observation. They see things accurately +and they secure their effects by recording just what they see. +Second, those writers who do not merely see external phenomena +with the external eye, but who, through a miraculous intuition, +go deeper into the soul of man. <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Moliére'">Molière</ins> is the classical example +of the first type; Shakespeare of the second. To him a chance utterance +reveals feelings, passions, whole lives—though he probably +never developed the consequences of a chance remark to their +logical conclusion without first applying to them close and searching +rational processes. But it is clear that if a critic is to analyze +a character of Shakespeare's, he must not be content merely to +observe. He must feel with it, live with it. He must do so with +special sympathy in the case of Ophelia.</p> + +<p>The common characteristic of Shakespeare's women is their +devotion to the man of their choice and their confidence that this +choice is wise and happy. The tragedy of Ophelia lies in the +fact that outward evidence is constantly shocking that faith. +Laertes, in his worldly-wise fashion, first warns her. She cries +out from a broken heart though she promises to heed the warning. +Then comes Polonius with his cunning wisdom. But Ophelia's +faith is still unshaken. She promises her father, however, to be +careful, and her caution, in turn, arouses the suspicion of Hamlet. +Even after his wild outburst against her he still loves her. +He begs her to believe in him and to remember him in her prayers. +But suspicion goes on. Ophelia is caught between devotion and +duty, and the grim events that crowd upon her plunge her to +<span class = "pagenum">70</span> +sweet, tragic death. Nothing could be more revealing than our +last glimpse of her. Shakespeare's intuitive knowledge of the +soul was sure. The determining fact of her life was her love for +Hamlet: it is significant that when we see her insane not a mention +of it crosses her lips.</p> + +<p>Hamlet and Ophelia are the delicate victims of a tragic necessity. +They are undone because they lose confidence in those to +whom they cling with all the abandon of deep, spiritual souls. +Hamlet is at last aroused to desperation; Ophelia is helplessly +crushed. She is the finest woman of Shakespeare's imagination, +and perhaps for that reason the most difficult to understand and +the one least often appreciated.</p> + +<p>The next chapter in Norwegian Shakespeareana is a dull, unprofitable +one—a series of articles on the Baconian theory appearing +irregularly in the monthly magazine, <i>Kringsjaa</i>. The first +article appeared in the second volume (1894) and is merely a +review of a strong pro-Bacon outburst in the American <i>Arena</i>. It +is not worth criticising. Similar articles appeared in <i>Kringsjaa</i> +in 1895, the material this time being taken from the <i>Deutsche +Revue</i>. It is the old ghost, the cipher in the first folio, though +not Ignatius Donnelly's cryptogram. Finally, in 1898, a new +editor, Chr. Brinckmann, +printed<a name = "tag2_13" +href = "#note2_13"><sup>II.13</sup></a> +a crushing reply to all these +cryptogram fantasies. And that is all that was ever published +in Norway on a foolish controversy.</p> + +<p>It is a relief to turn from puerilities of this sort to Theodor +Caspari's article in <i>For Kirke og Kultur</i> +(1895)<a name = "tag2_14" +href = "#note2_14"><sup>II.14</sup></a>—<i>Grunddrag +ved den Shakespeareske Digtning, i særlig Jevnförelse med Ibsens +senere Digtning</i>.</p> + +<p>This article must be read with caution, partly because its +analysis of the Elizabethan age is conventional, and therefore +superficial, and partly because it represents a direction of thought +which eyed the later work of Ibsen and Bjørnson with distrust. +These men had rejected the faith of their fathers, and the books that +came from them were signs of the apostasy. But <i>For Kirke og Kultur</i> +has been marked from its first number by ability, conspicuous +fairness, and a large catholicity, which give it an honorable +<span class = "pagenum">71</span> +place among church journals. And not even a fanatical admirer +of Ibsen will deny that there is more than a grain of truth in the +indictment which the writer of this article brings against him.</p> + +<p>The central idea is the large, general objectivity of Shakespeare's +plays as contrasted with the narrow, selfish subjectivity of Ibsen's. +The difference bottoms in the difference between the age +of Elizabeth and our own. Those were days of full, pulsing, +untrammeled life. Men lived big, physical lives. They had +few scruples and no nerves. Full-blooded passions, not petty +problems of pathological psychology, were the things that interested +poets and dramatists. They saw life fully and they saw it +whole. So with Shakespeare. His characters are big, well-rounded +men; they are not laboratory specimens. They live in +the real Elizabethan world, not in the hothouse of the poet's +brain. It is of no consequence that violence is done to "local +color." Shakespeare beheld all the world and all ages through +the lens of his own time and country, but because the men he +saw were actual, living beings, the characters he gives us, be they +mythological figures, Romans, Greeks, Italians, or Englishmen, +have universal validity. He went to Italy for his greatest love-story. +That gave him the right atmosphere. It is significant +that Ibsen once thought it necessary to seek a suggestive background +for one of his greatest characters. He went to Finmarken +for Rebecca West.</p> + +<p>Shakespeare's characters speak in loud, emphatic tones and +they give utterance to clear, emphatic thoughts. There is no +"twilight zone" in their thinking. Ibsen's men and women, +like the children at Rosmersholm, never speak aloud; they merely +whimper or they whisper the polite innuendos of the drawing room. +The difference lies largely in the difference of the age. But Ibsen +is more decadent than his age. There are great ideas in our time +too, but Ibsen does not see them. He sees only the "thought." +Contrast with this Shakespeare's colossal scale. He is "loud-voiced" +but he is also "many-voiced." Ibsen speaks in a salon +voice and always in one key. And the remarkable thing is that +Shakespeare, in spite of his complicated plots, is always clear. +The main lines of the action stand out boldly. There is always +speed and movement—a speed and movement directly caused +by powerful feelings. He makes his readers think on a bigger +<span class = "pagenum">72</span> +scale than does Ibsen. His passions are sounder because they +are larger and more expansive.</p> + +<p>Shakespeare is the dramatist of our average life; Ibsen, the +poet of the rare exception. To Shakespeare's problems there is +always an answer; underneath his storms there is peace, not merely filth +and doubt. There is even a sense of a greater power—calm +and immovable as history itself. Ibsen's plays are nervous, +hectic, and unbelieving. In the words of Rosmer: "Since there +is no judge over us, we must hold a judgment day for ourselves." +Contrast this with Hamlet's soliloquy. And, finally, one feels +sure in Shakespeare that the play means something. It has a +beginning and an end. "What shall we say of plays like Ibsen's, +in which Act I and Act II give no clue to Act III, and where both +question and answer are hurled at us in the same speech?"</p> + +<p>In the same year, 1895, Georg Brandes published in +<i>Samtiden</i>,<a name = "tag2_15" +href = "#note2_15"><sup>II.15</sup></a> +at that time issued in Bergen, two articles on <i>Shakespeare's Work +in his Period of Gloom</i> (Shakespeare i hans Digtnings mørke +Periode) which embody in compact form that thesis since elaborated +in his big work. Shakespeare's tragedies were the outcome +of a deep pessimism that had grown for years and culminated +when he was about forty. He was tired of the vice, the hollowness, +the ungratefulness, of life. The immediate cause must +remain unknown, but the fact of his melancholy seems clear +enough. His comedy days were over and he began to portray +a side of life which he had hitherto kept hidden. <i>Julius Caesar</i> +marks the transition. In Brutus we are reminded that high-mindedness +in the presence of a practical situation often fails, +and that practical mistakes are often as fatal as moral ones. +From Brutus, Shakespeare came to Hamlet, a character in +transition from fine youth, full of illusions, to a manhood whose +faith is broken by the hard facts of the world. This is distinctly +autobiographical. <i>Hamlet</i> and Sonnet 66 are of one piece. +Shakespeare was disillusioned. Add to this his struggle against +his enemy, Puritanism, and a growing conviction that the miseries +of life bottom in ignorance, and the reason for his growing +pessimism becomes clear. From Hamlet, whom the world crushes, +to Macbeth, who faces it with its own weapons, yet is haunted and +<span class = "pagenum">73</span> +terrified by what he does, the step is easy. He knew Macbeth +as he knew Hamlet.</p> + +<p>The scheming Iago, too, he must have known, for he has +portrayed him with matchless art. "But <i>Othello</i> was a mere +monograph; <i>Lear</i> is a cosmic picture. Shakespeare turns from +<i>Othello</i> to <i>Lear</i> in consequence of the necessity which the +poet +feels to supplement and round out his beginning." <i>Othello</i> is +noble chamber music; <i>Lear</i> is a symphony played by a gigantic +orchestra. It is the noblest of all the tragedies, for in it are all +the storm and tumult of life, all that was struggling and raging +in his own soul. We may feel sure that the ingratitude he had met +with is reflected in Goneril and Regan. Undoubtedly, in the +same way, the poet had met the lovely Cleopatra and knew what +it was to be ensnared by her.</p> + +<p>Brandes, as has often been pointed out, did not invent this +theory of Shakespeare's psychology but he elaborated it with a +skill and persuasiveness which carried the uncritical away.</p> + +<p>In his second article Brandes continues his analysis of Shakespeare's +pessimism. In the period of the great tragedies there can +be no doubt that Shakespeare was profoundly pessimistic. There +was abundant reason for it. The age of Elizabeth was an age of +glorious sacrifices, but it was also an age of shameless hypocrisy, +of cruel and unjust punishments, of downright oppression. Even +the casual observer might well grow sick at heart. A nature so +finely balanced as Shakespeare's suffered a thousandfold. Hence +this contempt for life which showed only corruption and injustice. +Cressida and Cleopatra are sick with sin and evil; the men are mere +fools and brawlers.</p> + +<p>There is, moreover, a feeling that he is being set aside for younger +men. We find clear expression of this in <i>All's Well That Ends +Well</i>, in <i>Troilus and Cressida</i>. There is, too, in <i>Troilus +and Cressida</i> a speech which shows the transition to the mood of +<i>Coriolanus</i>, an aristocratic contempt for the mass of mankind. +This is the famous speech in which Ulysses explains the necessity +of social distinctions. Note in this connection Casca's contemptuous +reference to the plebeians, Cleopatra's fear of being shown to +the mob. Out of this feeling grew <i>Coriolanus</i>. The great patrician +lives on the heights, and will not hear of bending to the crowd. +The contempt of Coriolanus grew to the storming rage of Timon. +<span class = "pagenum">74</span> +When Coriolanus meets with ingratitude, he takes up arms; Timon +is too supremely indifferent to do even this.</p> + +<p>Thus Shakespeare's pessimism grew from grief over the power +of evil (Othello) and misery over life's sorrows, to bitter hatred +(Timon). And when he had raged to the uttermost, something of +the resignation of old age came to him. We have the evidence of +this in his last works. Perhaps, as in the case of his own heroes, +a woman saved him. Brandes feels that the evolution of Shakespeare +as a dramatist is to be traced in his women. We have +first the domineering scold, reminding him possibly of his own +domestic relations (Lady Macbeth); second, the witty, handsome +women (Portia, Rosalind); third, the simple, naive women +(Ophelia, Desdemona); fourth, the frankly sensuous women +(Cleopatra, Cressida); and, finally, the young woman viewed with +all an old man's joy (Miranda). Again his genius exercises +his spell. Then, like Prospero, he casts his magician's staff into +the sea.</p> + +<p>In 1896 Brandes published his great work on Shakespeare. +It arrested attention immediately in every country of the world. +Never had a book so fascinating, so brilliant, so wonderfully +suggestive, been written on Shakespeare. The literati were +captivated. But alas, scholars were not. They admitted that +Brandes had written an interesting book, that he had accumulated +immense stores of information and given to these sapless materials +a new life and a new attractiveness. But they pointed out that +not only did his work contain gross positive errors, but it consisted, +from first to last, of a tissue of speculations which, however ingenious, +had no foundation in fact and no place in cool-headed +criticism.<a name = "tag2_16" +href = "#note2_16"><sup>II.16</sup></a> Theodor +Bierfreund, one of the most brilliant Shakespeare +scholars in Denmark, almost immediately attacked Brandes +in a long article in the Norwegian periodical <i>Samtiden</i>.<a name = +"tag2_17" href = "#note2_17"><sup>II.17</sup></a></p> + +<p>He acknowledges the great merits of the work. It is an +enormously rich compilation of Shakespeare material gathered +from the four corners of the earth and illuminated by the genius of +a great writer. He gives the fullest recognition to Brandes' +miraculous skill in analyzing characters and making them live +<span class = "pagenum">75</span> +before our eyes. But he warns us that Brandes is no critical +student of source materials, and that we must be on our guard in +accepting his conclusions. It is not so certain that the sonnets +mean all that Brandes would have them mean, and it is certain +that we must be cautious in inferring too much from <i>Troilus and +Cressida</i> and <i>Pericles</i> for, in the opinion of the reviewer, +Shakespeare probably had little or nothing to do with them. He then +sketches briefly his theory that these plays cannot be Shakespeare's, +a theory which he later elaborated in his admirably written monograph, +<i>Shakespeare og hans Kunst</i>.<a name = "tag2_18" +href = "#note2_18"><sup>II.18</sup></a> +This, however, belongs to +the study of Shakespearean criticism in Denmark.</p> + +<p>So far as I have been able to find, Bierfreund's review was +the only one published in Norway immediately after the publication +of Brandes' work, but in 1899, S. Brettville Jensen took up the +matter again in <i>For Kirke og +Kultur</i><a name = "tag2_19" href = "#note2_19"><sup>II.19</sup></a> +and, in 1901, Christen +Collin vigorously assailed in <i>Samtiden</i> that elaborate and fanciful +theory of the sonnets which plays so great a part in Brandes' +study of Shakespeare.</p> + +<p>Brettville Jensen praises Brandes highly. He is always +interesting, in harmony with his age, and in rapport with his +reader. "But his book is a fantasy palace, supported by columns +as lovely as they are hollow and insecure, and hovering in rainbow +mists between earth and sky." Brandes has rare skill in +presenting hypotheses as facts. He has attempted to reconstruct +the life of Shakespeare from his works. Now this is a mode +of criticism which may yield valuable results, but clearly it must +be used with great care. Shakespeare knew the whole of life, +but how he came to know it is another matter. Brandes thinks +he has found the secret. Back of every play and every character +there is a personal experience. But this is rating genius altogether +too cheap. One must concede something to the imagination +and the creative ability of the poet. To relate everything +in Shakespeare's dramas to the experiences of Shakespeare the man, +is both fanciful and uncritical.</p> + +<p>The same objection naturally holds regarding the meaning +of the sonnets which Brandes has made his own. Here we must +bear in mind the fact that much of the language in the sonnets is +<span class = "pagenum">76</span> +purely conventional. We should have a difficult time indeed +determining just how much is biographical and how much belongs +to the stock in trade of Elizabethan sonneteers. Brettville Jensen +points out that if the sonnets are the expression of grief at +the loss of his beloved, it is a queer contradiction that Sonnet 144, +which voices his most poignant sorrow, should date from 1599, +the year, according to Brandes, when Shakespeare's comedy +period began!</p> + +<p>It is doubtless true that the plays and even the sonnets mark +great periods in the life of the poet, but we may be sure that the +relation between experience and literary creation was not so +literal as Brandes would have us believe. The change from mood +to mood, from play to play, was gradual, and it never destroyed +Shakespeare's poise and sanity. We shall not judge Shakespeare +rightly if we believe that personal feeling rather than artistic +truth shaped his work.</p> + +<p>Two years later Collin, a critic of fine insight and appreciation, +wrote in <i>Samtiden</i><a name = "tag2_20" +href = "#note2_20"><sup>II.20</sup></a> +an article on the sonnets of Shakespeare. +He begins by picturing Shakespeare's surprise if he could rise +from his grave in the little church at Stratford and look upon the +pompous and rather naive bust, and hear the strange tongues of +the thousands of pilgrims at his shrine. Even greater would be his +surprise if he could examine the ponderous tomes in the Shakespeare +Memorial Library at Birmingham which have been written +to explain him and his work. And if any of these volumes could +interest him at all it would doubtless be those in which ingenious +critics have attempted to discover the poet in the plays and the +poems. Collin then gives a brief survey of modern Shakespearean +criticism—Furnivall, Dowden, Brandl, Boas, ten Brink, and, +more recently, Sidney, Lee, Brandes, and Bierfreund. An important +object of the study of these men has been to fix the chronology +of the plays. They seldom fully agree. Sidney Lee and +the Danish critic, Bierfreund, do not accept the usual theory that +the eight tragedies from <i>Julius Caesar</i> to <i>Coriolanus</i> +reflect a period of gloom and pessimism. In their opinion psychological +criticism has, in this instance, proved a dismal failure.</p> + +<p>The battle has raged with particular violence about the sonnets. +Most scholars assume that we have in them a direct presentation +<span class = "pagenum">77</span> +(fremstilling) of a definite period in the life of the poet. +And by placing this period directly before the creation of <i>Hamlet</i>, +Brandes has succeeded in making the relations to the "dark lady" +a crisis in Shakespeare's life. The story, which, as Brandes tells +it, has a remarkable similarity to an ultra-modern naturalistic +novel, becomes even more piquant since Brandes knows the name +of the lady, nay, even of the faithless friend. All this information +Brandes has, of course, taken from Thomas Tyler's introduction +to the Irving edition of the sonnets (1890), but his passion for the +familiar anecdote has led him to embellish it with immense enthusiasm +and circumstantiality.</p> + +<p>The hypothesis, however, is essentially weak. Collin disagrees +absolutely with Lee that the sonnets are purely conventional, +without the slightest biographical value. Mr. Lee has weakened +his case by admitting that "key-sonnet" No. 144 is autobiographical. +Now, if this be true, then one must assume that the +sonnets set forth Shakespeare's relations to a real man and a real +woman. But the most convincing argument against the Herbert-Fitton +theory lies in the chronology. It is certain that the +sonnet fashion was at its height immediately after the publication +of Sidney's sequence in 1591, and it seems equally certain that +it had fallen off by 1598. This chronology is rendered probable +by two facts about Shakespeare's work. First, Shakespeare +employs the sonnet in dialogue in <i>Two Gentlemen of Verona</i> and +in <i>Romeo and Juliet</i>. These plays belong to the early nineties. +Second, the moods of the sonnets exactly correspond, on the one +hand, to the exuberant sensuality of <i>Venus and Adonis</i>, on the +other, to the restraint of the <i>Lucrece</i>.</p> + +<p>An even safer basis for determining the chronology of the +sonnets Collin finds in the group in which the poet laments his +poverty and his outcast state. If the sonnets are +autobiographical—and +Collin agrees with Brandes that they are—then this group +(26, 29, 30, 31, 37, 49, 66, 71-75, 99, 110-112, 116, 119, 120, 123, +and 124) must refer to a time when the poet was wretched, poor, +and obscure. And in this case, the sonnets cannot be placed at +1598-99, when Shakespeare was neither poor nor despised, a time +in which, according to Brandes, he wrote his gayest comedies.</p> + +<p>It seems clear from all this that the sonnets cannot be placed +so late as 1598-1600. They do not fit the facts of Shakespeare's +<span class = "pagenum">78</span> +life at this time. But they do fit the years from 1591 to 1594, +and especially the years of the plague, 1592-3, when the theaters +were generally closed, and Shakespeare no doubt had to battle +for a mere existence. In 1594 Shakespeare's position became +more secure. He gained the favor of Southampton and dedicated +the <i>Rape of Lucrece</i> to him.</p> + +<p>Collin develops at this point with a good deal of fullness his +theory that the motifs of the sonnets recur in <i>Venus and Adonis</i> +and <i>Lucrece</i>—in <i>Venus and Adonis</i>, +a certain crass naturalism; +in <i>Lucrece</i> a high and spiritual morality. In the sonnets the same +antithesis is found. Compare Sonnet 116—in praise of +friendship—with +129, in which is pictured the tyranny and the treachery +of sensual love. These two forces, sensual love and platonic +friendship, were mighty cultural influences during Shakespeare's +apprentice years and the young poet shows plainly that he was +moved by both.</p> + +<p>If all this be true, then the Herbert-Fitton theory falls to the +ground, for in 1597 Herbert was only seventeen. But unquestionably +the sonnets are autobiographical. They reveal with a +poignant power Shakespeare's sympathy, his unique ability to +enter into another personality, his capacity of imaginative expansion +to include the lives of others. Compare the noble sonnet +112, which Collin translates:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Din kjærlighed og medynk dækker til<br> +det ar, som sladderen paa min pande trykket.<br> +Lad andre tro og sige, hvad de vil,—<br> +du kjærlig mine feil med fortrin smykket. +</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Du er mit verdensalt, og fra din mund<br> +jeg henter al min skam og al min ære.<br> +For andre er jeg død fra denne stund,<br> +og de for mig som skygger blot skal være. +</div> +<div class = "verse"> +I avgrunds dyp jeg al bekymring kaster!<br> +for andres røst min høresans er sløv.<br> +Hvadenten de mig roser eller laster,<br> +jeg som en hugorm er og vorder døv. +</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Saa helt du fylder ut min sjæl herinde,<br> +at hele verden synes at forsvinde. +</div> + +<p>At this point the article in <i>Samtiden</i> closes. Collin promises +to give in a later number, a metrical translation of a number of +<span class = "pagenum">79</span> +significant sonnets. The promised renderings, however, never +appeared. Thirteen years later, in 1914, the author, in a most +interesting and illuminating book, <i>Det Geniale Menneske</i>,<a name = +"tag2_21" href = "#note2_21"><sup>II.21</sup></a> a +study of "genius" and its relation to civilization, reprinted his +essay in <i>Samtiden</i> and supplemented it with three short chapters. +In the first of these he endeavors to show that in the sonnets +Shakespeare gives expression to two distinct tendencies of the +Renaissance—the tendency toward a loose and unregulated +gratification of the senses, and the tendency toward an elevated +and platonic conception of friendship. Shakespeare sought in +both of these a compensation for his own disastrous love affair +and marriage. But the healing that either could give was at best +transitory. There remained to him as a poet of genius one resource. +He could gratify his own burning desire for a pure and +unselfish love by living in his mighty imagination the lives of his +characters. "He who in his yearning for the highest joys of +love had been compelled to abandon hope, found a joy mingled +with pain, in giving of his life to lovers in whom the longing of +William Shakespeare lives for all time.</p> + +<p>"He has loved and been loved. It was he whom Sylvia, +Hermia, Titania, Portia, Juliet, Beatrice, Rosalind, Viola, and +Olivia loved,—and Ophelia, Desdemona, Hermione and Miranda."</p> + +<p>In the second chapter Collin argues, as he had done in his +essay on <i>Hamlet</i><a name = "tag2_22" +href = "#note2_22"><sup>II.22</sup></a> +that Shakespeare's great tragedies voice no +pessimism, but the stern purpose to strengthen himself and his +contemporaries against the evils and vices of Jacobean England—that +period of moral and intellectual disintegration which followed +the intense life of the Elizabethan age. Shakespeare battles +against the ills of society as the Greek dramatists had done, by +showing sin and wickedness as destroyers of life, and once this +is done, by firing mankind to resistance against the forces of ruin +and decay. "To hold the mirror up to nature," that men may +see the devastation which evil and vice bring about in the social +body. And to do this he does not, like some modern writers, +shun moralizing. He warns against sensual excess in Adam's +speech in <i>As You Like It</i>, II, 3:</p> + +<span class = "pagenum">80</span> +<div class = "verse3"> +Let me be your servant;</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Though I look old, yet am I strong and lusty;<br> +For in my youth I never did apply<br> +Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood;<br> +Nor did not with unbashful forehead woo<br> +The means of weakness and debility; +</div> + +<p>Or, compare the violent outburst against drunkenness in <i>Hamlet</i> +Act 1, Sc. 4, and the stern warning against the same vice in +<i>Othello</i>, where, indeed, <ins class = "correction" +title = "so in original">Cassius'</ins> weakness for strong drink is the +immediate occasion of the tragic complication. In like manner, +Shakespeare moralizes against lawless love in the <i>Merry Wives</i>, +in <i>Troilus and Cressida</i>, in <i>Hamlet</i>, in <i>Lear</i>.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, Shakespeare never allows artistic scruples +to stand in the way of exalting simple, domestic virtues. Simple +conjugal fidelity is one of the glories of Hamlet's illustrious father +and of the stern, old Roman, Coriolanus; the young prince, Malcolm, +is as chaste and innocent as the young barbarians of whom +Tacitus tells.</p> + +<p>In a final section, Collin connects this view of Hamlet which +he has developed in his essay on <i>Hamlet</i> and the Sonnets, with the +theory of human civilization which his book so suggestively +advances.</p> + +<p>The great tragedies from <i>Hamlet</i> to <i>Timon of Athens</i> are +not autobiographical in the sense that they are reflections of +Shakespeare's own concrete experience. They are not the record of a +bitter personal pessimism. In the years when they were written +Shakespeare was contented and prosperous. He restored the +fortunes of his family and he was hailed as a master of English +without a peer. It is therefore a priori quite unlikely that the +tragic atmosphere of this period should go back to purely personal +disappointments. The case is more likely this: Shakespeare +had grown in power of sympathy with his fellows and his time. +He had become sensitive to the needs and sorrows of the society +about him. He could put himself in the place of those who are +sick in mind and heart. And in consequence of this he could +preach to this generation the simple gospel of right living and +show to them the psychic weakness whence comes all human +sorrow.</p> + +<p>And through this expansion of his ethical consciousness what had he +gained? Not merely a fine insight as in <i>Macbeth</i>, <i>Antony</i> +<span class = "pagenum">81</span> +<i>and Cleopatra</i>, and <i>Coriolanus</i>, an insight which enables +him to treat with comprehending sympathy even great criminals and +traitors, but a high serenity and steady poise which enables him +to write the romances of his last years—<i>Cymbeline</i>, +<i>A Winter's Tale</i>, and <i>The Tempest</i>. He had come +to feel that human life, +after all, with its storms, is a little thing, a dream and a fata +morgana, which soon must give place to a permanent reality:</p> + +<div class = "verse4"> +We are such stuff</div> +<div class = "verse"> +As dreams are made of, and our little life<br> +Is rounded with a sleep. +</div> + +<p>In 1904 Collin wrote in <i>Nordisk Tidskrift för Vetenskap, Konst +och Industri</i><a name = "tag2_23" +href = "#note2_23"><sup>II.23</sup></a>** a most suggestive +article on Hamlet. He again +dismisses the widely accepted theory of a period of gloom and +increasing pessimism as baseless. The long line of tragedies +cannot be used to prove this. They are the expression of a great +poet's desire to strengthen mankind in the battle of life.</p> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">82</span> +We need dwell but little on Collin's sketch of the "Vorgeschichte" +of <i>Hamlet</i>, for it contributes nothing that is new. <i>Hamlet</i> +was a characteristic "revenge tragedy" like the "Spanish +Tragedy" and a whole host of others which had grown up in +England under the influence, direct and indirect, of Seneca. He +points out in a very illuminating way how admirably the "tragedy +of blood" fitted the times. Nothing is more characteristic of +the renaissance than an intense joy in living. But exactly as the +<span class = "pagenum">83</span> +appetite for mere existence became keen, the tragedy of death +gained in power. The most passionate joy instinctively calls +up the most terrible sorrow. There is a sort of morbid caution +here—a feeling that in the moment of happiness it is well to +harden oneself against the terrible reaction to come. Conversely, +the contemplation of suffering intensifies the joys of the moment. +At all events, in such a time, emotions become stronger, colors are +brighter, and contrasts are more violent. The "tragedy of blood," +therefore, was more than a learned imitation. Its sound and fury +met the need of men who lived and died intensely.</p> + +<p>The primitive <i>Hamlet</i> was such a play. Shakespeare took +over, doubtless with little change, both fable and characters, but +he gave to both a new spiritual content. Hamlet's revenge +gained a new significance. It is no longer a fight against the +murderer of his father, but a battle against "a world out of +joint." No wonder that a simple duty of blood revenge becomes +a task beyond his powers. He sees the world as a mass of faithlessness, +and the weight of it crushes him and makes him sick at +heart. This is the tragedy of Hamlet—his will is paralyzed and, +with it, his passion for revenge. He fights a double battle, against +his uncle and against himself. The conviction that Shakespeare, +and not his predecessor, has given this turn to the tragedy is sustained +by the other plays of the same period, <i>Lear</i> and <i>Timon of +Athens</i>. They exhibit three different stages of the same disease, +a disease in which man's natural love of fighting is turned against +himself.</p> + +<p>Collin denies that the tragedy of Hamlet is that of a contemplative +soul who is called upon to solve great practical problems. +What right have we to assume that Hamlet is a weak, +excessively reflective nature? Hamlet is strong and regal, capable +of great, concrete attainments. But he can do nothing except +by violent and eccentric starts; his will is paralyzed by a fatal +sickness. He suffers from a disease not so uncommon in modern +literature—the tendency to see things in the darkest light. Is +it far from the pessimism of Hamlet to the pessimism of Schopenhauer +and Tolstoi? Great souls like Byron and Heine and Ibsen +have seen life as Hamlet saw it, and they have struggled as he did, +"like wounded warriors against the miseries of the times."</p> + +<p>But from this we must not assume that Shakespeare himself +was pessimistic. To him Hamlet's state of mind was pathological. +<span class = "pagenum">84</span> +One might as well say that he was a murderer because he +wrote <i>Macbeth</i>, a misogynist because he created characters like +Isabella and Ophelia, a wife murderer because he wrote <i>Othello</i>, +or a suicide because he wrote <i>Timon of Athens</i> as to say that he +was a pessimist because he wrote <i>Hamlet</i>—the tragedy of an +irresolute +avenger. This interpretation is contradicted by the very +play itself. "At Hamlet's side is the thoroughly healthy Horatio, +almost a standard by which his abnormality may be measured. +At Lear's side stand Cordelia and Kent, faithful and sound to the +core. If the hater of mankind, Timon, had written a play about +a rich man who was betrayed by his friends, he would unquestionably +have portrayed even the servants as scoundrels. But +Shakespeare never presented his characters as all black. Pathological +states of mind are not presented as normal."</p> + +<p>Collin admits, nevertheless, that there may be something +autobiographical in the great tragedies. Undoubtedly Shakespeare +felt that there was an iron discipline in beholding a great tragedy. +To live it over in the soul tempered it, gave it firmness and resolution, +and it is not impossible that the sympathetic, high-strung +Shakespeare needed just such discipline. But we must not forget +the element of play. All art is, in a sense, a game with images +and feelings and human utterances. "In all this century-old +discussion about the subtlety of Hamlet's character critics have +forgotten that a piece of literature is, first of all, a festive sport +with clear pictures, finely organized emotions, and eloquent words +uttered in moments of deep feeling." The poet who remembers +this will use his work to drive from the earth something of its +gloom and melancholy. He will strengthen himself that he may +strengthen others.</p> + +<p>I have tried to give an adequate synopsis of Collin's article +but, in addition to the difficulties of translating the language, +there are the difficulties, infinitely greater, of putting into definite +words all that the Norwegian hints at and suggests. It is not +high praise to say that Collin has written the most notable piece +of Shakespeare criticism in Norway; indeed, nothing better has +been written either in Norway or Denmark.</p> + +<p>The study of Shakespeare in Norway was not, as the foregoing +shows, extensive or profound, but there were many Norwegian +scholars who had at least considerable information about things +<span class = "pagenum">85</span> +Shakespearean. No great piece of research is to be recorded, but +the stimulating criticism of Caspari, Collin, Just Bing, and Bjørnson +is worth reading to this day.</p> + +<p>The same comment may be made on two other +contributions—Wiesener's <i>Almindelig Indledning til +Shakespeare</i> (General Introduction +to Shakespeare), published as an introduction to his +school edition of <i>The Merchant of Venice</i>,<a name = "tag2_24" +href = "#note2_24"><sup>II.24</sup></a> and Collin's <i>Indledning</i> +to his edition of the same play. Both are frankly compilations, +but both are admirably organized, admirably written, and full +of a personal enthusiasm which gives the old, sometimes hackneyed +facts a new interest.</p> + +<p>Wiesener's edition was published in 1880 in Christiania. The +text is that of the Cambridge edition with a few necessary cuttings +to adapt it for school reading. His introduction covers +fifty-two closely printed pages and gives, within these limits, an +exceedingly detailed account of the English drama, the Elizabethan +stage, Shakespeare's life and work, and a careful study of +<i>The Merchant of Venice</i> itself. The editor does not pretend to +originality; he has simply tried to bring together well ascertained +facts and to present them in the simplest, clearest fashion possible. +But the <i>Indledning</i> is to-day, thirty-five years after it was +written, fully up to the standard of the best annotated school +editions in this country or in England. It is, of course, a little +dry and schematic; that could hardly be avoided in an attempt +to compress such a vast amount of information into such a small +compass, but, for the most part, the details are so clear and vivid +that their mass rather heightens than blurs the picture.</p> + +<p>From the fact that nothing in this introduction is original, +it is hardly necessary to criticise it at length; all that may be +demanded is a short survey of the contents. The whole consists +of two great divisions, a general introduction to Shakespeare and +a special introduction to <i>The Merchant of Venice</i>. The first +division is, in turn, subdivided into seven heads: +1. <i>The Pre-Shakespearean Drama</i>. 2. <i>The Life of +Shakespeare</i>. 3. <i>Shakespeare's Works—Order and +Chronology</i>. 4. <i>Shakespeare as a Dramatist</i>. +5. <i>Shakespeare's Versification</i>. 6. <i>The Text of +Shakespeare</i>. 7. <i>The Theatres of Shakespeare's Time</i>. +This introduction fills thirty-nine +<span class = "pagenum">86</span> +pages and presents an exceedingly useful compendium for +the student and the general reader. The short introduction to +the play itself discusses briefly the texts, the sources, the characters, +Shakespeare's relation to his material and, finally, the meaning +of the play. The last section is, however, a translation from Taine +and not Wiesener's at all.</p> + +<p>The text itself is provided with elaborate notes of the usual +text-book sort. In addition to these there is, at the back, an +admirable series of notes on the language of Shakespeare. Wiesener +explains in simple, compact fashion some of the differences +between Elizabethan and modern English and traces these phenomena +back to their origins in Anglo-Saxon and Middle English. +Inadequate as they are, these linguistic notes cannot be too highly +praised for the conviction of which they bear evidence—that a +complete knowledge of Shakespeare without a knowledge of his +language is impossible. To the student of that day these notes +must have been a revelation.</p> + +<p>The second text edition of a Shakespearean play in Norway +was Collin's <i>The Merchant of Venice</i>.<a name = "tag2_25" +href = "#note2_25"><sup>II.25</sup></a> +His introduction covers +much the same ground as Wiesener's, but he offers no sketch of +the Elizabethan drama, of Shakespeare's life, or of his development +as a dramatic artist. On the other hand, his critical analysis +of the play is fuller and, instead of a mere summary, he gives +an elaborate exposition of Shakespeare's versification.</p> + +<p>Collin is a critic of rare insight. Accordingly, although he +says nothing new in his discussion of the purport and content of +the play, he makes the old story live anew. He <ins class = "correction" +title = "so in original: imagines?">images</ins> Shakespeare +in the midst of his materials—how he found them, how he +gave them life and being. The section on Shakespeare's language +is not so solid and scientific as Wiesener's, but his discussion of +Shakespeare's versification is both longer and more valuable than +Wiesener's fragmentary essay, and Shakespeare's relation to his +sources is treated much more suggestively.</p> + +<p>He points out, first of all, that in Shakespeare's "classical" +plays the characters of high rank commonly use verse and those +of low rank, prose. This is, however, not a law. The real principle +of the interchange of prose and verse is in the emotions to +<span class = "pagenum">87</span> +be conveyed. Where these are tense, passionate, exalted, they +are communicated in verse; where they are ordinary, commonplace, +they are expressed in prose. This rule will hold both for +characters of high station and for the most humble. In Act I, +for example, Portia speaks in prose to her maid "obviously because +Shakespeare would lower the pitch and reduce the suspense. +In the following scene, the conversation between Shylock and +Bassanio begins in prose. But as soon as Antonio appears, Shylock's +emotions are roused to their highest pitch, and his speech +turns naturally to verse—even though he is alone and his speech +an aside. A storm of passions sets his mind and speech in rhythmic +motion. And from that point on, the conversations of Shylock, +Bassanio, and Antonio are in verse. In short, rhythmic speech +when there is a transition to strong, more dramatic feeling."</p> + +<p>The use of prose or verse depends, then, on the kind and depth +of feeling rather than on the characters. "In Act II Launcelot +Gobbo and his father are the only ones who employ prose. All +the others speak in verse—even the servant who tells of Bassanio's +arrival. Not only that, but he speaks in splendid verse even +though he is merely announcing a messenger:"</p> + +<div class = "verse3"> +"Yet have I not seen</div> +<div class = "verse"> +So likely an ambassador of love," etc. +</div> + +<p>Again, in <i>Lear</i>, the servant who protests against Cornwall's +cruelty to Gloster, nameless though he is, speaks in noble and stately +lines:</p> + +<div class = "verse3"> +Hold your hand, my lord;</div> +<div class = "verse"> +I've served you ever since I was a child;<br> +But better service have I never done you<br> +Than now to bid you hold. +</div> + +<p>When the dramatic feeling warrants it, the humblest rise to the +highest poetry. The renaissance was an age of deeper, mightier +feelings than our own, and this intense life speaks in verse, for +only thus can it adequately express itself.</p> + +<p>All this is romantic enough. But it is to be doubted if the +men of the renaissance were so different from us that they felt +an instinctive need of bursting into song. The causes of the +efflorescence of Elizabethan dramatic poetry are not, I think, +to be sought in such subtleties as these.</p> + +<p>Collin further insists that the only way to understand Shakespeare's +versification is to understand his situations and his characters. +<span class = "pagenum">88</span> +Rules avail little. If we do not <i>feel</i> the meaning of the +music, we shall never understand the meaning of the verse. Shakespeare's +variations from the normal blank verse are to be interpreted +from this point of view. Hence what the metricists call +"irregularities" are not irregularities at all. Collin examines +the more important of these irregularities and tries to account +for them.</p> + +<p>1. Short broken lines as in I, 1-5: <i>I am to learn.</i> Antonio +completes this line by a shrug of the shoulders or a gesture. "It +would be remarkable," concludes Collin, "if there were no +interruptions or pauses even though the characters speak in verse." +Another example of this breaking of the line for dramatic purposes is +found in <ins class = "correction" title = "original reads 'I-3-1.3'">I, +3-123</ins> where Shylock suddenly stops after "say this" +as if to draw breath and arrange his features. <ins class = "correction" +title = "so in original">(Sic!)</ins></p> + +<p>2. A verse may be abnormally long and contain six feet. This +is frequently accidental, but in <i>M of V</i> it is used at least once +deliberately—in the oracular inscriptions on the caskets:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +"Who chooseth me shall gain what men desire."<br> +"Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves."<br> +"Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he has." +</div> + +<p>Collin explains that putting these formulas into Alexandrines +gives them a stiffness and formality appropriate to their purpose.</p> + +<p>3. Frequently one or two light syllables are added to the close +of the verse:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster. +</div> + +<p>or</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Sleep when he wakes and creep into the jaundice. +</div> + +<p>Again, in III, 2-214 we have two unstressed syllables:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +But who comes here? Lorenzo and his infidel? +</div> + +<p>"Shakespeare uses this unaccented gliding ending more in his +later works to give an easier more unconstrained movement."</p> + +<p>4. <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Occassionally'">Occasionally</ins> +a syllable is lacking, and the foot seems to halt +as in V, 1-17:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +As far as Belmont. In such a night, etc. +</div> + +<p>Here a syllable is lacking in the third foot. But artistically this +is no defect. We cannot ask that Jessica and Lorenzo always have +the right word at hand. The defective line simply means a pause +and, therefore, instead of being a blemish, is exactly right.</p> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">89</span></p> + +<p>5. On the other hand, there is often an extra light syllable +before the caesura. (I, 1-48):</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Because you are not merry; and 'twere as easy, etc. +</div> + +<p>This extra syllable before the pause gives the effect of a slight +retardation. It was another device to make the verse easy and +unconstrained.</p> + +<p>6. Though the prevailing verse is iambic pentameter, we rarely +find more than three or four real accents. The iambic movement +is constantly broken and compelled to fight its way through. This +gives an added delight, since the ear, attuned to the iambic beat, +readily recognizes it when it recurs. The presence of a trochee +is no blemish, but a relief:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Vailing her high tops higher than her ribs. <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'I-1-28'">(I, 1-28)</ins> +</div> + +<p>This inverted stress occurs frequently in Norwegian poetry. +Wergeland was a master of it and used it with great effect, for +instance, in his poem to Ludvig Daa beginning:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Med døden i mit hjerte,<br> +og smilet om min mund,— +</div> + +<p>All this gives to Shakespeare's verse a marvellous flexibility +and power. Nor are these devices all that the poet had at his +disposal. We frequently find three syllables to the foot, giving +the line a certain fluidity which a translator only rarely can reproduce. +Finally, a further difficulty in translating Shakespeare +lies in the richness of the English language in words of one syllable. +What literature can rival the grace and smoothness of:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +In sooth I know not why I am so sad. +</div> + +<p>Ten monosyllables in succession! It is enough to drive a translator +to despair. Or take:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +To be or not to be, that is the question. +</div> + +<p>To summarize, no other language can rival English in dramatic +dialogue in verse, and this is notably true of Shakespeare's English, +where the word order is frequently simpler and more elastic +than it is in modern English.</p> + +<p>Two reviews of Collin quickly appeared in a pedagogical +magazine, <i>Den Höiere Skole</i>. The first of them,<a name = "tag2_26" +href = "#note2_26"><sup>II.26</sup></a> by Ivar Alnæs, +<span class = "pagenum">90</span> +is a brief, rather perfunctory review. He points out that <i>The +Merchant of Venice</i> is especially adapted to reading in the gymnasium, +for it is unified in structure, the characters are clearly +presented, the language is not difficult, and the picture is worth +while historically. Collin has, therefore, done a great service in +making the play available for teaching purposes. Alnæs warmly +praises the introduction; it is clear, full, interesting, and marked +throughout by a tone of genuine appreciation. But right here +lies its weakness. It is not always easy to distinguish ascertained +facts from Collin's imaginative combinations. Every page, +however, gives evidence of the editor's endeavor to give to the +student fresh, stimulating impressions, and new, revealing points +of view. This is a great merit and throws a cloak over many +eccentricities of language.</p> + +<p>But Collin was not to escape so easily. In the same volume Dr. August +Western<a name = "tag2_27" href = "#note2_27"><sup>II.27</sup></a> +wrote a severe criticism of Collin's treatment of Shakespeare's +versification.</p> + +<p>He agrees, as a matter of course, that Shakespeare is a master +of versification, but he does not believe that Collin has proved +it. That blank verse is the natural speech of the chief characters +or of the minor characters under emotional stress, that prose is +<i>usually</i> used by minor characters or by important characters under +no emotional strain is, in Dr. Western's opinion, all wrong. Nor +is prose per se more restful than poetry. And is not Shylock +more emotional in his scene (I, 3) than any of the characters in +the casket scene immediately following (II, 1)? According to +Collin, then, I, 3 should be in verse and II, 1 in prose! Equally +absurd is the theory that Shakespeare's characters speak in verse +because their natures demand it. Does Shylock go contrary to +nature in III, 1? There is no psychological reason for Verse in +Shakespeare. He wrote as he did because convention prescribed +it. The same is true of Goethe and Schiller, of Bjørnson and +Ibsen in their earlier plays. Shakespeare's lapses into prose +are, moreover, easy to explain. There must always be something +to amuse the gallery. Act III, 1 must be so understood, for though +Shakespeare was undoubtedly moved, the effect of the scene was +comic. The same is true of the dialogue between Portia and Nerissa +in Act I, and of all the scenes in which Launcelot Gobbo appears.</p> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">91</span> +Western admits, however, that much of the prose in Shakespeare +cannot be so explained; for example, the opening scenes in +<i>Lear</i> and <i>The Tempest</i>. And this brings up another point, +i.e., Collin's supposition that Shakespeare's texts as we have them +are exactly as he wrote them. When the line halts, Collin simply +finds proof of the poet's fine ear! The truth probably is that +Shakespeare had a good ear and that he always wrote good lines, +but that he took no pains to see that these lines were correctly +printed. Take, for example, such a line as:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +As far as Belmont.</div> +<div class = "verse4"> +In such a night +</div> + +<p>This would, if written by anyone else, always be considered bad, +and Dr. Western does not believe that Collin's theory of the pauses +will hold. The pause plays no part in verse. A line consists of +a fixed number of <i>heard</i> syllables. Collin would say that a line +like I, 1-73:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +I will not fail you, +</div> + +<p>is filled out with a bow and a swinging of the hat. Then why are +the lines just before it, in which Salarino and Salario take leave +of each other, not defective? Indeed, how can we be sure that +much of what passes for "Shakespeare's versification" is not based +on printers' errors? In the folio of 1623 there are long passages +printed in prose which, after closer study, we must believe were +written in verse—the opening of <i>Lear</i> and <i>The Tempest</i>. +Often, +too, it is plain that the beginnings and endings of lines have been +run together. Take the passage:</p> + +<div class = "speaker">Sal:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Why, then you are in love.</div> +<div class = "speaker">Ant:</div> +<div class = "verse4"> +Fie, fie!</div> +<div class = "speaker">Sal:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Not in love neither? Then let us say you are sad—</div> + +<p>The first line is one foot short, the second one foot too long. This +Collin would call a stroke of genius; each <i>fie</i> is a complete foot, +and the line is complete! But what if the line were printed thus:</p> + +<div class = "speaker">Sal:</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Why, then you are in love.</div> +<div class = "speaker">Ant:</div> +<div class = "verse4"> +Fie, fie!</div> +<div class = "speaker">Sal:</div> +<div class = "verse5"> +Not in</div> +<div class = "verse"> +Love neither? Then let us say you are sad.</div> + +<p>or possibly:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Love neither? Then let's say that you are sad.</div> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">92</span> +Another possible printer's error is found in I, 3-116:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +With bated breath and whispering humbleness<br> +Say this;<br> +Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last.</div> + +<p>Are we here to imagine a pause of four feet? And what are we to +do with the first folio which has</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Say this; Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last. +</div> + +<p>all in one line? Perhaps some printer chose between the two. +At any rate, Collin's theory will not hold. In the schools, of course, +one cannot be a text critic but, on the other hand, one must not +praise in Shakespeare what may be the tricks of the printer's +devil. The text is not always faultless.</p> + +<p>Finally, Dr. Western objects to the statement that the difficulty +in translating Shakespeare lies in the great number of +monosyllables and gives</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +In sooth, I know not why I am so sad +</div> + +<p>as proof. Ten monosyllables in one line! But this is not impossible +in Norwegian:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +For sand, jeg ved ei, hvi jeg er saa trist— +</div> + +<p>It is not easy to translate Shakespeare, but the difficulty goes +deeper than his richness in words of one syllable.</p> + +<p>With the greater part of Dr. Western's article everyone will +agree. It is doubtful if any case could be made out for the division +of prose and verse based on psychology. Shakespeare probably +wrote his plays in verse for the same reason that Goethe and +Schiller and Oehlenschläger did. It was the fashion. And how +difficult it is to break with fashion or with old tradition, the +history of Ibsen's transition from poetry to prose shows. It is +equally certain that in Collin's <i>Introduction</i> it is difficult to +distinguish ascertained facts from brilliant speculation. But it is +not easy to agree with Dr. Western that Collin's explanation of +the "pause" is a tissue of fancy.</p> + +<p>In the first place, no one denies that the printers have at times +played havoc with Shakespeare's text. Van Dam and Stoffel, to +whose book Western refers and whose suggestions are directly +responsible for this article, have shown this clearly enough. But +when Dr. Western argues that because printers have corrupted +the text in some places, they must be held accountable for every +<span class = "pagenum">93</span> +defective short line, we answer, it does not follow. In the second +place, why should not a pause play a part in prosody as well as +in music? Recall Tennyson's verse:</p> + +<div class = "verse3"> +Break, break, break,</div> +<div class = "verse3"> +On thy cold, grey stones, o sea! +</div> + +<p>where no one feels that the first line is defective. Of course the +answer is that in Tennyson no accented syllable is lacking. But it +is difficult to understand what difference this makes. When the +reader has finished pronouncing <i>Belmont</i> there <i>must</i> be a +moment's hesitation before Lorenzo breaks in with:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +In such a night +</div> + +<p>and this pause may have metrical value. The only judge of verse, +after all, is the hearer, and, in my opinion, Collin is right when he +points out the value of the slight metrical pause between the bits +of repartee. Whether Shakespeare counted the syllables beforehand +or not, is another matter. In the third place, Collin did not +quote in support of his theory the preposterous lines which Dr. +Western uses against him. Collin does quote I, 1-5:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +I am to learn. +</div> + +<p>and I, 1-73:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +I will not fail you +</div> + +<p>is a close parallel, but Collin probably would not insist that his +theory accounts for every case. As to Dr. Western's other example +of good meter spoiled by corrupt texts, Collin would, no doubt, +admit the possibility of the proposed emendations. It would +not alter his contention that a pause in the line, like a pause in +music, is not necessarily void, but may be very significant indeed.</p> + +<p>The array of Shakespearean critics in Norway, as we said at +the beginning, is not imposing. Nor are their contributions +important. But they show, at least, a sound acquaintance with +Shakespeare and Shakespeareana, and some of them, like the +articles of Just Bing, Brettville Jensen, Christen Collin, and +August Western, are interesting and illuminating. Bjørnson's +article in <i>Aftenbladet</i> is not merely suggestive as Shakespearean +criticism, but it throws valuable light on Bjørnson himself +and his literary development. When we come to the dramatic +criticism of Shakespeare's plays, we shall find renewed evidence of +a wide and intelligent knowledge of Shakespeare in Norway.</p> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_1" href = "#tag2_1">II.1.</a> +"Shakespeareana i Danmark"—<i>Dansk Minerva</i>, 1816 (III) +pp. 151 ff. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_2" href = "#tag2_2">II.2.</a> +<i>Illustreret Nyhedsblad</i>, 1865, pp. 96 ff. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_3" href = "#tag2_3">II.3.</a> +See Vol. III (1855), pp. 378 ff. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_4" href = "#tag2_4">II.4.</a> +Vol. XII (1863), pp. 199 ff. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_5" href = "#tag2_5">II.5.</a> +Vol. XIII (1864), pp. 65 ff. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_6" href = "#tag2_6">II.6.</a> +Vol. V, p. 572. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_7" href = "#tag2_7">II.7.</a> +Vol. XIV, p. 96. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_8" href = "#tag2_8">II.8.</a> +Blanc. <i>Christianias Theaters Historie</i>, p. 196. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_9" href = "#tag2_9">II.9.</a> +April 26-27, 1865. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_10" href = "#tag2_10">II.10.</a> +April 28. Reprinted in Bjørnson's <i>Taler og Skrifter</i>. +Udgivet af C. Collin og H. Eitrem. Kristiania. 1912. Vol. I, pp. 263-270. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_11" href = "#tag2_11">II.11.</a> +Vol. VII, pp. 1-12. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_12" href = "#tag2_12">II.12.</a> +1880, pp. 61-71. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_13" href = "#tag2_13">II.13.</a> +<i>Kringsjaa</i>. Vol. XII, pp. 777 ff. The article upon which +this reply was based was from the <i>Quarterly Review</i>. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_14" href = "#tag2_14">II.14.</a> +Vol. I, pp. 38 ff. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_15" href = "#tag2_15">II.15.</a> +Vol. VI, pp. 49 ff. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_16" href = "#tag2_16">II.16.</a> +Cf. Vilhelm Møller in <i>Nordisk Tidskrift för Vetenskap, Konst och +Industri</i>. 1896, pp. 501-519. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_17" href = "#tag2_17">II.17.</a> +<i>Samtiden</i>, 1896. (VII), pp. 382 ff. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_18" href = "#tag2_18">II.18.</a> +Copenhagen, 1898. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_19" href = "#tag2_19">II.19.</a> +Vol. VI (1899), pp. 400 ff. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_20" href = "#tag2_20">II.20.</a> +Vol. XII, pp. 61 ff. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_21" href = "#tag2_21">II.21.</a> +Chr. Collin, Christiania. 1914. H. Aschehoug & Co. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_22" href = "#tag2_22">II.22.</a> +See pp. 71 ff. below. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_23" href = "#tag2_23">II.23.</a>** This article is +reprinted in <i>Det Geniale Menneske</i> above referred to. It forms +the second of a group of essays in which Collin analyzes the work of +Shakespeare as the finest example of the true contribution of genius +to the progress and culture of the race. Preceding the study of +<i>Hamlet</i> is a chapter called <i>The <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Shakespeareen'">Shakespearean</ins> +Controversy</i>, and following it is a study of Shakespeare the Man. This +is in three parts, the first of which is a reprint of an article in +<i>Samtiden</i> (1901). +</div> +<div class = "footnote"> +In <i>Det Geniale Menneske</i> Collin defines +civilization as that higher state +which the human race has attained by means of "psychic +organs"—superior to the physical organs. The psychic organs have +been created by the human intellect and they are controlled by the +intellect. Had man been dependent +upon the physical organs solely, he would have remained an animal. His +psychic organs have enabled him to create instruments, tangible, such as +tools and machines; intangible, such as works of art. These are psychic +organs and with their aid man has become a civilized being. +</div> +<div class = "footnote"> +The psychic organs are the creation of the man of genius. To create such +organs is his function. The characteristics, +then, of the genius are an immense +capacity for sympathy and an immense surplus of power; sympathy, that he +may know the needs of mankind; power, that he may fashion those great +organs of life by which the race may live and grow. +</div> +<div class = "footnote"> +In the various chapters of his book, Collin analyzes +in an illuminating way the life and work of Wergeland, Ibsen, and +Bjørnson as typical men of genius +whose expansive sympathy gave them insight and understanding and whose +indefatigable energy wrought in the light of their insight mighty psychic +organs of cultural progress. +</div> +<div class = "footnote"> +He comes then to Shakespeare as the genius par excellence. The chapter +on the <i>Shakespearean Controversy</i> gives first a survey of the +development of modern scientific literary criticism from +Herder to Taine and Saint Beuve. He goes on to detail the +application of this method to the plays and sonnets +of Shakespeare. Furnivall, Spalding, and Brandes have attempted to trace +the genesis and the chronology of the plays. They would have us believe +that the series of tragedies—<i>Hamlet</i>, +<i>Macbeth</i>, <i>Othello</i>, +<i>Lear</i>, <i>Antony and Cleopatra</i>, <i>Troilus and Cressida</i>, +<i>Coriolanus</i>, and <i>Timon</i> are the records of an increasing +bitterness and pessimism. Brandes and Frank Harris, following Thomas +Tyler have, on the basis of the sonnets, constructed a fascinating, but +quite fantastic romance. +</div> +<div class = "footnote"> +Vagaries such as these have caused some critics, such as Sidney Lee and +<ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Bierfreund to, declare'">Bierfreund, to +declare</ins> that it is impossible on the basis of the plays to +penetrate to Shakespeare the man. His work is too purely objective. +Collin is not willing to admit this. He maintains that the scientific +biographical method of criticism is fundamentally sound. +But it must be rationally applied. The +sequence which Brandes has set up is quite impossible. Goswin Kønig, in +1888, applying the metrical tests, fixed the order as follows: +<i>Hamlet</i>, <i>Troilus and Cressida</i>, <i>Measure for Measure</i>, +<i>Othello</i>, <i>Timon</i>, and <i>Lear</i>, and, in another +group, <i>Macbeth</i>, <i>Antony and Cleopatra</i>, +and <i>Coriolanus</i>. These +results are confirmed by Bradley in his <i>Shakespearean Tragedy</i>. +</div> +<div class = "footnote"> +Collin accepts this chronology. A careful study of the plays in this +order shows a striking community of ethical purpose between the plays of +each group. In the plays of the first group, the poet assails with all +his mighty wrath what to him seems the basest of all wickedness, +treachery. It is characteristic +of these plays that none of the villains attains the dignity of a great +tragic hero. They are without a virtue to redeem their faults. +Shakespeare's conception of the good and evil in these plays approaches +a medieval dualism. In the plays of the second group the case is altered. +There is no longer a crude dualism in the interpretation of life. +Shakespeare has entered into the soul of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, +of Antony and Cleopatra, of Coriolanus, +and he has found underneath all that is weak and sinful and diseased, a +certain nobility and grandeur. He can feel with the regicides in Macbeth; +he no longer exposes and scourges; he understands and sympathizes. The +clouds of gloom and wrath have cleared away, and Shakespeare has achieved +a serenity and a fine poise. +</div> +<div class = "footnote"> +It follows, then, that the theory of a growing pessimism is untenable. +We must seek a new line of evolution. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_24" href = "#tag2_24">II.24.</a> +<i>Shakespeares The Merchant of +Venice. Med Anmærkninger og Indledning</i>. Udgivet af G. Wiesener. +Kristiania, 1880. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_25" href = "#tag2_25">II.25.</a> +<i>The Merchant of Venice</i>. Med Indledning og Anmærkninger +ved Chr. Collin. Kristiania. 1902. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_26" href = "#tag2_26">II.26.</a> +Vol. 5 (1903), pp. 51 ff. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note2_27" href = "#tag2_27">II.27.</a> +<i>Ibid.</i> pp. 142 ff. +</div> + +<hr> +<span class = "pagenum">94</span> +<a name = "chap_iii"> </a><br> +<h1>CHAPTER III</h1> + +<h2>Performances of Shakespeare's Plays in Norway</h2> + +<p align = "center"><i>Christiania</i></p> + +<p>The first public theater in Christiania was opened by the Swedish +actor, Johan Peter Strömberg, on January 30, 1827, but no +Shakespeare production was put on during his short and troubled +administration. Not quite two years later this strictly private +undertaking became a semi-public one under the immediate direction +of J.K. Böcher, and at the close of the season 1829-30, Böcher +gave by way of epilogue to the year, two performances including +scenes from Holberg's <i>Melampe</i>, Shakespeare's <i>Hamlet</i>, and +Oehlenschläger's <i>Aladdin</i>. The Danish actor Berg played Hamlet, +but we have no further details of the performance. We may be +sure, however, that of the two translations available, Boye's and +Foersom's, the latter was used. <i>Hamlet</i>, or a part of it, was thus +given for the first time in Norway nearly seventeen years after +Foersom himself had brought it upon the stage in Denmark.<a name = +"tag3_1" href = "#note3_1"><sup>III.1</sup></a></p> + +<p>More than fourteen years were to elapse before the theater +took up Shakespeare in earnest. On July 28, 1844, the first complete +Shakespearean play was given. This was <i>Macbeth</i> in Foersom's +version of Schiller's "bearbeitung," which we shall take +up in our studies of Shakespeare in +Denmark.<a name = "tag3_2" href = "#note3_2"><sup>III.2</sup></a> +No reviews of +it are to be found in the newspapers of the time, not even an +announcement. This, however, does not prove that the event was +unnoticed, for the press of that day was a naive one. Extensive +reviews were unknown; the most that the public expected was a +notice.</p> + +<p>We are equally ignorant of the fate of <i>Othello</i>, performed the +next season, being given for the first time on January 3, 1845. +<span class = "pagenum">95</span> +Wulff's Danish translation was used. Blanc says in his +<i>Historie</i><a name = "tag3_3" href = "#note3_3"><sup>III.3</sup></a> +that Desdemona and Iago were highly praised, but that the play +as a whole was greatly beyond the powers of the theater.</p> + +<p>Nearly eight years later, November 11, 1852, <i>Romeo and Juliet</i> +in Foersom's translation received its Norwegian premiere. The +acting version used was that made for the Royal Theater in Copenhagen +by A.E. Boye in 1828.<a name = "tag3_4" +href = "#note3_4"><sup>III.4</sup></a> +<i>Christiania Posten</i><a name = "tag3_5" +href = "#note3_5"><sup>III.5</sup></a> +reports a packed house and a tremendous enthusiasm. Romeo (by Wiehe) +and Juliet (by Jomfru Svendsen) revealed careful study and complete +understanding. The reviewer in <i>Morgenbladet</i><a name = "tag3_6" +href = "#note3_6"><sup>III.6</sup></a> begins with +the little essay on Shakespeare so common at the time; "Everyone +knows with what colors the immortal Shakespeare depicts human passions. +In <i>Othello</i>, jealousy; in <i>Hamlet</i>, despair; in +<i>Romeo and Juliet</i>, love, are sung in tones which penetrate to the +depths of the soul. Against the background of bitter feud, the +love of Romeo and Juliet stands out victorious and beneficent. +Even if we cannot comprehend this passion, we can, at least, feel +the ennobling power of the story." Both of the leading parts are +warmly praised. Of Wiehe the reviewer says: "Der var et Liv +af Varme hos ham i fuldt Maal, og den grændseløse Fortvivlelse +blev gjengivet med en næsten forfærdelig Troskab."</p> + +<p>The same season (Dec. 11, 1852) the theater also presented +<i>As You Like It</i> in the Danish version by Sille Beyer. The +performance of two Shakespearean plays within a year may rightly be +called an ambitious undertaking for a small theatre without a +cent of subsidy. <i>Christiania Posten</i> says: "It is a real kindness +to the public to make it acquainted with these old masterpieces. +One feels refreshed, as though coming out of a bath, after a plunge +into their boundless, pure poetry. The marvellous thing about this comedy +(<i>As You Like It</i>) is its wonderful, spontaneous freshness, +and its freedom from all sentimentality and emotional nonsense." +The acting, says the critic, was admirable, but its high +quality must, in a measure, be attributed to the sympathy and +enthusiasm of the audience. Wiehe is praised for his interpretation +of Orlando and Jomfru Svendsen for her Rosalind.<a name = "tag3_7" +href = "#note3_7"><sup>III.7</sup></a> Apparently +<span class = "pagenum">96</span> +none of the reviewers noticed that Sille Beyer had turned Shakespeare +upside down. Her version was given for the last time on +Sept. 25, 1878, and in this connection an interesting discussion +sprang up in the press.</p> + +<p>The play was presented by student actors, and the performance +was therefore less finished than it would have been under +other circumstances. <i>Aftenposten</i> was doubtless right when it +criticised the director for entrusting so great a play to unpractised +hands, assuming that Shakespeare should be played at all. "For +our part, we do not believe the time far distant when Shakespeare +will cease to be a regular part of the repertoire."<a name = "tag3_8" +href = "#note3_8"><sup>III.8</sup></a> To this statement +a contributor in <i>Aftenposten</i> for Sept. 28 objected. He admits +that Shakespeare wrote his plays for a stage different from our +own, that the ease with which Elizabethan scenery was shifted +gave his plays a form that makes them difficult to play today. +Too often at a modern presentation we feel that we are seeing a +succession of scenes rather than unified, organic drama. But, +after all, the main thing is the substance—"the weighty content, +and this will most certainly secure for them for a long time to +come a place in the repertoire of the theater of the Germanic +world. So long as we admit that in the delineation of character, +in the presentation of noble figures, and in the mastery of dialogue, +Shakespeare is unexcelled, so long we must admit that +Shakespeare has a place on the modern stage."</p> + +<p>Where did <i>Aftenposten</i>'s reviewer get the idea that +Shakespeare's plays are not adapted to the modern stage? Was it +from Charles Lamb? At any rate, it is certain that he anticipated +a movement that has led to many devices both in the English-speaking +countries and in Germany to reproduce the stage +conditions under which Shakespeare's plays were performed +during his own life.</p> + +<p>Of the next Shakespearean piece to be performed in Christiania, +<i>All's Well That Ends Well</i>, there is but the briefest mention +in the newspapers. We know that it was given in the curiously +perverted arrangement by Sille Beyer and was presented twelve +times from January 15, 1854 to May 23, 1869. On that day a +new version based on Lembcke's translation was used, and in this +<span class = "pagenum">97</span> +form the play was given eight times the following seasons. Since +January 24, 1882, it has not been performed in Norway.<a name = "tag3_9" +href = "#note3_9"><sup>III.9</sup></a></p> + +<p>At the beginning of the next season, October 29, 1854, <i>Much +Ado About Nothing</i> was introduced to Kristiania theater-goers +under the title <i>Blind Alarm</i>. The translation was by Carl Borgaard, +director of the theater. But here, too, contemporary +documents leave us in the dark. There is merely a brief announcement +in the newspapers. Blanc informs us that Jomfru Svendsen +played Hero, and Wiehe, +Benedict.<a name = "tag3_10" href = "#note3_10"><sup>III.10</sup></a></p> + +<p>After <i>Blind Alarm</i> Shakespeare disappears from the repertoire +for nearly four years. A version of <i>The Taming of the Shrew</i> +under the title <i>Hun Maa Tæmmes</i> was given on March 28, 1858, +but with no great success. Most of the papers ignored it. +<i>Aftenbladet</i> merely announced that it had been +given.<a name = "tag3_11" href = "#note3_11"><sup>III.11</sup></a></p> + +<p><i>Viola</i>, Sille Beyer's adaptation of <i>Twelfth Night</i> was +presented at Christiania Theater on November 20, 1860, the eighth of +Shakespeare's plays to be presented in Norway, and again not merely +in a Danish text but in a version made for the Copenhagen Theater.</p> + +<p>Neither the critics nor the public were exacting. The press +hailed <i>Viola</i> as a tremendous relief from the frothy stuff with +which theater-goers had been sickened for a season or two. "The +theater finally justified its existence," says +<i>Morgenbladet</i>,<a name = "tag3_12" +href = "#note3_12"><sup>III.12</sup></a> +"by a performance of one of Shakespeare's plays. Viola was beautifully +done." The writer then explains in conventional fashion +the meaning of the English title and goes on—"But since the +celebration of <i>Twelfth Night</i> could interest only the English, the +Germans have "bearbeidet" the play and centered the interest +around Viola. We have adopted this version." He approves +of Sille Beyer's cutting, though he admits that much is lost of the +breadth and overwhelming romantic fulness that mark the original. +But this he thinks is compensated for by greater intelligibility +and the resulting dramatic effect. "Men hvad Stykket ved +saadan Forandring, Beklippelse, og Udeladelse <ins class = "correction" +title = "not an error (saa at sige)">saaatsige</ins> taber +af sin Fylde idet ikke alt det Leende, +Sorgløse og Romantiske vandre saa +ligeberettiget side om side igjennem Stykket, mens +det Øvrige samler sig om Viola, det opveies ved den større Forstaaelighed +<span class = "pagenum">98</span> +for vort Publikum og denne mere afrundede sceniske Virkning, +Stykket ved Bearbeidelsen har faaet." As the piece is arranged +<ins class = "correction" title = "original reads 'now Viola, and'">now, +Viola and</ins> her brother are not on the stage at the +same time until Act V. Both rôles may therefore be played by +Jomfru Svendsen. The critic is captivated by her acting of the +double rôle, and Jørgensen's Malvolio and Johannes Brun's Sir +Andrew Aguecheek share with her the glory of a thoroughly successful +performance.</p> + +<p>Sille Beyer's <i>Viola</i> was given twelve times. From the thirteenth +performance, January 21, 1890, <i>Twelfth Night</i> was given +in a new form based on Lembcke's translation.</p> + +<p>A thorough search through the newspaper files fails to reveal +even a slight notice of <i>The Merchant of Venice</i> (Kjøbmanden i +Venedig) played for the first time on Sept. 17, 1861. Rahbek's +translation was used, and this continued to be the standard until +1874, when, beginning with the eighth performance, it was replaced +by Lembcke's.</p> + +<p>We come, then, to <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i> +(Skjærsommernatsdrømmen) played in Oehlenschläger's translation under +Bjørnson's direction on April 17, 1865. The play was given ten +times from that date till May 27, 1866. In spite of this unusual +run it appears to have been only moderately successful, and when +Bjørnson dropped it in the spring of 1866, it was to disappear from +the repertoire for thirty-seven years. On January 15, 1903, it +was revived by Bjørnson's son, Bjørn Bjørnson. This time, +however, it was called <i>Midsommernatsdrömmen</i>, and the acting +version was based on Lembcke's translation. In this new shape +it has been played twenty-seven times up to January, 1913.</p> + +<p>The interesting polemic which Bjørnson's production occasioned +has already been discussed at some length. This may <ins class = +"correction" title = +"original reads 'be according added, however: A play which, to'">be +added, however: A play which, according to</ins> the poet's confession, +influenced his life as this one did, has played an important part +in Norwegian literature. The influence may be intangible. It is +none the less real.</p> + +<p>More popular than any of the plays which had thus far been presented +in Norway was <i>A Winter's Tale</i>, performed at Christiania +Theater for the first time on May 4, 1866. The version +used had, however, but a faint resemblance to the original. It was +a Danish revision of Dingelstedt's <i>Ein Wintermärchen</i>. I shall +<span class = "pagenum">99</span> +discuss this Holst-Dingelstedt text in another place. At this +point it is enough to say that Shakespeare is highly diluted. It +seems, nevertheless, to have been successful, for between the date +of its premiere and March 21, 1893, when it was given for the last +time, it received fifty-seven performances, easily breaking all +records for Shakespearean plays at the old theater. And at the +new National Theater, where it has never been given, no Shakespearean +play, with the exception of <i>The Taming of the Shrew</i> has +approached its record.</p> + +<p><i>Aftenbladet</i><a name = "tag3_13" +href = "#note3_13"><sup>III.13</sup></a> +in its preliminary review said: "Although this is +not one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, it is well worth putting +on, especially in the form which Dingelstedt has given to it. It +was received with the greatest enthusiasm." But <i>Aftenbladet's</i> +promised critical review never appeared.</p> + +<p>More interesting and more important than most of the performances +which we have thus far considered is that of <i>Henry IV</i> +in 1867, while Bjørnson was still director. To his desire to give +Johannes Brun an opportunity for the display of his genius in the +greatest of comic rôles we owe this version of the play. Bjørnson +obviously could not give both parts, and he chose to combine +cuttings from the two into a single play with Falstaff as the central +figure. The translation used was Lembcke's and the text was only +slightly norvagicized.</p> + +<p>Bjørnson's original prompt book is not now available. In +1910, however, H. Wiers Jensen, a playwright associated with the +National Theater, shortened and slightly adapted the version for +a revival of the play, which had not been seen in Kristiania since +February 8, 1885. We may assume that in all essentials the +prompt book of 1910 reproduces that of 1867.</p> + +<p>In this <i>Kong Henrik IV</i> the action opens with I Henry IV, II-4, +and Act I consists of this scene freely cut and equally freely handled +in the distribution of speeches. The opening of the scene, for +example, is cut away entirely and replaced by a brief account of +the robbery put naively into the mouth of Poins. The opening of +Act II is entirely new. Since all the historical scenes of Act I +of the original have been omitted, it becomes necessary to give the +audience some notion of the background. This is done in a few +lines in which the King tells of the revolt of the nobles and of his +<span class = "pagenum">100</span> +own difficult situation. Then follows the king's speech from +Part I, Act III, Sc. 2:</p> + +<div class = "verse"> +Lords, give us leave; the prince of Wales and I<br> +must have some conference... +</div> + +<p>and what follows is the remainder of the scene with many cuttings. +Sir Walter Blunt does not appear. His rôle is taken by Warwick.</p> + +<p>Act II, Sc. 2 of Bjørnson's text follows Part I, Act III, Sc. 3 +closely.</p> + +<p>Act III, Sc. 1 corresponds with Part I, Act III, Sc. 1 to the +point where Lady Mortimer and Lady Percy enter. This episode +is cut and the scene resumes with the entrance of the messenger +in Part I, Act IV, Sc. 1, line 14. This scene is then followed in +outline to the end.</p> + +<p>Act III, Sc. 2 begins with Part I, Act IV, Sc. 3 from the entrance +of Falstaff, and follows it to the end of the scene. To this is +added most of Scene 4, but there is little left of the original action. +Only the Falstaff episodes are retained intact.</p> + +<p>The last act (IV) is a wonderful composite. Scene 1 corresponds +closely to Part II, Act III, Sc. 4, but it is, as usual, severely +cut. Scene 2 reverts back to Part II, Act III, Sc. 2 and is based on +this scene to line 246, after which it is free handling of Part II, +Act V, Sc. 3. Scene 3 is based on Part II, Act V, Sc. 5.</p> + +<p>A careful reading of Bjørnson's text with the above as a guide +will show that this collection of episodes, chaotic as it seems, +makes no ineffective play. With a genius—and a genius Johannes +Brun was—as Falstaff, one can imagine that the piece went +brilliantly. The press received it favorably, though the reviewers +were much too critical to allow Bjørnson's mangling of the text +to go unrebuked.</p> + +<p><i>Aftenbladet</i> has a careful review.<a name = "tag3_14" +href = "#note3_14"><sup>III.14</sup></a> +The writer admits that +in our day it requires courage and labor to put on one of Shakespeare's +historical plays, for they were written for a stage radically +different from ours. In the Elizabethan times the immense scale +of these "histories" presented no difficulties. On a modern stage +the mere bulk makes a faithful rendition impossible. And the +moment one starts tampering with Shakespeare, trouble begins. +No two adapters will agree as to what or how to cut. Moreover, +<span class = "pagenum">101</span> +it may well be questioned whether any such cutting as that made +for the theater here would be tolerated in any other country with +a higher and older Shakespeare "Kultur." The attempt to fuse +the two parts of <i>Henry IV</i> would be impossible in a country with +higher standards. "Our theater can, however, venture undisturbed +to combine these two comprehensive series of scenes into +one which shall not require more time than each one of them +singly—a venture, to be sure, which is not wholly without precedent +in foreign countries. It is clear that the result cannot give +an adequate notion of Shakespeare's 'histories' in all their richness +of content, but it does, perhaps, give to the theater a series of +worth-while problems to work out, the importance of which +should not be underestimated. The attempt, too, has made our +theater-goers familiar with Shakespeare's greatest comic character, +apparently to their immense delight. Added to all this is the +fact that the acting was uniformly excellent."</p> + +<p>But by what right is the play called Henry IV? Practically +nothing is left of the historical setting, and the spectator is at a +loss to know just what the whole thing is about. Certainly the +whole emphasis is shifted, for the king, instead of being an important +character is overshadowed by Prince Hal. The Falstaff +scenes, on the other hand, are left almost in their original fulness, +and thus constitute a much more important part of the play than +they do in the original. The article closes with a glowing tribute +to Johannes Brun as Falstaff.</p> + +<p><i>Morgenbladet</i><a name = "tag3_15" +href = "#note3_15"><sup>III.15</sup></a> +goes into greater detail. The reviewer seems +to think that Shakespeare had some deep purpose in dividing the +material into two parts—he wished to have room to develop the +character of Prince Henry. "Accordingly, in the first part he +gives us the early stages of Prince Hal's growth, beginning with +the Prince of Wales as a sort of superior rake and tracing the +development of his better qualities. In Part II we see the complete +assertion of his spiritual and intellectual powers." The +writer overlooks the fact that what Shakespeare was writing first +of all—or rather, what he was +revising—was a chronicle. If he +required more than five acts to give the history of Henry IV he +could use ten and call it two plays. If, in so doing, he gave +admirable characterization, it was something inherent in his own +genius, not in the materials with which he was working.</p> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">102</span> +The history, says the reviewer, and the Falstaff scenes are the +background for the study of the Prince, each one serving a distinct +purpose. But here the history has been made meaningless and +the Falstaff episodes have been put in the foreground. He points +out that balance, proportion, and perspective are all lost by this. +Yet, granting that such revolutionizing of a masterpiece is ever +allowable, it must be admitted that Bjørnson has done it with +considerable skill. Bjørnson's purpose is clear enough. He knew +that Johannes Brun as Falstaff would score a triumph, and this +success for his theater he was determined to secure. The same +motive was back of the version which Stjernstrøm put on in Stockholm, +and there can be little doubt that his success suggested the +idea to Bjørnson. The nature of the cutting reveals the purpose +at every step. For instance, the scene in which the Gadskill +robbery is made clear, is cut entirely. We thus lose the first +glimpse of the sterner and manlier side of the royal reveller. In +fact, if Bjørnson had been frank he would have called his play +<i>Falstaff—based on certain scenes from Shakespeare's Henry IV, +Parts I and II</i>.</p> + +<p>Yet, though much has been lost, much of what remains is +excellent. Brun's Falstaff almost reconciles us to the sacrifice. +Long may he live and delight us with it! It is one of his most +superb creations. The cast as a whole is warmly praised. It is +interesting to note that at the close of the review the critic suggests +that the text be revised with Hagberg's Swedish translation +at hand, for Lembcke's Danish contains many words unusual +or even unfamiliar in Norwegian.</p> + +<p><i>Henry IV</i> remained popular in Norway, although from February +8, 1885 to February 10, 1910 it was not given in Kristiania. +When, in 1910, it was revived with Løvaas as Falstaff, the reception +given it by the press was about what it had been a quarter of a +century before. <i>Aftenposten</i>'s<a name = "tag3_16" +href = "#note3_16"><sup>III.16</sup></a> +comment is characteristic: "The +play is turned upside down. The comic sub-plot with Falstaff as +central figure is brought forward to the exclusion of all the rest. +More than this, what is retained is shamelessly altered." Much +more scathing is a short review by Christian Elster in the magazine +<i>Kringsjaa</i>.<a name = "tag3_17" +href = "#note3_17"><sup>III.17</sup></a> +The play, he declares, has obviously been given +<span class = "pagenum">103</span> +to help out the box office by speculating in the popularity of Falstaff. +"There is no unity, no coherence, no consistency in the delineation of +characters, and even from the comic scenes the spirit has +fled."<a href = "#note3_17"><ins class = "correction" title = +"duplicate footnote reference in original"><sup>III.17</sup></ins></a></p> + +<p>To all this it may be replied that the public was right when it +accepted Falstaff for what he was regardless of the violence done +to the original. The Norwegian public cared little about the +wars, little even about the king and the prince; but people will +tell one today of those glorious evenings when they sat in the +theater and revelled in Johannes Brun as the big, elephantine +knight.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1813, Foersom himself brought out <i>Hamlet</i> +on the Danish stage. Nearly sixty years were to pass before this +play was put on in Norway, March 4, 1870.</p> + +<p>The press was not lavish in its praise. +<i>Dagbladet</i><a name = "tag3_18" +href = "#note3_18"><sup>III.18</sup></a> remarks +that though the performance was not what it ought to have been, +the audience followed it from first to last with undivided attention. +<i>Aftenbladet</i><a name = "tag3_19" +href = "#note3_19"><sup>III.19</sup></a> +has a long and interesting review. Most of it is +given over to a criticism of Isaachson's Hamlet. First of all, +says the reviewer, Isaachson labors under the delusion that every +line is cryptic, embodying a secret. This leads him to forget the +volume of the part and to invent all sorts of fanciful interpretations +for details. Thus he loses the unity of the character. Things +are hurried through to a conclusion and the fine transitions are +lost. For example, "Oh, that this too, too solid flesh would melt" +is started well, but the speech at once gains in clearness and decision +until one wonders at the close why such a Hamlet does not +act at once with promptness and vigor. There are, to be sure, +occasional excellences, but they do not conceal the fact that, as +a whole, Isaachson does not understand Hamlet.</p> + +<p>Since its first performance <i>Hamlet</i> has been given often in +Norway—twenty-eight times at the old Christiania Theater, and +(from October 31, 1907) seventeen times at the new National +Theater. Its revival in 1907, after an intermission of twenty-four +years, was a complete success, although +<i>Morgenbladet</i><a name = "tag3_20" +href = "#note3_20"><sup>III.20</sup></a> complained +<span class = "pagenum">104</span> +that the performance lacked light and inspiration. The +house was full and the audience appreciative.</p> + +<p><i>Aftenposten</i><a name = "tag3_21" +href = "#note3_21"><sup>III.21</sup></a> +found the production admirable. Christensen's +Hamlet was a stroke of genius. "Han er voxet i og med Rollen; +han har trængt sig ind i den danske Prins' dybeste Individualitet." +And of the revival the paper says: "The performance +shows that a national theater can solve difficult problems when the +effort is made with sympathy, joy, and devotion to art."</p> + +<p>In my judgment no theater could have given a better +<ins class = "correction" title = "spelling as in original">caste</ins> +for <i>The Merry Wives of Windsor</i> than that with which Christiania +Theater was provided. All the actors were artists of distinction; +and it is not strange, therefore, that the first performance was a +huge success. +<i>Aftenposten</i><a name = "tag3_22" +href = "#note3_22"><sup>III.22</sup></a> +declares that Brun's Falstaff was a revelation. +<i>Morgenbladet</i><a name = "tag3_23" +href = "#note3_23"><sup>III.23</sup></a> +says that the play was done only moderately well. +Brun as Falstaff was, however, "especially amusing." +<i>Aftenbladet</i><a name = "tag3_24" +href = "#note3_24"><sup>III.24</sup></a> +is more generous. "<i>The Merry Wives of +Windsor</i> has been awaited with a good deal of interest. Next +to the curiosity about the play itself, the chief attraction has been +Brun as Falstaff. And though Falstaff as lover gives no such +opportunities as Falstaff, the mock hero, Brun makes a notable +rôle out of it because he knows how to seize upon and bring out all +there is in it."</p> + +<p>Johannes Brun's Falstaff is a classic to this day on the Norwegian +stage. In <i>Illustreret Tidende</i> for July 12, 1874, K.A. Winterhjelm +has a short appreciation of his work. "Johannes Brun has, +as nearly as we can estimate, played something like three hundred +rôles at Christiania Theater. Many of them, to be sure, are +minor parts—but there remains a goodly number of important +ones, from the clown in the farce to the chief parts in the great +comedies. Merely to enumerate his great successes would carry +us far afield. We recall in passing that he has given us Falstaff +both in <i>Henry IV</i> and in <i>The Merry Wives of Windsor</i>, +Bottom in <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i>, and Autolycus in +<i>A Winter's Tale</i>. +Perhaps he lacks something of the nobleman we feel that he should +be in <i>Henry IV</i>, but aside from this petty criticism, what a +wondrous comic character Brun has given us!"</p> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">105</span> +As to the success of <i>Coriolanus</i>, the sixteenth of Shakespeare's +plays to be put on in Kristiania, neither the newspapers nor the +magazines give us any clew. If we may believe a little puff in +<i>Aftenposten</i> for January 20, 1874, the staging was to be +magnificent. <i>Coriolanus</i> was played in a translation by Hartvig +Lassen for the first time on January 21, 1874. After thirteen +performances it was withdrawn on January 10, 1876, and has not been +since presented.</p> + +<p>In 1877, <i>Richard III</i> was brought on the boards for the first +time, but apparently the occasion was not considered significant, +for there is scarcely a notice of it. The public seemed surfeited +with Shakespeare, although the average had been less than one +Shakespearean play a season. At all events, it was ten years +before the theater put on a new one—<i>Julius Caesar</i>, on March +22, 1888. It had the unheard of distinction of being acted sixteen +times in one month, from the premiere night to April 22. Yet +the papers passed it by with indifference. Most of them gave it +merely a notice, and the promised review in <i>Aftenposten</i> never +appeared.</p> + +<p><i>Julius Caesar</i> is the last new play to be presented at +Christiania Theater or at the National Theater, which replaced the +old Christiania Theater in 1899. From October, 1899 to January, +1913 the National Theater has presented eight Shakespearean +plays, but every one of them has been a revival of plays previously +presented.</p> +<br> +<p align = "center"><i>Bergen</i></p> + +<p>Up to a few years ago, the only theater of consequence in +Norway, outside of the capital, was at Bergen. In many respects +the history of the theater at Bergen is more interesting than that of +the theater at Christiania. Established in 1850, while Christiania +Theater was still largely Danish, to foster Norwegian +dramatic art, it is associated with the greatest names in Norwegian +art and letters. The theater owes its origin mainly to Ole Bull; +Henrik Ibsen was official playwright from 1851 to 1857, and +Bjørnson was director from 1857 to 1859. For a dozen years or +more "Den Nationale Scene i Bergen" led a precarious existence +and finally closed its doors in 1863. In 1876 the theater was +reopened. During the first period only two Shakespearean plays +were given—<i>Twelfth Night</i> and <i>As You Like It</i>.</p> + +<p><span class = "pagenum">106</span> +<i>As You Like It</i> in Stille Beyer's version was played twice +during the season 1855-56, on September 30 and October 3. The +press is silent about the performances, but doubtless we may accept +Blanc's statement that the task was too severe for the Bergen +theater.<a name = "tag3_25" href = "#note3_25"><sup>III.25</sup></a></p> + +<p>Rather more successful were the two performances of <i>Twelfth +Night</i> in a stage version adapted from the German of Deinhardstein. +The celebrated Laura Svendsen played the double rôle +of Sebastian-Viola with conspicuous success.<a name = "tag3_26" +href = "#note3_26"><sup>III.26</sup></a></p> + +<p><i>The Merchant of Venice</i> was given for the first time on October +9, 1878, two years after the reopening of the theater. <i>Bergens +Tidende</i><a name = "tag3_27" href = "#note3_27"><sup>III.27</sup></a> +calls the production "a creditable piece of amateur +theatricals," insisting in a review of some length that the young +theater cannot measure up to the demands which a play of Shakespeare's +makes. <i>Bergensposten</i> is less severe. Though far from +faultless, the presentation was creditable, in some details excellent. +But, quite apart from its absolute merits, there is great satisfaction +in seeing the theater undertake plays that are worth +while.<a name = "tag3_28" href = "#note3_28"><sup>III.28</sup></a> +Both papers agree that the audience was large and enthusiastic.</p> + +<p>The next season <i>A Winter's Tale</i> was given in H.P. Holst's +translation and adaptation of Dingelstedt's German acting version +<i>Ein Wintermärchen</i>. The press greeted it enthusiastically. +<i>Bergens Tidende</i><a name = "tag3_29" +href = "#note3_29"><sup>III.29</sup></a> +says: "<i>A Winter's Tale</i> was performed at our +theater yesterday in a manner that won the enthusiastic applause +of a large gathering. The principal actors were called before the +curtain again and again. It is greatly to the credit of any theater +to give a Shakespeare drama, and all the more so when it can do it +in a form as artistically perfect as was yesterday's presentation."</p> + +<p>Concerning <i>Othello</i>, third in order in the Shakespearean +repertoire in Bergen, the reviews of the first performance, November +13, 1881, are conflicting. <i>Bergens Tidende</i><a name = "tag3_30" +href = "#note3_30"><sup>III.30</sup></a> is all praise. It has no +hesitation in pronouncing Johannesen's Iago a masterpiece. +<i>Bergensposten</i><a name = "tag3_31" +href = "#note3_31"><sup>III.31</sup></a> +calls the performance passable but utterly damns +<span class = "pagenum">107</span> +Johannesen—"nothing short of a colossal blunder." Hr. Johannesen +is commended to the easily accessible commentaries of Taine and +<ins class = "correction" title = "original reads 'Genèe'">Genée</ins>, +and to Hamlet's speech to the players. Desdemona +and Cassio are dismissed in much the same fashion.</p> + +<p>A few days later, November 18, <i>Bergensposten</i> reviewed the +performance again and was glad to note a great improvement.</p> + +<p><i>Bergens <ins class = "correction" +title = "spelling as in original">Addressecontoirs</ins> +Efterretninger</i><a name = "tag3_32" +href = "#note3_32"><sup>III.32</sup></a> +agrees with <i>Bergensposten</i> +in its estimate of Johannesen. "He gives us only the +villain in Iago, not the cunning Ensign who deceives so many." +But Desdemona was thoroughly satisfying.</p> + +<p>Whatever may have been its initial success, <i>Othello</i> did not +last. It was given four times during the season 1881-2, but was +then dropped and has never since been taken up.</p> + +<p>Three different groups of <i>Hamlet</i> performances have been +given in Bergen. In September, 1883, the Ophelia scenes from +Act IV were given; the complete play, however, was not given till +November 28, 1886. The press,<a name = "tag3_33" +href = "#note3_33"><sup>III.33</sup></a> +for once, was unanimous in +declaring the production a success. It is interesting that an +untried actor at his debut was entrusted with the rôle. But, to +judge from the press comments, Hr. Løchen more than justified +the confidence in him. His interpretation of the subtlest character +in Shakespeare was thoroughly satisfying.<a name = "tag3_34" +href = "#note3_34"><sup>III.34</sup></a></p> + +<p>Finally, it should be noted that a Swedish travelling company +under the direction of the well-known August Lindberg played +<i>Hamlet</i> in Bergen on November 5, 1895.</p> + +<p>It is apparent, from the tone of the press comment that a +Shakespearean production was regarded as a serious undertaking. +The theater approached the task hesitatingly, and the newspapers +always qualify their praise or their blame with some apologetic +remark about "the limited resources of our theater." This +explains the long gaps between new productions, five years between +<i>Othello</i> (1881) and the complete <i>Hamlet</i> (1886); +five years likewise between <i>Hamlet</i> and <i>King Henry IV</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Henry IV</i> in Bjørnson's stage cutting promised at first to +establish itself. Its first performance was greeted by a crowded +<span class = "pagenum">108</span> +house, and enthusiasm ran high. The press questions the right +of the play to the title of <i>Henry IV</i>, since it is a collection of +scenes +grouped about Prince Hal and Falstaff. But aside from this purely +objective criticism the comment is favorable.<a name = "tag3_35" +href = "#note3_35"><sup>III.35</sup></a></p> + +<p>With the second performance (March 4, 1891) comes a change. +<i>Bergens Tidende</i> remarks that it is a common experience that a +second performance is not so successful as the first. Certainly +this was true in the case of <i>Henry IV</i>. The life and sparkle were +gone, and the sallies of Falstaff awakened no such infectious +laughter as they had a few evenings +before.<a name = "tag3_36" href = "#note3_36"><sup>III.36</sup></a> +There was no applause from the crowded house, and the coolness of the +audience reacted upon the players—all in violent contrast to the +first performance. The reviewer in <i>Aftenbladet</i> predicts that the +production will have no very long life.<a name = "tag3_37" +href = "#note3_37"><sup>III.37</sup></a> +He was right. It was given once more, on March 6. Since then the +theater-goers of Bergen have not seen it on their own stage.</p> + +<p>Sille Beyer's <i>Viola</i> (which, in turn, is an adaptation of the +German of Deinhardstein) had been played twice at the old Bergen +Theater, July 17 and 18, 1861. It was now (Oct. 9, 1892) +revived in a new cutting based on Lembcke's Danish translation. +<i>Bergens Aftenblad</i> declares that the cutting was reckless and the +staging almost beggarly. The presentation itself hardly rose +above the mediocre.<a name = "tag3_38" +href = "#note3_38"><sup>III.38</sup></a> +<i>Bergens Tidende</i>, on the other hand, +reports that the performance was an entire success. The +<ins class = "correction" title = "spelling as in original">caste</ins> +was unexpectedly strong; the costumes and scenery splendid. +The audience was appreciative and there was generous applause.<a name = +"tag3_39" href = "#note3_39"><sup>III.39</sup></a></p> + +<p>The last new play to find a place on the repertoire at Bergen +is <i>Romeo and Juliet</i>. This was performed four times in May, +1897. Like <i>Henry IV</i>, it promised to be a great success, but it +survived only four performances. +<i>Bergens Tidende</i><a name = "tag3_40" +href = "#note3_40"><sup>III.40</sup></a> +gives a careful, +well-written analysis of the play and of the presentation. The +reviewer gives full credit for the beauty of the staging and the +excellence of the acting, but criticises the censor sharply for the +unskillful cutting, and the stage manager for the long, tiresome +<span class = "pagenum">109</span> +waits. <i>Bergens Aftenblad</i><a name = "tag3_41" +href = "#note3_41"><sup>III.41</sup></a> +praises the performance almost without reserve.</p> + +<p>And the last chapter in the history of Shakespeare's dramas +in Bergen is a revival of <i>A Winter's Tale</i> in the season 1902-3. +The theater had done its utmost to give a spendid and worthy +setting, and great care was given to the rehearsals. The result +was a performance which, for beauty, symmetry, and artistic +unity ranks among the very best that have ever been seen at the +theater. The press was unanimous in its cordial +recognition.<a name = "tag3_42" href = "#note3_42"><sup>III.42</sup></a> +The play was given no less than nine times during October, 1902. +Since then Shakespeare has not been given at <i>Den Nationale +Scene i Bergen</i>.</p> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_1" href = "#tag3_1">III.1.</a> +Blanc: <i>Christianias Theaters +Historie</i>, p. 51. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_2" href = "#tag3_2">III.2.</a> +Blanc does not refer to this performance in his <i>Historie</i>. +But this and all other data of performances from 1844 to 1899 +are taken from his "Fortegnelse over +<ins class = "correction" title = "original reads 'all'">alle</ins> +dramatiske Arbeider, som siden Kristiania Offentlige Theaters +Aabning, den 30. Januar 1827, har vært opført af dets Personale indtil +15 Juni 1899." The work is unpublished. Ms 4to, No. 940 in the University +Library, Christiania. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_3" href = "#tag3_3">III.3.</a> +See <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'p. 85'">p. 94</ins>, note 1. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_4" href = "#tag3_4">III.4.</a> +See Aumont og Collin: <i>Det +Danske Nationalteater</i>. V Afsnit, pp. 118 ff. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_5" href = "#tag3_5">III.5.</a> +<i>Christiania Posten</i>. <ins class = "correction" +title = "date and year as in original">November 15, 1845</ins>. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_6" href = "#tag3_6">III.6.</a> +<i>Morgenbladet</i>. <ins class = "correction" +title = "date and year as in original">November 15, 1845</ins>. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_7" href = "#tag3_7">III.7.</a> +<i>Christiania Posten</i>. Dec. 12, 1852. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_8" href = "#tag3_8">III.8.</a> +<i>Aftenposten</i>. Sept. 21, 1878. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_9" href = "#tag3_9">III.9.</a> +See Blanc's <i>Fortegnelse</i>. p. 93. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_10" href = "#tag3_10">III.10.</a> +See Blanc's <i>Fortegnelse</i>. p. 93. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_11" href = "#tag3_11">III.11.</a> +<i>Aftenbladet</i>. <ins class = "correction" +title = "date as in original">March 22</ins>, 1858. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_12" href = "#tag3_12">III.12.</a> +November 23, 1860. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_13" href = "#tag3_13">III.13.</a> +May 5, 1866. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_14" href = "#tag3_14">III.14.</a> +February 18, 1867. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_15" href = "#tag3_15">III.15.</a> +February 17, 1867. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_16" href = "#tag3_16">III.16.</a> +<i>Aftenposten</i>. February +25, 1910. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_17" href = "#tag3_17">III.17.</a> +<i>Kringsjaa</i> XV, III (1910), p. 173. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_18" href = "#tag3_18">III.18.</a> +March 5, 1870. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_19" href = "#tag3_19">III.19.</a> +March 8, 1870. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_20" href = "#tag3_20">III.20.</a> +November 1, <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads '1917'">1907</ins>. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_21" href = "#tag3_21">III.21.</a> +November 1, 1907. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_22" href = "#tag3_22">III.22.</a> +May 15, 1873. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_23" href = "#tag3_23">III.23.</a> +May 15, 1873. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_24" href = "#tag3_24">III.24.</a> +May 15, 1873. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_25" href = "#tag3_25">III.25.</a> +Norges Første Nationale Scene. Kristiania. 1884, p. 206. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_26" href = "#tag3_26">III.26.</a> +<i>Ibid.</i>, p. 304. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_27" href = "#tag3_27">III.27.</a> +<i>Bergens Tidende</i>, October 10, 1878. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_28" href = "#tag3_28">III.28.</a> +<i>Bergensposten</i>, October 11, 1878. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_29" href = "#tag3_29">III.29.</a> +April 20, 1880. Cf. also <i>Bergensposten</i>, April 21, 1880. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_30" href = "#tag3_30">III.30.</a> +November 14, 1881. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_31" href = "#tag3_31">III.31.</a> +November 15, 1881. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_32" href = "#tag3_32">III.32.</a> +November 15, 1881. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_33" href = "#tag3_33">III.33.</a> +Cf. <i>Bergens Tidende</i>, +November 29, 1886; <i>Bergens Aftenblad</i>, November +29, 1886; <i>Bergensposten</i>, December 2, 1886. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_34" href = "#tag3_34">III.34.</a> +Cf. <i>Bergens Tidende</i>, +November 30, 1886; <i>Bergens Aftenblad</i>, November +29, 1886; <i>Bergensposten</i>, December 1, 1886. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_35" href = "#tag3_35">III.35.</a> +Cf. <i>Bergens Tidende</i>, +March 2, 1891; <i>Bergens Aftenblad</i>, March 2, 1891. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_36" href = "#tag3_36">III.36.</a> +Cf. March 5, 1891. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_37" href = "#tag3_37">III.37.</a> +Cf. March 5, 1891. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_38" href = "#tag3_38">III.38.</a> +October 10, 1892. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_39" href = "#tag3_39">III.39.</a> +October 10 and 13, 1892. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_40" href = "#tag3_40">III.40.</a> +May 15, 1897. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_41" href = "#tag3_41">III.41.</a> +May 15, 1897. +</div> + +<div class = "footnote"> +<a name = "note3_42" href = "#tag3_42">III.42.</a> +See <i>Bergens Aftenblad</i> +for October 6-9, 1902; <i>Bergens Tidende</i>, October 6, 1902. +</div> + +<hr> +<span class = "pagenum">110</span> +<a name = "app"> </a><br> +<h1>APPENDIX</h1> + +<h2>Register of Shakespearean Performances in Norway</h2> + +<p align = "center"><i>Kristiania</i></p> + +<p>I. Christiania Theater.</p> + +<blockquote> +The following record is an excerpt of all the data relating to +Shakespeare in T. Blanc: <i>Fortegnelse over alle dramatiske +Arbeider, som siden Kristiania +Theaters offentlige Aabning den 30 Januar, 1827, har +<ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'varet opforte'">været opførte</ins> +paa samme af dets Personale indtil 15 Juni 1899</i>. This +<i>Fortegnelse</i> is still unpublished. The MS. is quarto No. 940 in +the University Library, Kristiania. +</blockquote> + +<table> +<tr> +<td>1.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">blind alarm</span>. +Skuespil i fem Akter af Shakespeare. (Original +Title: <i>Much Ado About Nothing</i>). Translated by Carl Borgaard, +from the nineteenth performance, May 18, 1878, under the +title <i>Stor Staahei for Ingenting</i>), Oct. 29, 1854, May 26, 1878. +18 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>2.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">coriolanus</span>. +Sørgespil i 5 Akter af Shakespeare, bearbeidet <ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'for / for' at line break">for</ins> Scenen af +H. Lassen. Jan. 21, 1874—Jan. 10, 1876. 13 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>3.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">de muntre koner i windsor</span>. +Lystspil i 5 Akter af Shakespeare. +(Adapted for the stage by H. Lassen.) May 14, 1873, Nov. 8, +1876. 12 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>4.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">en skjærsommernatsdrøm</span>. +Eventyrkomedie i 5 Akter af W. Shakespeare. (Original Title: +<i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i>.) +Translated by <ins class = "correction" +title = "variant spellings in original">Oehlenschlæger</ins>. Music by +Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. April 17, 1865, May 27, 1866. 10 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>5.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">et vintereventyr</span>. +Romantisk Skuespil i 5 Akter. Adapted from Shakespeare's <i>A Winter's +Tale</i> and Dinglestedt's <i>Ein Wintermärchen</i> by H.P. Holst. Music +by Flotow. May 4, 1866, March 21, 1893. 57 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>6.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">hamlet</span>. +Tragedie i 5 Akter af W. Shakespeare. Translated by +Foersom and Lembcke. March 4, 1870, April 27, 1883. 28 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>7.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">hun maa tæmmes</span>. +Lystspil i 4 Akter. Adapted from Shakespeare's +<i>Taming of the Shrew</i>. March 21, 1858, April 12, 1881. 28 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>8.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">julius caesar</span>. +Tragedie i 5 Akter af William Shakespeare. +Translated by H. Lassen. March 22, 1887, April 22, 1887. 16 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>9.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">kjøbmanden i venedig</span>. +Skuespil i 5 Akter af Shakespeare. +Adapted for the stage from Rahbek's translation. From the +eighth performance (Oct. 14, 1874) probably in a new translation +by Lembcke. Sept. 17, 1861, June 12, 1882. 23 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>10.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">kong henrik den fjerde</span>. +Skuespil i 5 Akter af W. Shakespeare. +Adapted by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson from <i>King Henry IV, Parts 1 +and 2</i> in Lembcke's translation. Feb. 12, 1867, Feb. 8, 1885. +17 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<span class = "pagenum">111</span> +11.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">kong richard iii</span>. +Tragedie i 5 Akter af W. Shakespeare. Translated +by Lembcke. May 27, 1877, March 10, 1891. 26 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>12.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">kongens læge</span>. +Romantisk Lystspil i 5 Akter +<ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'after Shakespeare's'">efter Shakespeares</ins> +<i>All's Well That Ends Well</i>. Adapted by Sille Beyer. From the +thirteenth performance (May 23, 1869) given under the title +<i>Naar Enden er god er Alting godt</i> in a new translation by Edvard +Lembcke. Jan. 5, 1854, Jan. 24, 1882. 20 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>13.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">livet i skoven</span>. +Romantisk Lystspil i 4 Akter efter Shakespeares <i>As You Like It</i>. +Adapted by Sille Beyer. Dec. 9, 1852, Sept. 25, 1878. 19 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>14.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">macbeth</span>. +Tragedie i 5 Akter af W. Shakespeare. Schiller's +version translated by Peter Foersom. Music by Weyse. July +28, 1844, Jan. 6, 1896. 37 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>15.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">othello, moren af venedig</span>. +Tragedie i 5 Akter af Shakespeare. +Translated by P.L. Wulff. Jan. 3, 1845, March 10, 1872. 10 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>16.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">romeo og <ins class = "correction" +title = "Dano-Norse form of name">julie</ins></span>. +Tragedie i 5 Akter af +W. Shakespeare. Translated by P. Foersom and A.E. Boye. From the sixth +performance (April 4, 1880) probably in a new translation by Lembcke. +Nov. 11, 1852, July 12, 1899. 42 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>17.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">viola</span>. +Lystspil i 5 Akter efter Shakespeare's <i>Twelfth Night</i>. +Translated and adapted by Sille Beyer. From the thirteenth +performance (Jan. 21, 1890) under the title <i>Helligtrekongersaften, +eller hvad man vil</i>. (In Lembcke's translation with music by +Catherinus Elling.) Nov. 20, 1860, May 31, 1891. 30 times. +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>II. Nationaltheatret.</p> + +<blockquote> +The record of the Shakespearean performances at Nationaltheatret has +been compiled from the summary of performances given in the decade +1899-1909 contained in <i>Beretning om Nationaltheatrets Virksomhed i +Aaret 1909-1910</i>. Kristiania, 1910. The record of performances +subsequent to 1910, as well as the date of the first performances of all +plays, has been found in the Journal of the theater. +</blockquote> +<table> +<tr> +<td>1.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">helligtrekongersaften</span>. +(Twelfth Night). Oct. 5, 1899. 10 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>2.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">trold kan tæmmes</span>. +(The Taming of the Shrew.) Dec. 26, 1900. 35 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>3.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">en sommernats dröm</span>. +(A Midsummer Night's Dream) Jan. 15, 1903. 20 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>4.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">kjöbmanden i venedig</span>. +(The Merchant of Venice) Sept. 5, 1906. 20 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>5.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">hamlet</span>. +Oct. 31, 1907. 17 times. </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>6.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">othello</span>. +Oct. 22, 1908. 12 times. </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>7.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">henry iv</span>. +Feb. 10, 1910. 10 times. </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>8.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">as you like it</span>. +Nov. 7, 1912. This play was still being given +when the investigation ceased. Ten performances had been given. +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<span class = "pagenum">112</span><br> +<p align = "center"><i>Bergen</i></p> + +<p>I. The First Theater in Bergen (1850-1863)</p> + +<blockquote> +The information relating to Shakespeare at the old theater is gathered +from T. Blanc: <i>Norges første nationale Scene. Bergen 1850-1863. +Et Bidrag til den norske dramatiske Kunsts Historie. +Kristiania, 1884</i>. +</blockquote> +<table> +<tr> +<td>1.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">livet i skoven</span>. +Romantisk Skuespil i 4 Akter efter Shakespeares +<i>As You Like It</i>. Adapted by Sille Beyer. Sept. 30 and Oct. +9, 1855. 2 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>2.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">viola</span>. +Lystspil i 5 Akter efter Deinhardsteins Bearbeidelse af +<ins class = "correction" +title = "original reads 'Shakespeare's'">Shakespeares</ins> <i>What You +Will</i>. Adapted by Sille Beyer. July 17 and 18, 1861. 2 times. +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>II. The New Theater at Bergen (1876)</p> + +<blockquote> +The following data have been communicated to me by Hr. Christian +Landal, of the theater at Bergen. They have been compiled from the +<i>Journal (Spillejournal)</i> of the theater. +</blockquote> +<table> +<tr> +<td>1.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">kjöbmanden i venedig</span> +(The Merchant of Venice) Oct. 9, 11, 13, +1878. Friday, June 18, 1880, the Shylock scenes, with Emil +Paulsen (of the Royal Theater in Copenhagen) as guest. 4 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>2.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">et vintereventyr</span>. +(A Winter's Tale) April 19, 21, 25, 26, 28, +1880; May 9, 1880; Nov. 28, 29, 1889; Oct. 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, +17, 20, 1902. 18 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>3.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">othello</span>. +Nov. 13, 16, 18, 28, 1881. 4 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>4.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">hamlet</span>. +Nov. 28 and 29; Dec. 1, 5, 19, 1886. The Ophelia +scenes from Act 4 with Ida Falberg Kiachas as guest. Sept. +12, 14, 16, 21, 1883. Guest performance by August Lindberg +and his Swedish company. Nov. 15, 1895. 10 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>5.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">helligtrekongersaften</span>. +(<i>Twelfth Night</i>) in Lembcke's translation. +Oct. 9, 12, 14, 16, 1892; April 23, 1893 in Stavanger. 5 times. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>6.</td> +<td><span class = "smallcaps">romeo og <ins class = "correction" +title = "Dano-Norse form of name">julie</ins></span>. +May 12, 16, 19, 27, 1897. 4 times. +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<h3>SUMMARY</h3> + +<p>There have been played in Christiania seventeen plays of Shakespeare's +with a total of 540 performances. In Bergen seven Shakespearean plays +have been played with a total of 49 performances.</p> +<hr> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Essay Toward a History of +Shakespeare in Norway, by Martin Brown Ruud + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN ESSAY TOWARD A HISTORY OF *** + +***** This file should be named 16416-h.htm or 16416-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/4/1/16416/ + +Produced by Louise Hope, David Starner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: An Essay Toward a History of Shakespeare in Norway + +Author: Martin Brown Ruud + +Release Date: August 2, 2005 [EBook #16416] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN ESSAY TOWARD A HISTORY OF *** + + + + +Produced by Louise Hope, David Starner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + The University of Chicago + + + AN ESSAY TOWARD A HISTORY + OF SHAKESPEARE IN + NORWAY + + + A Dissertation + + Submitted to the Faculty + of the Graduate School of Arts and Literature + in Candidacy for the Degree of + Doctor of Philosophy + Department of Germanics and English + by + + MARTIN BROWN RUUD + + + + Reprint from + Scandinavian Studies and Notes + Urbana, Illinois + 1917 + + + + + The Collegiate Press + George Banta Publishing Company + Menasha, Wisconsin + + * * * * * + + +PREFATORY NOTE + +I have attempted in this study to trace the history of Shakespearean +translations, Shakespearean criticism, and the performances of +Shakespeare's plays in Norway. I have not attempted to investigate +Shakespeare's influence on Norwegian literature. To do so would not, +perhaps, be entirely fruitless, but it would constitute a different +kind of work. + +The investigation was made possible by a fellowship from the University +of Chicago and a scholarship from the American-Scandinavian Foundation, +and I am glad to express my gratitude to these bodies for the +opportunities given to me of study in the Scandinavian countries. +I am indebted for special help and encouragement to Dr. C.N. Gould +and Professor J.M. Manly, of the University of Chicago, and to the +authorities of the University library in Kristiania for their unfailing +courtesy. To my wife, who has worked with me throughout, my obligations +are greater than I can express. + +It is my plan to follow this monograph with a second on the history of +Shakespeare in Denmark. + + +M.B.R. + +Minneapolis, Minnesota. +September, 1916. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +Shakespeare Translations In Norway + + +A + +In the years following 1750, there was gathered in the city of Trondhjem +a remarkable group of men: Nils Krog Bredal, composer of the first +Danish opera, John Gunnerus, theologian and biologist, Gerhart Schoning, +rector of the Cathedral School and author of an elaborate history of the +fatherland, and Peter Suhm, whose 14,047 pages on the history of Denmark +testify to a learning, an industry, and a generous devotion to +scholarship which few have rivalled. Bredal was mayor (Borgermester), +Gunnerus was bishop, Schoning was rector, and Suhm was for the moment +merely the husband of a rich and unsympathetic wife. But they were +united in their interest in serious studies, and in 1760, the last +three--somewhat before Bredal's arrival--founded "Videnskabsselkabet i +Trondhjem." A few years later the society received its charter as "Det +Kongelige Videnskabsselskab." + +A little provincial scientific body! Of what moment is it? But in those +days it was of moment. Norway was then and long afterwards the political +and intellectual dependency of Denmark. For three hundred years she had +been governed more or less effectively from Copenhagen, and for two +hundred years Danish had supplanted Norwegian as the language of church +and state, of trade, and of higher social intercourse. The country had +no university; Norwegians were compelled to go to Copenhagen for their +degrees and there loaf about in the anterooms of ministers waiting for +preferment. Videnskabsselskabet was the first tangible evidence of +awakened national life, and we are not surprised to find that it was in +this circle that the demand for a separate Norwegian university was +first authoritatively presented. Again, a little group of periodicals +sprang up in which were discussed, learnedly and pedantically, to be +sure, but with keen intelligence, the questions that were interesting +the great world outside. It is dreary business ploughing through these +solemn, badly printed octavos and quartos. Of a sudden, however, one +comes upon the first, and for thirty-six years the only Norwegian +translation of Shakespeare. + +We find it in _Trondhjems Allehaande_ for October 23, 1782--the third +and last volume. The translator has hit upon Antony's funeral oration +and introduces it with a short note:[1] "The following is taken from +the famous English play _Julius Caesar_ and may be regarded as a +masterpiece. When Julius Caesar was killed, Antonius secured permission +from Brutus and the other conspirators to speak at his funeral. The +people, whose minds were full of the prosperity to come, were satisfied +with Caesar's murder and regarded the murderers as benefactors. Antonius +spoke so as to turn their minds from rejoicing to regret at a great +man's untimely death and so as to justify himself and win the hearts of +the populace. And in what a masterly way Antonius won them! We shall +render, along with the oration, the interjected remarks of the crowd, +inasmuch as they too are evidences of Shakespeare's understanding of +the human soul and his realization of the manner in which the oration +gradually brought about the purpose toward which he aimed:" + + [1. It has been thought best to give such citations for the most + part in translation.] + + Antonius: + Venner, Medborgere, giver mig Gehor, jeg kommer for at jorde Caesars + Legeme, ikke for at rose ham. Det Onde man gjor lever endnu efter + os; det Gode begraves ofte tilligemed vore Been. Saa Vaere det ogsaa + med Caesar. Den aedle Brutus har sagt Eder, Caesar var herskesyg. Var + han det saa var det en svaer Forseelse: og Caesar har ogsaa dyrt + maattet bode derfor. Efter Brutus og de Ovriges Tilladelse--og + Brutus er en hederlig Mand, og det er de alle, lutter hederlige + Maend, kommer jeg hid for at holde Caesars Ligtale. Han var min Ven, + trofast og oprigtig mod mig! dog, Brutus siger, han var herskesyg, + og Brutus er en hederlig Mand. Han har bragt mange Fanger med til + Rom, hvis Losepenge formerede de offentlige Skatter; synes Eder det + herskesygt af Caesar--naar de Arme skreeg, saa graed Caesar--Herskesyge + maate dog vel vaeves af staerkere Stof.--Dog Brutus siger han var + herskesyg; og Brutus er en hederlig Mand. I have alle seet at jeg + paa Pans Fest tre Gange tilbod ham en kongelig Krone, og at han tre + Gange afslog den. Var det herskesygt?--Dog Brutus siger han var + herskesyg, og i Sandhed, han er en hederlig Mand. Jeg taler ikke for + at gjendrive det, som Brutus har sagt; men jeg staar her, for at + sige hvad jeg veed. I alle elskede ham engang, uden Aarsag; hvad for + en Aarsag afholder Eder fra at sorge over ham? O! Fornuft! Du er + flyed hen til de umaelende Baester, og Menneskene have tabt deres + Forstand. Haver Taalmodighed med mig; mit Hjerte er hist i Kisten + hos Caesar, og jeg maa holde inde til det kommer tilbage til mig. + + Den Forste af Folket: + Mig synes der er megen Fornuft i hans Tale. + + Den Anden af Folket: + Naar du ret overveier Sagen, saa er Caesar skeet stor Uret. + + Den Tredje: + Mener I det, godt Folk? Jeg frygter der vil komme slemmere i hans + Sted. + + Den Fjerde: + Har I lagt Maerke til hvad han sagde? Han vilde ikke modtage Kronen, + det er altsaa vist at han ikke var herskesyg. + + Den Forste: + Hvis saa er, vil det komme visse Folk dyrt at staae. + + Den Anden: + Den fromme Mand! Hans Oien er blodrode af Graad. + + Den Tredje: + Der er ingen fortraeffeligere Mand i Rom end Antonius. + + Den Fjerde: + Giver Agt, han begynder igjen at tale. + + Antonius: + Endnu i Gaar havde et Ord af Caesar gjaeldt imod hele Verden, nu + ligger han der, endog den Usleste naegter ham Agtelse. O, I Folk! + var jeg sindet, at ophidse Eders Gemytter til Raserie og Opror, saa + skulde jeg skade Brutus og Kassius, hvilke, som I alle veed, ere + hederlige Maend. Men jeg vil intet Ondt gjore dem: hellere vil jeg + gjore den Dode, mig selv, og Eder Uret, end at jeg skulde volde + slige hederlige Maend Fortraed. Men her er et Pergament med Caesars + Segl: jeg fandt det i hans Kammer; det er hans sidste Villie. Lad + Folket blot hore hans Testament, som jeg, tilgiv mig det, ikke + taenker at oplaese, da skulde de alle gaa hen og kysse den dode Caesars + Saar; og dyppe deres Klaeder i hans hellige Blod; skulde bede om et + Haar af ham til Erindring, og paa deres Dodsdag i deres sidste + Villie taenke paa dette Haar, og testamentere deres Efterkommere + det som en rig Arvedel. + + Den Fjerde: + Vi ville hore Testamentet! Laes det, Marcus Antonius. + + Antonius: + Haver Taalmodighed, mine Venner: jeg tor ikke forelaese det; deter + ikke raadeligt, at I erfare hvor kjaer Caesar havde Eder. I ere ikke + Traee, I ere ikke Stene, I ere Mennesker; og da I ere Mennesker saa + skulde Testamentet, om I horte det, saette Eder i Flamme, det skulde + gjore Eder rasende. Det er godt at I ikke vide, at I ere hans + Arvinger; thi vidste I det, O, hvad vilde der da blive af? + + Den fjerde: + Laes Testamentet; vi ville hore det, Antonius! Du maae laese + Testamentet for os, Caesars Testament! + + Antonius: + Ville i vaere rolige? Ville I bie lidt? Jeg er gaaen for vidt at jeg + har sagt Eder noget derom--jeg frygter jeg fornaermer de hederlige + Maend, som have myrdet Caesar--jeg befrygter det. + + Den Fjerde: + De vare Forraedere!--ha, hederlige Maend! + +The translation continues to the point where the plebeians, roused to +fury by the cunning appeal of Antony, rush out with the cries:[2] + + 2. Pleb: + Go fetch fire! + + 3. Pleb: + Plucke down Benches! + + 2. Pleb: + Plucke down Formes, Windowes, anything. + + [2. _Julius Caesar_. III, 2. 268-70. Variorum Edition Furness. + Phila. 1913.] + +But we have not space for a more extended quotation, and the passage +given is sufficiently representative. + +The faults are obvious. The translator has not ventured to reproduce +Shakespeare's blank verse, nor, indeed, could that be expected. The +Alexandrine had long held sway in Danish poetry. In _Rolf Krage_ (1770), +Ewald had broken with the tradition and written an heroic tragedy in +prose. Unquestionably he had been moved to take this step by the example +of his great model Klopstock in _Bardiete_.[3] It seems equally certain, +however, that he was also inspired by the plays of Shakespeare, and the +songs of Ossian, which came to him in the translations of Wieland.[4] + + [3. Ronning--_Rationalismens Tidsalder_. 11-95.] + + [4. Ewald--_Levnet og meninger_. Ed. Bobe. Kbhn. 1911, p. 166.] + +A few years later, when he had learned English and read Shakespeare +in the original, he wrote _Balders Dod_ in blank verse and +naturalized Shakespeare's metre in Denmark.[5] At any rate, it +is not surprising that this unknown plodder far north in Trondhjem +had not progressed beyond Klopstock and Ewald. But the result of +turning Shakespeare's poetry into the journeyman prose of a foreign +language is necessarily bad. The translation before us amounts to a +paraphrase,--good, respectable Danish untouched by genius. Two +examples will illustrate this. The lines: + + .... Now lies he there, + And none so poor to do him reverence. + + [5. _Ibid._ II, 234-235.] + +are rendered in the thoroughly matter-of-fact words, appropriate for a +letter or a newspaper "story": + + .... Nu ligger han der, + endog den Usleste naegter ham Agtelse. + +Again, + + I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it, + +is translated: + + Jeg er gaaen for vidt at jeg sagde Eder noget derom. + +On the other hand, the translation presents no glaring errors; such +slips as we do find are due rather to ineptitude, an inability to +find the right word, with the result that the writer has contented +himself with an accidental and approximate rendering. For example, +the translator no doubt understood the lines: + + The evil that men do lives after them, + The good is oft interred with their bones. + +but he could hit upon nothing better than: + + Det Onde man gjor _lever endnu efter os_; + det Gode begraves ofte tilligemed vore Been. + +which is both inaccurate and infelicitous. For the line + + He was my friend, faithful and just to me. + +our author has: + + Han var min Ven, trofast og _oprigtig_ mod mig! + +Again: + + Has he, Masters? I fear there will come a worse in his place. + +Translation: + + Mener I det, godt Folk?--etc. + +Despite these faults--and many others could be cited,--it is perfectly +clear that this unknown student of Shakespeare understood his original +and endeavored to reproduce it correctly in good Danish. His very +blunders showed that he tried not to be slavish, and his style, while +not remarkable, is easy and fluent. Apparently, however, his work +attracted no attention. His name is unknown, as are his sources, and +there is not, with one exception, a single reference to him in the later +Shakespeare literature of Denmark and Norway. Not even Rahbek, who was +remarkably well informed in this field, mentions him. Only Foersom,[6] +who let nothing referring to Shakespeare escape him, speaks (in the +notes to Part I of his translation) of a part of Act III of _Julius +Caesar_ in _Trondhjems Allehaande_. That is all. It it not too much to +emphasize, therefore, that we have here the first Danish version of any +part of _Julius Caesar_ as well as the first Norwegian translation of +any part of Shakespeare into what was then the common literary language +of Denmark and Norway.[7] + + [6. _William Shakespeares Tragiske Vaerker--Forste Deel._ Khbn. + 1807. Notes at the back of the volume.] + + [7. By way of background, a bare enumeration of the early Danish + translations of Shakespeare is here given. + + 1777. _Hamlet_. Translated by Johannes Boye. + + 1790. _Macbeth_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. + _Othello_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. + _All's Well that Ends Well_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. + + 1792. _King Lear_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. + _Cymbeline_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. + _The Merchant of Venice_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. + + 1794. _King Lear_. Nahum Tate's stage version. Translated by Hans + Wilhelm Riber. + + 1796. _Two Speeches._--To be or not to be--_(Hamlet.)_ + Is this a dagger--_(Macbeth.)_ + Translated by Malthe Conrad Brun in _Svada_. + + 1800. Act III, Sc. 2 of _Julius Caesar_. Translated by Knut Lyhne + Rahbek in _Minerva_. + + 1801. _Macbeth_. Translated by Levin Sander and K.L. Rahbek. Not + published till 1804. + + 1804. Act V of _Julius Caesar_. Translated by P.F. Foersom in + _Minerva_. + + 1805. Act IV Sc. 3 of _Love's Labour Lost_. Translated by P.F. + Foersom in _Nytaarsgave for Skuespilyndere._ + + 1807. Hamlet's speech to the players. Translated by P.F. Foersom + in _Nytaarsgave for Skuespilyndere_. + + It may be added that in 1807 appeared the first volume of + Foersom's translation of Shakespeare's tragedies, and after 1807 + the history of Shakespeare in Denmark is more complicated. With + these matters I shall deal at length in another study.] + + +B + +It was many years before the anonymous contributor to _Trondhjems +Allehaande_ was to have a follower. From 1782 to 1807 Norwegians were +engaged in accumulating wealth, an occupation, indeed, in which they +were remarkably successful. There was no time to meddle with Shakespeare +in a day when Norwegian shipping and Norwegian products were profitable +as never before. After 1807, when the blundering panic of the British +plunged Denmark and Norway into war on the side of Napoleon, there were +sterner things to think of. It was a sufficiently difficult matter to +get daily bread. But in 1818, when the country had, as yet, scarcely +begun to recover from the agony of the Napoleonic wars, the second +Norwegian translation from Shakespeare appeared.[8] + + [8. _Coriolanus, efter Shakespeare_. Christiania. 1818.] + +The translator of this version of _Coriolanus_ is unknown. Beyond the +bare statement on the title page that the translation is made directly +from Shakespeare and that it is printed and published in Christiania by +Jacob Lehmann, there is no information to be had. Following the title +there is a brief quotation from Dr. Johnson and one from the "Zeitung +fuer die elegante Welt." Again Norway anticipates her sister nation; for +not till the following year did Denmark get her first translation of the +play.[9] + + [9. The first Danish translation of Coriolanus by P.F. Wulff + appeared in 1819.] + +Ewald, Oehlenschlaeger, and Foersom had by this time made the blank verse +of Shakespeare a commonplace in Dano-Norwegian literature. Even the +mediocre could attempt it with reasonable assurance of success. The +_Coriolanus_ of 1818 is fairly correct, but its lumbering verse reveals +plainly that the translator had trouble with his metre. Two or three +examples will illustrate. First, the famous allegory of Menenius:[10] + + _Menenius:_ + I enten maae erkjende at I ere + Heel ondskabsfulde, eller taale, man + For Uforstandighed anklager Eder. + Et snurrigt Eventyr jeg vil fortaelle; + Maaskee I har det hort, men da det tjener + Just til min Hensigt, jeg forsoge vil + Noiagtigen det Eder at forklare. + . . . . . + Jeg Eder det fortaelle skal; med et + Slags Smil, der sig fra Lungen ikke skrev; + Omtrent saaledes--thi I vide maae + Naar jeg kan lade Maven tale, jeg + Den og kan lade smile--stikende + Den svarede hvert misfornoiet Lem + Og hver Rebel, som den misundte al + Sin Indtaegt; Saa misunde I Senatet + Fordi det ikke er det som I ere. + + _Forste Borger_: + Hvorledes. Det var Mavens Svar! Hvorledes? + Og Hovedet, der kongeligt er kronet, + Og Oiet, der er blot Aarvaagenhed; + Og Hjertet, som os giver gode Raad; + Og Tungen, vor Trumpet, vor Stridsmand, Armen, + Og Foden, vores Pragthest, med de flere + Befaestingner, der stotte vor Maskine, + Hvis de nu skulde.... + + _Menenius_: + Nu hvad skulde de?... + Den Karl mig lader ei til Orde komme, + Hvad vil I sigte med det _hvis de skulde?_ + + _Forste Borger_: + Hvis de nu skulde sig betvinge lade + Ved denne Slughals Maven som blot er + En Aflobs-Rende for vort Legeme? + + _Menenius_: + Nu videre! + + _Forste Borger_: + Hvad vilde Maven svare? + Hvis hine Handlende med Klage fremstod? + + _Menenius_: + Hvis I mig skjaenke vil det som I have + Kun lidet af, Taalmodighed, jeg mener, + Jeg Eder Mavens Svar da skal fortaelle. + + _Forste Borger_: + I! Den Fortaelling ret i Langdrag traekker! + + _Menenius_: + Min gode Ven, nu allerforst bemaerke. + Agtvaerdig Mave brugte Overlaeg; + Ei ubetaenksom den sig overiled + Som dens Modstandere; og saa lod Svaret: + I Venner som fra mig ei skilles kan! + Det Sandhed er, at jeg fra forste Haand + Modtager Naeringen som Eder foder, + Og dette i sin Orden er, thi jeg + Et Varelager og et Forraads-Kammer + Jo er for Legemet; men ei I glemme: + Jeg Naeringen igjennem Blodets Floder + Og sender lige hen til Hoffet-Hjertet-- + Til Hjernens Saede; jeg den flyde lader + Igjennem Menneskets meest fine Dele; + Og de meest fast Nerver, som de mindste + Blandt Aarene fra mig modtager hver + Naturlig Kraft, hvormed de leve, og + Endskjondt de ikke alle paa eengang-- + I gode Venner (det var Mavens Ord) + Og maerker dem heel noie.... + + _Forste Borger_: + Det vil vi gjore. + + _Menenius_: + Endskjondt de ikke alle kunde see, + Hvad jeg tilflyde lader hver isaer, + Saa kan jeg dog med gyldigt Dokument + Bevise at jeg overlader dem + Den rene Kjaerne, selv beholder Kliddet. + Hvad siger I dertil? + + _Forste Borger_: + Et svar det var-- + Men nu Andvendelsen! + + _Menenius_: + Senatet er + Den gode Mave: I Rebellerne. + I undersoge blot de Raad det giver + Og alt dets Omhue. Overveier noie + Alt hvad til Statens Velferd monne sigte, + Og da I finde vil, at fra Senatet + Hver offentlig Velgjerning som I nyde + Sit Udspring bar, men ei fra Eder selv-- + Hvad taenker I, som er den store Taae + Her i Forsamlingen? + + [10. _Coriolanus_--Malone's ed. London. 1790. Vol. 7, pp. 148 ff.] + +Aside from the preponderance of feminine endings, which is inevitable +in Scandinavian blank verse, what strikes us most in this translation +is its laboriousness. The language is set on end. Inversion and +transposition are the devices by which the translator has managed to +give Shakespeare in metrically decent lines. The proof of this is so +patent that I need scarcely point out instances. But take the first +seven lines of the quotation. Neither in form nor content is this bad, +yet no one with a feeling for the Danish language can avoid an +exclamation, "forskruet Stil" and "poetiske Stylter." And lines 8-9 +smack unmistakably of _Peder Paars_. In the second place, the translator +often does not attempt to translate at all. He gives merely a +paraphrase. Compare lines 1-3 with the English original; the whole of +the speech of the first citizen, 17-24, 25-27, where the whole implied +idea is fully expressed; 28-30, etc., etc. We might offer almost every +translation of Shakespeare's figures as an example. One more instance. +At times even paraphrase breaks down. Compare + + And through the cranks and offices of man + The strongest and small inferior veins, + Receive from me that natural competency + Whereby they live. + +with our translator's version (lines 50-51) + + jeg den flyde lader + Igjennem Menneskets meest fine Dele. + +This is not even good paraphrase; it is simply bald and helpless +rendering. + +On the other hand, it would be grossly unfair to dismiss it all with +a sneer. The translator has succeeded for the most part in giving the +sense of Shakespeare in smooth and sounding verse, in itself no small +achievement. Rhetoric replaces poetry, it is true, and paraphrase dries +up the freshness and the sparkle of the metaphor. But a Norwegian of +that day who got his first taste of Shakespeare from the translation +before us, would at least feel that here was the power of words, the +music and sonorousness of elevated dramatic poetry. + +One more extract and I am done. It is Coriolanus' outburst of wrath +against the pretensions of the tribunes (III, 1). With all its +imperfections, the translation is almost adequate. + + _Coriolanus_: + Skal! + Patrisier, I aedle, men ei vise! + I hoie Senatorer, som mon mangle + Al Overlaeg, hvi lod I Hydra vaelge + En Tjener som med sit bestemte Skal + --Skjondt blot Uhyrets Taleror og Lyd-- + Ei mangler Mod, at sige at han vil + Forvandle Eders Havstrom til en Sump, + Og som vil gjore Jer Kanal til sin. + Hvis han har Magten, lad Enfoldighed + Da for ham bukke; har han ingen Magt, + Da vaekker Eders Mildhed af sin Dvale, + Den farlig er; hvis I ei mangle Klogskab, + Da handler ei som Daaren; mangler den, + Lad denne ved Jer Side faae en Pude. + Plebeier ere I, hvis Senatorer + De ere, og de ere mindre ei + Naar begge Eders Stemmer sammenblandes + Og naar de kildres meest ved Fornemhed. + De vaelge deres egen Ovrighed, + Og saadan Een, der saette tor sit Skal, + Ja sit gemene Skal mod en Forsamling, + Der mer agtvaerdig er end nogensinde + Man fandt i Graekenland. Ved Jupiter! + Sligt Consulen fornedrer! Og det smerter + Min Sjael at vide, hvor der findes tvende + Autoriteter, ingen af dem storst, + Der kan Forvirring lettelig faae Indpas + I Gabet, som er mellem dem, og haeve + Den ene ved den anden. + + +C + +In 1865, Paul Botten Hansen, best known to the English-speaking world +for his relations with Bjornson and Ibsen, reviewed[11] the eleventh +installment of Lembcke's translation of Shakespeare. The article +does not venture into criticism, but is almost entirely a resume of +Shakespeare translation in Norway and Denmark. It is less well informed +than we should expect, and contains, among several other slips, the +following "...in 1855, Niels Hauge, deceased the following year as +teacher in Kragero, translated _Macbeth_, the first faithful version of +this masterpiece which Dano-Norwegian literature could boast of." Botten +Hansen mentions only one previous Danish or Norwegian version of +Shakespeare--Foersom's adaptation of Schiller's stage version (1816). +He is quite obviously ignorant of Rosenfeldt's translation of 1790; and +the Rahbek-Sanders translation of 1801 seems also to have escaped him, +although Hauge expressly refers to this work in his introduction. Both +of these early attempts are in prose; Foersom's, to be sure, is in blank +verse, but Foersom's _Macbeth_ is not Shakespeare's. Accordingly, it is, +in a sense, true that Hauge in 1855 did give the Dano-Norwegian public +their first taste of an unspoiled _Macbeth_ in the vernacular.[12] + + [11. _Illustreret Nyhedsblad_--1865, p. 96.] + + [12. _Macbeth--Tragedie i fem Akter af William Shakespeare_. + Oversat og fortolket af N. Hauge. Christiania. 1855. Johan Dahl.] + +Hauge tells us that he had interested himself in English literature at +the risk of being called an eccentric. Modern languages then offered no +avenue to preferment, and why, forsooth, did men attend lectures and +take examinations except to gain the means of earning a livelihood? He +justifies his interest, however, by the seriousness and industry with +which Shakespeare is studied in Germany and England. With the founts of +this study he is apparently familiar, and with the influence of +Shakespeare on Lessing, Goethe, and the lesser romanticists. It is +interesting to note, too, that two scholars, well known in widely +different fields, Monrad, the philosopher--for some years a sort of Dr. +Johnson in the literary circles of Christiania--and Unger, the scholarly +editor of many Old Norse texts, assisted him in his work. + +The character of Hauge's work is best seen in his notes. They consist of +a careful defense of every liberty he takes with the text, explanations +of grammatical constructions, and interpretations of debated matters. +For example, he defends the witches on the ground that they symbolize +the power of evil in the human soul. + + Man kan sige at Shakespeare i dem og deres Slaeng har givet de + nytestamentlige Daemoner Kjod og Blod. + +(We may say that Shakespeare in them and their train has endowed the +demons of the New Testament with flesh and blood). Again, he would +change the word _incarnadine_ to _incarnate_ on the ground that _Twelfth +Night V_ offers a similar instance of the corrupt use of _incardinate_ +for _incarnate_. The word occurs, moreover, in English only in this +passage.[13] Again, in his note to Act IV, he points out that the +dialogue in which Malcolm tests the sincerity of Macduff is taken almost +verbatim from Holinshed. "In performing the play," he suggests, "it +should, perhaps, be omitted as it very well may be without injury to the +action since the complication which arises through Malcolm's suspicion +of Macduff is fully and satisfactorily resolved by the appearance of +Rosse." And his note to a passage in Act V is interesting as showing +that, wide and thorough as was Hauge's acquaintance with Shakespearean +criticism, he had, besides, a first-hand knowledge of the minor +Elizabethan dramatists. I give the note in full. "_The way to dusty +death--_ + + Til dette besynderlige Udtryk, kan foruden hvad Knight og Dyce + have at citere, endnu citeres af Fords _Perkin Warbeck_, II, 2, + "I take my leave to travel to my dust." + + [13. This is, of course, incorrect. Cf. Macbeth, Variorum + Edition. Ed. Furness. Phila. 1903, p. 40. Note.] + +Hauge was a careful and conscientious scholar. He knew his field and +worked with the painstaking fidelity of the man who realizes the +difficulty of his task. The translation he gave is of a piece with the +man--faithful, laborious, uninspired. But it is, at least, superior to +Rosenfeldt and Sander, and Hauge justified his work by giving to his +countrymen the best version of _Macbeth_ up to that time. + +Monrad himself reviewed Hauge's _Macbeth_ in a careful and well-informed +article, in _Nordisk Tidsskrift for Videnskab og Literatur_, which I +shall review later. + + +D + +One of the most significant elements in the intellectual life of modern +Norway is the so-called Landsmaal movement. It is probably unnecessary +to say that this movement is an effort on the part of many Norwegians to +substitute for the dominant Dano-Norwegian a new literary language based +on the "best" dialects. This language, commonly called the Landsmaal, +is, at all events in its origin, the creation of one man, Ivar Aasen. +Aasen published the first edition of his grammar in 1848, and the first +edition of his dictionary in 1850. But obviously it was not enough to +provide a grammar and a word-book. The literary powers of the new +language must be developed and disciplined and, accordingly, Aasen +published in 1853 _Prover af Landsmaalet i Norge_. The little volume +contains, besides other material, seven translations from foreign +classics; among these is Romeo's soliloquy in the balcony scene.[14] +(Act II, Sc. 1) This modest essay of Aasen's, then, antedates Hauge's +rendering of _Macbeth_ and constitutes the first bit of Shakespeare +translation in Norway since the _Coriolanus_ of 1818. + + [14. Ivar Aasen--_Skrifter i Samling_--Christiania. 1911, Vol. 11, + p. 165. Reprinted from _Prover af Landsmaalet i Norge, Forste + Udgave_. Kristiania. 1853, p. 114.] + +Aasen knew that Landsmaal was adequate to the expression of the homely +and familiar. But would it do for belles lettres? + + Han laer aat Saar, som aldri kende Saar.-- + Men hyst!--Kvat Ljos er dat dar upp i glaset? + Dat er i Aust, og Julia er Soli. + Sprett, fagre Sol, og tyn dan Maane-Skjegla, + som alt er sjuk og bleik av berre Ovund, + at hennar Taus er fagrar' en ho sjolv. + Ver inkje hennar Taus; dan Ovundsykja, + so sjukleg gron er hennar Jomfru-Klaednad; + d'er berre Narr, som ber han. Sleng han av! + Ja, d'er mi Fru, d'er dan eg held i Hugen; + aa, giv ho hadde vist dat, at ho er dat! + Ho talar, utan Ord. Kvat skal ho med dei? + Ho tala kann med Augom;--eg vil svara. + Eg er for djerv; d'er inkje meg ho ser paa, + d'er tvo av fegste Stjernom dar paa Himlen, + som gekk ei AErend, og fekk hennar Augo + te blinka i sin Stad, til dei kem atter. + Enn um dei var dar sjolve Augo hennar. + Kinn-Ljosken hennar hadde skemt dei Stjernor, + som Dagsljos skemmer Lampen; hennar Augo + hadd' straatt so bjart eit Ljos i Himmels Hogdi, + at Fuglar song og Trudde, dat var Dag. + Sjaa, kor ho hallar Kinni lint paa Handi, + Aa, giv eg var ein Vott paa denne Handi + at eg fekk strjuka Kinni den.--Ho talar.-- + Aa tala meir, Ljos-Engel, med du lyser + so klaart i denne Natti kring mitt Hovud, + som naar dat kem ein utfloygd Himmels Sending + mot Folk, som keika seg og stira beint upp + med undrarsame kvit-snudd' Augo mot han, + naar han skrid um dan seinleg-sigand' Skyi + og sigler yver hoge Himmels Barmen. + +It was no peasant jargon that Aasen had invented; it was a literary +language of great power and beauty with the dignity and fulness of any +other literary medium. But it was new and untried. It had no literature. +Aasen, accordingly, set about creating one. Indeed, much of what he +wrote had no other purpose. What, then, shall we say of the first +appearance of Shakespeare in "Ny Norsk"? + +First, that it was remarkably felicitous. + + Kinn-Ljosken hadde skemt dei Stjernor + som Dagsljos skemmer Lampen, hennar Augo, etc. + +That is no inadequate rendering of: + + Two of the fairest stars in all the Heaven, etc. + +And equally good are the closing lines beginning: + + Aa tala meir, Ljos-Engel med du lyser, etc. + +Foersom is deservedly praised for his translation of the same lines, but +a comparison of the two is not altogether disastrous to Aasen, though, +to be sure, his lines lack some of Foersom's insinuating softness: + + Tal atter, Lysets Engel! thi du straaler + i Natten saa hoiherlig over mig + som en af Nattens vingede Cheruber + for dodeliges himmelvendte Oine, etc. + +But lines like these have an admirable and perfect loveliness: + + naar han skrid um dan seinleg-sigand' Skyi + og sigler yver hoge Himmels Barmen. + +Aasen busied himself for some years with this effort to naturalize his +Landsmaal in all the forms of literature. Apparently this was always +uppermost in his thoughts. We find him trying himself in this sort of +work in the years before and after the publication of _Prover af +Landsmaalet_. In _Skrifter i Samling_ is printed another little fragment +of _Romeo and Juliet_, which the editor, without giving his reasons, +assigns to a date earlier than that of the balcony scene. It is +Mercutio's description of Queen Mab (Act I, Sc. 4). This is decidedly +more successful than the other. The vocabulary of the Norwegian dialects +is rich in words of fairy-lore, and one who knew this word treasure as +Aasen did could render the fancies of Mercutio with something very near +the exuberance of Shakespeare himself: + + No ser eg vel, at ho hev' vore hjaa deg + ho gamle Mabba, Naerkona aat Vettom. + So lita som ein Adelstein i Ringen + paa fremste Fingren paa ein verdug Raadsmann, + ho kjoyrer kring med smaa Soldumbe-Flokar + paa Nasanna aat Folk, dan Tid dei sov. + Hjulspikann' henna er av Konglefoter, + Vognfelden er av Engjesprette-Vengjer, + og Taumann' av den minste Kongleveven. + Av Maanestraalanne paa Vatn er Selen, + og av Sirissebein er Svipeskafted + og Svipesnerten er av Agner smaa. + Skjotskaren er eit nett graakjola My + so stort som Holva av ein liten Mol, + som minste Vaekja krasa kann med Fingren. + Til Vogn ho fekk ei holut Haslenot + av Snikkar Ikorn elder Natemakk, + som altid var Vognmakarann' aat Vettom.[15] + + [15. Ivar Aasen: _Skrifter i Samling_. Christiania. 1911, Vol. I, + p. 166.] + +The translation ends with Mercutio's words: + + And being thus frightened, swears a prayer or two, + And sleeps again. + +In my opinion this is consummately well done--at once accurate and +redolent of poesy; and certainly Aasen would have been justified in +feeling that Landsmaal is equal to Shakespeare's most airy passages. The +slight inaccuracy of one of the lines: + + Av Maanestraalanne paa Vatn er Selen, + +for Shakespeare's: + + The colors of the moonshine's watery beams, + +is of no consequence. The discrepancy was doubtless as obvious to the +translator as it is to us. + +From about the same time we have another Shakespeare fragment from +Aasen's hand. Like the Queen Mab passage, it was not published till +1911.[16] It is scarcely surprising that it is a rendering of Hamlet's +soliloquy: "To be or not to be." This is, of course, a more difficult +undertaking. For the interests that make up the life of the +people--their family and community affairs, their arts and crafts and +folk-lore, the dialects of Norway, like the dialects of any other +country, have a vocabulary amazingly rich and complete.[17] But not all +ideas belong in the realm of the every-day, and the great difficulty of +the Landsmaal movement is precisely this--that it must develop a +"culture language." To a large degree it has already done so. The rest +is largely a matter of time. And surely Ivar Aasen's translation of the +famous soliloquy proved that the task of giving, even to thought as +sophisticated as this, adequate and final expression is not impossible. +The whole is worth giving: + + Te vera elder ei,--d'er da her spyrst um; + um d'er meir heirlegt i sitt Brjost aa tola + kvar Styng og Stoyt av ein hardsokjen Lagnad + eld taka Vaapn imot eit Hav med Harmar, + staa mot og slaa dei veg?--Te doy, te sova, + alt fraa seg gjort,--og i ein Somn te enda + dan Hjarteverk, dei tusend timleg' Stoytar, + som Kjot er Erving til, da var ein Ende + rett storleg ynskjande. Te doy, te sova, + ja sova, kanskje droyma,--au, d'er Knuten. + Fyr' i dan Daudesomn, kva Draum kann koma, + naar mid ha kastat av dei daudleg Bandi, + da kann vel giv' oss Tankar; da er Sakji, + som gjerer Useldom so lang i Livet: + kven vilde tolt slikt Hogg og Haad i Tidi, + slik sterk Manns Urett, stolt Manns Skamlaus Medferd, + slik vanvyrd Elskhugs Harm, slik Rettarloysa, + slikt Embaet's Ovmod, slik Tilbakaspenning, + som tolug, verdug Mann faer av uverdug; + kven vilde da, naar sjolv han kunde loysa + seg med ein nakjen Odd? Kven bar dan Byrda + so sveitt og stynjand i so leid ein Livnad, + naar inkj'an ottast eitkvart etter Dauden, + da uforfarne Land, som ingjen Ferdmann + er komen atter fraa, da viller Viljen, + da laet oss helder ha dan Naud, mid hava, + en fly til onnor Naud, som er oss ukjend. + So gjer Samviskan Slavar av oss alle, + so bi dan fyrste, djerve, bjarte Viljen + skjemd ut med blakke Strik av Ettertankjen + og store Tiltak, som var Merg og Magt i, + maa soleid snu seg um og stroyma ovugt + og tapa Namn av Tiltak. + + [16. _Skrifter i Samling_, I, 168. Kristiania. 1911.] + + [17. Cf. Alf Torp. _Samtiden_, XIX (1908), p. 483.] + +This is a distinctly successful attempt--exact, fluent, poetic. Compare +it with the Danish of Foersom and Lembcke, with the Swedish of Hagberg, +or the new Norwegian "Riksmaal" translation, and Ivar Aasen's early +Landsmaal version holds its own. It keeps the right tone. The dignity of +the original is scarcely marred by a note of the colloquial. Scarcely +marred! For just as many Norwegians are offended by such a phrase as +"Hennar Taus er fagrar' en ho sjolv" in the balcony scene, so many more +will object to the colloquial "Au, d'er Knuten." _Au_ has no place in +dignified verse, and surely it is a most unhappy equivalent for "Ay, +there's the rub." Aasen would have replied that Hamlet's words are +themselves colloquial; but the English conveys no such connotation of +easy speech as does the Landsmaal to a great part of the Norwegian +people. But this is a trifle. The fact remains that Aasen gave a noble +form to Shakespeare's noble verse. + + +E + +For many years the work of Hauge and Aasen stood alone in Norwegian +literature. The reading public was content to go to Denmark, and the +growing Landsmaal literature was concerned with other matters--first of +all, with the task of establishing itself and the even more complicated +problem of finding a form--orthography, syntax, and inflexions which +should command general acceptance. For the Landsmaal of Ivar Aasen was +frankly based on "the best dialects," and by this he meant, of course, +the dialects that best preserved the forms of the Old Norse. These were +the dialects of the west coast and the mountains. To Aasen the speech of +the towns, of the south-east coast and of the great eastern valleys and +uplands was corrupt and vitiated. It seemed foreign, saturated and +spoiled by Danish. There were those, however, who saw farther. If +Landsmaal was to strike root, it must take into account not merely "the +purest dialects" but the speech of the whole country. It could not, for +example, retain forms like "dat," "dan," etc., which were peculiar to +Sondmor, because they happened to be lineal descendants of Old Norse, +nor should it insist on preterites in _ade_ and participles in _ad_ +merely because these forms were found in the sagas. We cannot enter upon +this subject; we can but point out that this movement was born almost +with Landsmaal itself, and that, after Aasen's fragments, the first +Norwegian translation of any part of Shakespeare is a rendering of +Sonnet CXXX in popularized Eastern, as distinguished from Aasen's +literary, aristocratic Western Landsmaal. It is the first translation of +a Shakespearean sonnet on Norwegian soil. The new language was hewing +out new paths. + + Som Soli Augunn' inkje skjin, + og som Koraller inkje Lipunn' glansar, + og snjokvit hev ho inkje Halsen sin, + og Gullhaar inkje Hove hennar kransar, + + Eg baae kvit' og raue Roser ser--, + paa Kinni hennar deira Lit'kje blandast; + og meire fin vel Blomsterangen er, + en den som ut fraa Lipunn' hennar andast. + + Eg hoyrt hev hennar Royst og veit endaa, + at inkje som ein Song dei laeter Ori; + og aldrig hev eg set ein Engel gaa-- + og gjenta mi ser stott eg gaa paa Jori. + + Men ho er storre Lov og AEre vaer + enn pyntedokkane me laana Glansen. + Den reine Hugen seg i alting ter, + og ljost ho smilar under Brurekransen.[18] + + [18. "Ein Sonett etter William Shakespeare." _Fram_--1872.] + +Obviously this is not a sonnet at all. Not only does the translator +ignore Shakespeare's rime scheme, but he sets aside the elementary +definition of a sonnet--a poem of fourteen lines. We have here sixteen +lines and the last two add nothing to the original. The poet, through +lack of skill, has simply run on. He could have ended with line 14 and +then, whatever other criticism might have been passed upon his work, we +should have had at least the sonnet form. The additional lines are in +themselves fairly good poetry but they have no place in what purports to +be translation. The translator signs himself simply "r." Whoever he was, +he had poetic feeling and power of expression. No mere poetaster could +have given lines so exquisite in their imagery, so full of music, and +so happy in their phrasing. This fact in itself makes it a poor +translation, for it is rather a paraphrase with a quality and excellence +all its own. Not a line exactly renders the English. The paraphrase is +never so good as the original but, considered by itself, it is good +poetry. The disillusionment comes only with comparison. On the whole, +this second attempt to put Shakespeare into Landsmaal was distinctly +less successful than the first. As poetry it does not measure up to +Aasen; as translation it is periphrastic, arbitrary, not at all +faithful. + + +F + +The translations which we have thus far considered were mere +fragments--brief soliloquies or a single sonnet, and they were done into +a dialect which was not then and is not now the prevailing literary +language of the country. They were earnest and, in the case of Aasen, +successful attempts to show that Landsmaal was adequate to the most +varied and remote of styles. But many years were to elapse before anyone +attempted the far more difficult task of turning any considerable part +of Shakespeare into "Modern Norwegian." + +Norway still relied, with no apparent sense of humiliation, on the +translations of Shakespeare as they came up from Copenhagen. In 1881, +however, Hartvig Lassen (1824-1897) translated _The Merchant of +Venice_.[19] Lassen matriculated as a student in 1842, and from 1850 +supported himself as a literateur, writing reviews of books and plays +for _Krydseren_ and _Aftenposten_. In 1872 he was appointed Artistic +Censor at the theater, and in that office translated a multitude of +plays from almost every language of Western Europe. His published +translations of Shakespeare are, however, quite unrelated to his +theatrical work. They were done for school use and published by +_Selskabet for Folkeoplysningens Fremme_ (Society for the Promotion +of Popular Education). + + [19. _Kjobmanden i Venedig_--Et Skuespil af William + Shakespeare. Oversat af Hartvig Lassen. Udgivet af Selskabet for + Folkeoplysningens Fremme som andet Tillaegshefte til _Folkevennen_ + for 1881. Kristiania, 1881.] + +To _Kjobmanden i Venedig_ there is no introduction and no notes--merely +a postscript in which the translator declares that he has endeavored +everywhere faithfully to reproduce the peculiar tone of the play and to +preserve the concentration of style which is everywhere characteristic +of Shakespeare. He acknowledges his indebtedness to the Swedish +translation by Hagberg and the German by Schlegel. Inasmuch as this work +was published for wide, general distribution and for reading in the +schools, Lassen cut out the passages which he deemed unsuitable for the +untutored mind. "But," he adds, "with the exception of the last scene of +Act III, which, in its expurgated form, would be too fragmentary (and +which, indeed, does not bear any immediate relation to the action), only +a few isolated passages have been cut. Shakespeare has lost next to +nothing, and a great deal has been gained if I have hereby removed one +ground for the hesitation which most teachers would feel in using the +book in the public schools." In Act III, Scene 5 is omitted entirely, +and obvious passages in other parts of the play. + +It has frequently been said that Lassen did little more than +"norvagicize" Lembcke's Danish renderings. And certainly even the most +cursory reading will show that he had Lembcke at hand. But comparison +will also show that variations from Lembcke are numerous and +considerable. Lassen was a man of letters, a critic, and a good student +of foreign languages, but he was no poet, and his _Merchant of Venice_ +is, generally speaking, much inferior to Lembcke's. Compare, for +example, the exquisite opening of the fifth act: + + + LASSEN + + _Lor_: + Klart skinner Maanen, i en Nat som denne, + da Vinden gled med Lys igjennem Lovet, + og alt var tyst: i slig en Nat forvist + Trojas Murtinder Troilus besteg, + til Graekerlejren, til sin Cressida + udsukkende sin Sjael. + + LEMBCKE + + Klart skinner Maanen, i en Nat som denne, + mens Luftningen saa sagte kyssed Traeet + at knapt det sused, i en saadan Nat + steg Troilus vist up paa Trojas Mur + og sukked ud sin Sjael mod Graekerlejren + der gjemte Cressida. + + + _Jes_: + I slig en Nat + sig Thisbe listed aengstelig, over Duggen + saa Lovens Skygge for hun saa den selv, + og lob forskraekket bort. + + En saadan Nat + gik Thisbe bange trippende paa Duggen + og ojned Lovens Skygge for den selv + og lob forfaerdet bort. + + _Lor_: + I slig en Nat + stod Dido med en Vidjevaand i Haanden + paa vilden strand, og vinked til Kartago + sin elsker hjem igjen. + + En saadan Nat + stod Dido med en Vidjekvist i Haanden + paa vilden Strand og vinkede sin Elsker + tilbage til Carthagos Kyst. + + _Jes_: + I slig en Nat + Medea plukked Galder-Urt for Aeson + hans Ungdom at forny. + + Det var + en saadan Nat, da sankede Medea + de Trolddomsurter der foryngede + den gamle Aeson. + + _Lor_: + + I slig en Nat + stjal Jessica sig fra den rige Jode, + Lob fra Venedig med en lystig Elsker + til Belmont uden Stands. + + Og en saadan Nat + sneg Jessica sig fra den rige Jode + og lob med en Landstryger fra Venedig + herhid til Belmont. + + _Jes_: + + I slig en Nat + svor ung Lorenzo at han elsked hende, + stjal hendes Sjael med mange Troskabslofter + og ikke et var sandt. + + Og en saadan Nat + svor ung Lorenzo hende Kjaerlighed + og stjal med Troskabseder hendes Hjerte + og aldrig en var sand. + + _Lor_: + + I slig en Nat + skjon Jessica, den lille Klaffertunge, + loi paa sin Elsker, og han tilgav hende. + + I slig en Nat + bagtalte just skjon Jessica sin Elsker + ret som en lille Trold, og han tilgav det. + + _Jes_: + + Jeg gad fortalt dig mer om slig en Nat, + hvis jeg ei horte nogen komme--tys! + + Jeg skulde sagtens "overnatte" dig + hvis ingen kom; men tys, jeg horer der + Trin af en Mand. + +Lembcke's version is faithful to the point of slavishness. Compare, +for example, "Jeg skulde sagtens overnatte dig" with "I would outnight +you." Lassen, though never grossly inaccurate, allows himself greater +liberties. Compare lines 2-6 with the original and with Lembcke. In +every case the Danish version is more faithful than the Norwegian. And +more mellifluous. Why Lassen should choose such clumsy and banal lines +as: + + I slig en Nat + Trojas Murtinder Troilus besteg + +when he could have used Lembcke's, is inexplicable except on the +hypothesis that he was eager to prove his own originality. The remainder +of Lorenzo's first speech is scarcely better. It is neither good +translation nor decent verse. + +In 1882 came Lassen's _Julius Caesar_,[20] likewise published as a +supplement to _Folkevennen_ for use in the schools. A short postscript +tells us that the principles which governed in the translation of the +earlier play have governed here also. Lassen specifically declares that +he used Foersom's translation (Copenhagen, 1811) as the basis for the +translation of Antony's oration. A comparison shows that in this scene +Lassen follows Foersom closely--he keeps archaisms which Lembcke +amended. One or two instances: + + _Foersom_: + Seer, her foer Casii Dolk igjennem den; + seer, hvilken Rift den nidske Casca gjorde; + her rammed' den hoitelskte Bruti Dolk, etc. + + _Lembcke_: + Se, her foer Cassius' Dolk igjennem den; + se hvilken Rift den onde Casca gjorde. + Her stodte Brutus den hoitelskede, etc. + + _Lassen_: + Se! her foer Casii Dolk igjennem den; + se hvilken Rift den onde Casca gjorde. + Her rammed den hoielskte Bruti Dolk, etc. + + [20. _Julius Caesar_. Et Skuespil af William Shakespeare. Oversat + af Hartvig Lassen. Udgivet af Selskabet for Folkeoplysningens + Fremme som forste Tillaegshefte til _Folkevennen_ for 1882. + Kristiania, 1882. Grondal og Son.] + +For the rest, a reading of this translation leaves the same impression +as a reading of _The Merchant of Venice_--it is a reasonably good +piece of work but distinctly inferior to Foersom and to Lembcke's +modernization of Foersom. Lassen clearly had Lembcke at hand; he seldom, +however, followed him for more than a line or two. What is more +important is that there are reminiscences of Foersom not only in +the funeral scene, where Lassen himself acknowledges the fact, but +elsewhere. Note a few lines from the quarrel between Brutus and Cassius +(Act IV, Sc. 3) beginning with Cassius' speech: + + Urge me no more, I shall forget myself. + +Foersom (Ed. 1811) has: + + _Cas_: + Tir mig ei mer at jeg ei glemmer mig; + husk Eders Vel--og frist mig ikke mere. + + _Bru_: + Bort, svage Mand! + + _Cas_: + Er dette muligt? + + _Bru_: + Hor mig; jeg vil tale. + Skal jeg for Eders vilde Sind mig boie? + Troer I jeg kyses af en gal Mands Blik? + + _Cas_: + O Guder, Guder! skal jeg taale dette? + + _Bru_: + Ja, meer. Brum saa dette stolte Hierte brister; + Gak, viis den Haeftighed for Eders Traelle, + og faa dem til at skielve. Skal jeg vige, + og foie Eder? Skal jeg staae og boie + mig under Eders Luners Arrighed? + Ved Guderne, I skal nedsvaelge selv + al Eders Galdes Gift, om end I brast; + thi fra i dag af bruger jeg Jer kun + til Moerskab, ja til latter naar I vredes. + +And Lassen has: + +_Cas_: + _Tirr_ mig ei mer; jeg kunde glemme mig. + Taenk paa dit eget Vel, frist mig ei laenger. + + _Bru_: + _Bort, svage Mand_! + + _Cas_: + Er dette muligt? + + _Bru_: + Hor mig, jeg vil tale. + Skal jeg _mig boie_ for din Vredes Nykker? + Og skraemmes, naar en gal Mand glor paa mig? + + _Cas_: + O Guder, Guder! maa jeg taale dette? + + _Bru_: + Dette, ja mer end det. Stamp kun mod Brodden, + ras kun, indtil dit stolte Hjerte brister; + lad dine Slaver se hvor arg du er + og _skjelve_. Jeg--skal jeg tilside smutte? + Jeg gjore Krus for dig? Jeg krumme Ryg + naar det behager dig? Ved Guderne! + Du selv skal _svaelge_ al din _Galdes Gift_, + om saa du brister; thi fra denne Dag + jeg bruger dig til Moro, ja til Latter, + naar du er ilsk. + +The _italicized_ passages show that the influence of Foersom was felt +in more than one scene. It would be easy to give other instances. + +After all this, we need scarcely more than mention Lassen's +_Macbeth_[21] published in 1883. The usual brief note at the end of the +play gives the usual information that, out of regard for the purpose for +which the translation has been made, certain parts of the porter scene +and certain speeches by Malcolm in Act IV, Sc. 3 have been cut. Readers +will have no difficulty in picking them out. + + [21. _Macbeth_. Tragedie af William Shakespeare. Oversat af + H. Lassen. Udgivet af Selskabet for Folkeoplysningens Fremme som + andet Tillaegshefte til _Folkevennen_ for 1883. Kristiania. Grondal + og Son.] + +_Macbeth_ is, like all Lassen's work, dull and prosaic. Like his other +translations from Shakespeare, it has never become popular. The standard +translation in Norway is still the Foersom-Lembcke, a trifle +nationalized with Norwegian words and phrases whenever a new acting +version is to be prepared. And while it is not true that Lassen's +translations are merely norvagicized editions of the Danish, it is true +that they are often so little independent of them that they do not +deserve to supersede the work of Foersom and Lembcke. + + +G + +Norwegian translations of Shakespeare cannot, thus far, be called +distinguished. There is no complete edition either in Riksmaal or +Landsmaal. A few sonnets, a play or two, a scrap of dialogue--Norway +has little Shakespeare translation of her own. Qualitatively, the case +is somewhat better. Several of the renderings we have considered are +extremely creditable, though none of them can be compared with the +best in Danish or Swedish. It is a grateful task, therefore, to call +attention to the translations by Christen Collin. They are not +numerous--only eleven short fragments published as illustrative material +in his school edition (English text) of _The Merchant of Venice_--[22] +but they are of notable quality, and they save the Riksmaal literature +from the reproach of surrendering completely to the Landsmaal the task +of turning Shakespeare into Norwegian. With the exception of a few lines +from _Macbeth_ and _Othello_, the selections are all from _The Merchant +of Venice_. + + [22. _The Merchant of Venice_. Med Indledning og Anmaerkninger ved + Christen Collin. Kristiania. 1902. (This, of course, does not + include the translations of the sonnets referred to below.)] + +A good part of Collin's success must be attributed to his intimate +familiarity with English. The fine nuances of the language do not escape +him, and he can use it not with precision merely but with audacity and +power. Long years of close and sympathetic association with the +literature of England has made English well-nigh a second mother tongue +to this fine and appreciative critic. But he is more than a critic. He +has more than a little of the true poet's insight and the true poet's +gift of song. All this has combined to give us a body of translations +which, for fine felicity, stand unrivalled in Dano-Norwegian. Many of +these have been prepared for lecture purposes and have never been +printed.[23] Only a few have been perpetuated in this text edition of +_The Merchant of Venice_. We shall discuss the edition itself below. +Our concern here is with the translations. We remember Lassen's and +Lembcke's opening of the fifth act. Collin is more successful than his +countryman. + + _Lor_: + Hvor Maanen straaler! I en nat som denne, + da milde vindpust kyssed skovens traer + og alting var saa tyst, i slig en nat + Troilus kanske steg op paa Trojas mure + og stonned ud sin sjael mod Graekerteltene + hvor Cressida laa den nat. + + _Jes_: + I slig en nat + kom Thisbe angstfuldt trippende over duggen,-- + saa lovens skygge, for hun saa den selv, + og lob forskraekket bort. + + _Lor_: + I slig en nat + stod Dido med en vidjekvist i haand + paa havets strand og vinkede AEneas + tilbage til Karthago. + + _Jes_: + I slig en nat + Medea sanked urter som foryngede + den gamle AEsons liv. + + _Lor_: + I slig en nat + stjal Jessica sig fra den rige Jode + med en forfloien elsker fra Venedig + og fandt i Belmont ly. + + _Jes_: + I en saadan nat + svor ung Lorenzo at hun var ham kjaer + og stjal med mange eder hendes hjerte, + men ikke en var sand. + + _Lor_: + I slig en nat + skjon Jessica, den lille heks, bagtalte + sin elsker og han--tilgav hende alt. + + [23. I have seen these translations in the typewritten copies + which Professor Collin distributed among his students.] + +"A translation of this passage," says Collin,[24] "can hardly be more +than an approximation, but its inadequacy will only emphasize the +beauty of the original." Nevertheless we have here more than a feeble +approximation. It is not equal to Shakespeare, but it is good Norwegian +poetry and as faithful as translation can or need be. It is difficult to +refrain from giving Portia's plea for mercy, but I shall give instead +Collin's striking rendering of Shylock's arraignment of Antonio:[25] + + Signor Antonio, mangen en gang og tit + har paa Rialto torv I skjaeldt mig ud + for mine pengelaan og mine renter.... + Jeg bar det med taalmodigt skuldertraek, + for taalmod er jo blit vor stammes merke. + + I kalder mig en vantro, blodgrisk _hund_ + og spytter paa min jodiske gaberdin-- + hvorfor? for brug af hvad der er mit eget! + Nu synes det, I traenger til min hjaelp. + + Nei virkelig? I kommer nu til mig + og siger: Shylock, laan os penge,--I, + som slaengte eders slim hen paa mit skjaeg + og satte foden paa mig, som I spaendte, + en kjoter fra Jer dor, I be'r om penge! + Hvad skal jeg svare vel? Skal jeg 'ke svare: + Har en hund penge? Er det muligt, at + en kjoter har tre tusinde dukater? + Eller skal jeg bukke dybt og i traelletone + med saenket rost og underdanig hvisken + formaele: + "Min herre, I spytted paa mig sidste onsdag, + en anden dag I spaendte mig, en tredje + I kaldte mig en hund; for al den artighed + jeg laaner Jer saa og saa mange penge?" + + [24. Collin, _op. cit._, _Indledning_, XII.] + + [25. Collin, _op. cit._, _Indledning_, XXVI. (_M. of V._, 1-3)] + +It is to be regretted that Collin did not give us Shylock's still more +impassioned outburst to Salarino in Act III. He would have done it well. + +It would be a gracious task to give more of this translator's work. It +is, slight though its quantity, a genuine contribution to the body of +excellent translation literature of the world. I shall quote but one +more passage, a few lines from _Macbeth_.[26] + + "Det tyktes mig som horte jeg en rost; + Sov aldrig mer! Macbeth har myrdet sovnen, + den skyldfri sovn, som loser sorgens floke, + hvert daglivs dod, et bad for modig moie, + balsam for sjaelesaar og alnaturens + den sode efterret,--dog hovednaeringen + ved livets gjaestebud.... + + _Lady Macbeth_: + Hvad er det, du mener? + + _Macbeth_: + "Sov aldrig mer," det skreg til hele huset. + Glarais har myrdet sovnen, derfor Cawdor + skal aldrig mer faa sovn,--Macbeth, + Macbeth skal aldrig mer faa sovn!" + + [26. Collin, _op. cit._, _Indledning_, XXV. _Macbeth_ II, 1.] + + +H + +We have hitherto discussed the Norwegian translations of Shakespeare in +almost exact chronological order. It has been possible to do this +because the plays have either been translated by a single man and issued +close together, as in the case of Hartvig Lassen, or they have appeared +separately from the hands of different translators and at widely +different periods. We come now, however, to a group of translations +which, although the work of different men and published independently +from 1901 to 1912, nevertheless belong together. They are all in +Landsmaal and they represent quite clearly an effort to enrich the +literature of the new dialect with translations from Shakespeare. To do +this successfully would, obviously, be a great gain. The Maalstraevere +would thereby prove the capacity of their tongue for the highest, most +exotic forms of literature. They would give to it, moreover, the +discipline which the translation of foreign classics could not fail to +afford. It was thus a renewal of the missionary spirit of Ivar Aasen. +And behind it all was the defiant feeling that Norwegians should have +Shakespeare in Norwegian, not in Danish or bastard Danish. + +The spirit of these translations is obvious enough from the opening +sentence of Madhus' preface to his translation of _Macbeth_:[27] +"I should hardly have ventured to publish this first attempt at a +Norwegian translation of Shakespeare if competent men had not urged me +to do so." It is frankly declared to be the first Norwegian translation +of Shakespeare. Hauge and Lassen, to say nothing of the translator of +1818, are curtly dismissed from Norwegian literature. They belong to +Denmark. This might be true if it were not for the bland assumption +that nothing is really Norwegian except what is written in the dialect +of a particular group of Norwegians. The fundamental error of the +"Maalstraevere" is the inability to comprehend the simple fact that +language has no natural, instinctive connection with race. An American +born in America of Norwegian parents _may_, if his parents are energetic +and circumstances favorable, learn the tongue of his father and mother, +but his natural speech, the medium he uses easily, his real +mother-tongue, will be English. Will it be contended that this American +has lost anything in spiritual power or linguistic facility? Quite the +contrary. The use of Danish in Norway has had the unfortunate effect of +stirring up a bitter war between the two literary languages or the two +dialects of the same language, but it has imposed no bonds on the +literary or intellectual powers of a large part of the people, for the +simple reason that these people have long used the language as their +own. And because they live in Norway they have made the speech +Norwegian. Despite its Danish origin, Dano-Norwegian is today as truly +Norwegian as any other Norwegian dialect, and in its literary form it +is, in a sense, more Norwegian than the literary Landsmaal, for the +language of Bjornson has grown up gradually on Norwegian soil; the +language of Ivar Aasen is not yet acclimatized. + + [27. William Shakespeare: _Macbeth_. I norsk Umskrift ved Olav + Madhus. Kristiania. 1901. H. Aschehoug & Co.] + +For these reasons it will not do to let Madhus' calm assertion go +unchallenged. The fact is that to a large part of the Norwegian people +Lassen's translations represent merely a slightly Danicized form of +their own language, while to the same people the language of Madhus is +at least as foreign as Swedish. This is not the place for a discussion +of "Sprogstriden." We may give full recognition to Landsmaal without +subscribing to the creed of enthusiasts. And it is still easier to give +credit to the excellence of the Shakespeare translations in Landsmaal +without concerning ourselves with the partisanship of the translator. +What shall we say, then, of the _Macbeth_ of Olav Madhus? + +First, that it is decidedly good. The tragedy of Macbeth is stark, grim, +stern, and the vigorous, resonant Norwegian fits admirably. There is +little opportunity, as in Aasen's selections from _Romeo and Juliet_ for +those unfortunate contrasts between the homespun of the modern dialect +and the exquisite silk and gossamer of the vocabulary of romance of +a "cultured language." Madhus has been successful in rendering into +Landsmaal scenes as different as the witch-scene, the porter-scene +(which Lassen omitted for fear it would contaminate the minds of school +children), the exquisite lines of the King and Banquo on their arrival +at Macbeth's castle, and Macbeth's last, tragic soliloquy when he learns +of the death of his queen. + +Duncan and Banquo arrive at the castle of Macbeth and Duncan speaks +those lovely lines: "This castle has a pleasant seat," etc. Madhus +translates: + + _Duncan_: + Ho hev eit fagert laegje, denne borgi, + og lufti lyar seg og gjer seg smeiki + aat vaare glade sansar. + + _Banquo_: + Sumar-gjesten, + den tempel-kjaere svala, vitnar med, + at himlens ande blakrar smeikin her, + med di at ho so gjerne her vil byggje. + Det finst kje sule eller takskjeggs livd + og ikkje voll hell vigskar, der ei ho + hev hengt si lette seng og barne-vogge. + Der ho mest bur og braeer, hev eg merkt meg, + er lufti herleg. + +This is as light and luminous as possible. Contrast it with the slow, +solemn tempo of the opening of Act I, Sc. 7--Macbeth's "If it were done +when 'tis done," etc. + + Um det var gjort, naar d'er gjort, var det vael, + um det vart snart gjort; kunde loynmordsverke, + stengje og binde alle vonde fylgdir + og, med aa faa hurt honom, naa sitt maal, + so denne eine stoyten som maa til, + vart enden, alt, det siste som det fyrste + i tidi her--den havsens oyr og bode + me sit paa no--,--med live som kjem etter + det fekk daa vaage voni. Men i slikt + vert domen sagd alt her. Blodtankane, + me el, kjem vaksne att og piner oss, + som gav deim liv og fostra deim; og drykken, + som me hev blanda eiter i aat andre, + vert eingong uta miskunn bodin fram + av rettferds hand aat vaare eigne munnar. + +The deep tones of a language born in mountains and along fjords finely +re-echo the dark broodings in Macbeth's soul. + +Or take still another example, the witch-scene in Act IV. It opens in +Madhus' version: + + _Fyrste Heks_: + Tri gong mjava brandut katt. + + _Andre Heks_: + Tri og ein gong bust-svin peip. + + _Tridje Heks_: + Val-ramn skrik. D'er tid, d'er tid. + + _Fyrste Heks_: + Ring um gryta gjeng me tri; + sleng forgiftigt seid--mang i. + Gyrme-gro, som under stein + dagar tredive og ein + sveita eiter, lat og leid, + koke fyrst i vaaro seid. + + _Alle_: + Tvifaldt trael og moda duble; + brand frase, seid buble! + + _Andre Heks_: + Moyrkjot av ein myr-orm kald + so i gryta koke skal. + Odle-augo, skinnveng-haar, + hundetunge, froskelaar, + sleve-brodd, firfisle-svord, + ule-veng og lyngaal-spord + til eit seid som sinn kann rengje + hel-sodd-heitt seg saman mengje! + +This is not only accurate; it is a decidedly successful imitation of the +movement of the original. Madhus has done a first-rate piece of work. +The language of witch-craft is as international as the language of +science. But only a poet can turn it to poetic use. + +Not quite so successful is Macbeth's soliloquy when the death of Lady +Macbeth is announced to him: + + Det skuld'ho drygt med. + Aat slikt eit ord var komi betre stund.-- + "I morgo" og "i morgo" og "i morgo," + slik sig det smaatt fram etter, dag for dag, + til siste ord i livsens sogubok; + og kvart "i gaar" hev daarer vegen lyst + til dust og daude. + +It is difficult to say just where the fault lies, but the thing seems +uncouth, a trifle too colloquial and peasant-like. The fault may be the +translator's, but something must also be charged to his medium. The +passage in Shakespeare is simple but it breathes distinction. The +Landsmaal version is merely colloquial, even banal. One fine line +there is: + + "til siste ord i livsens sogubok." + +But the rest suggests too plainly the limitations of an uncultivated +speech. + +In 1905 came a translation of _The Merchant of Venice_ by Madhus,[28] +and, uniform with it, a little book--_Soga um Kaupmannen i Venetia_ (The +Story of The Merchant of Venice) in which the action of the play is told +in simple prose. In the appendatory notes the translator acknowledges +his obligation to Arne Garborg--"Arne Garborg hev gjort mig framifraa +god hjelp, her som med _Macbeth_. Takk og aere hev han." + + [28. William Shakespeare--_Kaupmannen i Venetia_. Paa Norsk ved + Olav Madhus. Oslo. 1905.] + +What we have said of _Macbeth_ applies with no less force here. The +translation is more than merely creditable--it is distinctly good. And +certainly it is no small feat to have translated Shakespeare in all his +richness and fulness into what was only fifty years ago a rustic and +untrained dialect. It is the best answer possible to the charge often +made against Landsmaal that it is utterly unable to convey the subtle +thought of high and cosmopolitan culture. This was the indictment of +Bjornson,[29] of philologists like Torp,[30] and of a literary critic +like Hjalmar Christensen.[31] The last named speaks repeatedly of the +feebleness of Landsmaal when it swerves from its task of depicting +peasant life. His criticism of the poetry of Ivar Mortensen is one long +variation of this theme--the immaturity of Landsmaal. All of this is +true. A finished literary language, even when its roots go deep into a +spoken language, cannot be created in a day. It must be enriched and +elaborated, and it must gain flexibility from constant and varied use. +It is precisely this apprentice stage that Landsmaal is now in. The +finished "Kultursprache" will come in good time. No one who has read +Garborg will deny that it can convey the subtlest emotions; and Madhus' +translations of Shakespeare are further evidence of its possibilities. + + [29. Bjornson: _Vort Sprog_.] + + [30. Torp. _Samtiden_, Vol. XIX (1908), p. 408.] + + [31. _Vor Literatur_.] + +That Madhus does not measure up to his original will astonish no one +who knows Shakespeare translations in other languages. Even Tieck's +and Schlegel's German, or Hagberg's Swedish, or Foersom's Danish is no +substitute for Shakespeare. Whether or not Madhus measures up to these +is not for me to decide, but I feel very certain that he will not suffer +by comparison with the Danish versions by Wolff, Meisling, Wosemose, or +even Lembcke, or with the Norwegian versions of Hauge and Lassen. The +feeling that one gets in reading Madhus is not that he is uncouth, still +less inaccurate, but that in the presence of great imaginative richness +he becomes cold and barren. We felt it less in the tragedy of _Macbeth_, +where romantic color is absent; we feel it strongly in _The Merchant of +Venice_, where the richness of romance is instinct in every line. The +opening of the play offers a perfect illustration. In answer to +Antonio's complaint "In sooth I know not why I am so sad," etc, Salarino +replies in these stately and sounding lines: + + Your mind is tossing on the ocean; + There, where your argosies, with portly sail,-- + Like signiors and rich burghers of the flood, + Or, as it were, the pageants of the sea,-- + Do overpeer the petty traffickers + That curt'sy to them, do them reverence, + As they fly by them with their woven wings. + +The picture becomes very much less stately in Norwegian folk-speech: + + Paa storehave huskar hugen din, + der dine langferd-skip med staute segl + som hovdingar og herremenn paa sjo + i drusteferd, aa kalle, gagar seg + paa baara millom kraemarskutur smaa', + som nigjer aat deim og som helsar audmjukt + naar dei med vovne vengir framum stryk. + +The last two lines are adequate, but the rest has too much the flavor of +Ole and Peer discussing the fate of their fishing-smacks. Somewhat more +successful is the translation of the opening of Act V, doubtless because +it is simpler, less full of remote and sophisticated imagery. By way of +comparison with Lassen and Collin, it may be interesting to have it at +hand. + + _Lor_: + Ovfagert lyser maanen. Slik ei natt, + daa milde vindar kysste ljuve tre + so lindt at knapt dei susa, slik ei natt + steig Troilus upp paa Troja-murane + og sukka saali si til Greklands telt, + der Kressida laag den natti. + + _Jes_: + Slik ei natt + gjekk Thisbe hugraedd yvi doggvaat voll + og loveskuggen saag fyrr lova kom; + og raedd ho der-fraa romde. + + _Lor_: + Slik ei natt + stod Dido med ein siljutein i hand + paa villan strand og vinka venen sin + tilbake til Kartago. + + _Jes_: + Slik ei natt + Medea trolldoms-urtir fann, til upp + aa yngje gamle AEson. + + _Lor_: + Slik ei natt + stal Jessika seg ut fraa judens hus + og med ein fark til festarmann for av + so langt som hit til Belmont. + + _Jes_: + Slik ei natt + svor ung Lorenso henne elskhugs eid + og hjarta hennar stal med fagre ord + som ikkje aatte sanning. + + _Lor_: + Slik ei natt + leksa ven' Jessika som eit lite troll + upp for sin kjaerst, og han tilgav ho. + + _Jes_: + I natteleik eg heldt nok ut med deg, + um ingin kom; men hyss, eg hoyrer stig. + +But when Madhus turns from such flights of high poetry to low comedy, +his success is complete. It may be a long time before Landsmaal can +successfully render the mighty line of Marlowe, or the manifold music of +Shakespeare, but we should expect it to give with perfect verity the +language of the people. And when we read the scenes in which Lancelot +Gobbo figures, there is no doubt that here Landsmaal is at home. Note, +for example, Act II, Sc. 1: + + "Samvite mitt vil visst ikkje hjelpe meg med aa rome fraa denne + juden, husbond min. Fenden stend her attum olbogen min og segjer til + meg: "Gobbo, Lanselot Gobbo; gode Lanselot, eller gode Gobbo, bruka + leggine; tak hyven; drag din veg." Samvite segjer: "nei, agta deg, + aerlige Gobbo," eller som fyr sagt: "aerlige Lanselot Gobbo, rom + ikkje; set deg mot roming med hael og taa!" Men fenden, den + stormodige, bed meg pakka meg; "fremad mars!" segjer fenden; "legg i + veg!" segjer fenden; "for alt som heilagt er," segjer fenden; "vaaga + paa; drag i veg!" Men samvite heng un halsen paa hjarta mitt og + talar visdom til meg; "min aerlige ven Lanselot, som er son av ein + aerlig mann, eller rettare: av eit aerligt kvende; for skal eg segja + sant, so teva det eit grand svidt av far min; han hadde som ein + attaat-snev; naah; samvite segjer: "du skal ikkje fantegaa." "Du + skal fantegaa," segjer fenden; "nei; ikkje fantegaa," segjer + samvite. "Du samvit," segjer eg, "du raader meg godt." "Du fenden," + segjer eg, "du raader meg godt." Fylgde eg no samvite, so vart eg + verande hjaa juden, som--forlate mi synd--er noko som ein devel; og + romer eg fraa juden, so lyder eg fenden, som--beintfram sagt--er + develen sjolv. Visst og sannt: juden er sjolve develen i karnition; + men etter mitt vit er samvite mit vitlaust, som vil raade meg til aa + verta verande hjaa juden. Fenden gjev meg den venlegaste raadi; eg + tek kuten, fenden; haelane mine stend til din kommando; eg tek kuten." + +This has the genuine ring. The brisk colloquial vocabulary fits +admirably the brilliant sophistry of the argument. And both could come +only from Launcelot Gobbo. For "the simplicity of the folk" is one of +those fictions which romantic closet study has woven around the study of +"the people." + +Of the little re-telling of _The Merchant of Venice_, "Soga um +Kaupmannen i Venetia"[32] which appeared in the same year, nothing need +be said. It is a simple, unpretentious summary of the story with a +certain charm which simplicity and naivete always give. No name appears +on the title-page, but we are probably safe in attributing it to +Madhus, for in the note to _Kaupmannen i Venetia_ we read: "I _Soga um +Kaupmannen i Venetia_ hev ein sjolve forteljingi som stykkji er bygt +paa." + + [32. _Soga um Kaupmannen i Venetia_. Oslo, 1905.] + + +I + +In the year 1903, midway between the publication of Madhus' _Macbeth_ +and the appearance of his _Kaupmannen i Venetia_, there appeared in the +chief literary magazine of the Landsmaal movement, "Syn og Segn," a +translation of the fairy scenes of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ by Erik +Eggen.[33] This is the sort of material which we should expect Landsmaal +to render well. Oberon and Titania are not greatly different from Nissen +and Alverne in Norwegian fairy tales, and the translator had but to +fancy himself in Alveland to be in the enchanted wood near Athens. The +spirit of the fairy scenes in Shakespeare is akin to the spirit of +Asbjornson's "Huldre-Eventyr." There is in them a community of feeling, +of fancy, of ideas. And whereas Madhus had difficulty with the sunny +romance of Italy, Eggen in the story of Puck found material ready to +hand. The passage translated begins Act II, Sc. 1, and runs through Act +II to Oberon's words immediately before the entrance of Helen and +Demetrius: + + But who comes here? I am invisible; + And I will overhear their conference. + + [33. _Alveliv. Eller Shakespeare's Midsumarnatt Draum_ ved Erik + Eggen. _Syn og Segn_, 1903. No. 3-6, pp. (105-114); 248-259.] + +Then the translator omits everything until Puck re-enters and Oberon +greets him with the words: + + Velkomen, vandrar; hev du blomen der? + (Hast thou the flower there? Welcome, wanderer.) + +Here the translation begins again and goes to the exit of Oberon and the +entrance of Lysander and Hermia. This is all in the first selection in +_Syn og Segn_, No. 3. + +In the sixth number of the same year (1903) the work is continued. The +translation here begins with Puck's words (Act III): + + What hempen homespuns have we swaggering here? + So near the cradle of the fairy queen? + What, a play toward! I'll be an auditor; + An actor, too, if I see cause. + +Then it breaks off again and resumes with the entrance of Puck and +Bottom adorned with an ass's head. Quince's words: "O monstrous! O +strange!" are given and then Puck's speech: "I'll follow you: I'll lead +you about a round." After this there is a break till Bottom's song: + + "The ousel cock, so black of hue," etc. + +And now all proceeds without break to the _Hail_ of the last elf called +in to serve Bottom, but the following speeches between Bottom and the +fairies, Cobweb, Mustardseed and Peaseblossom, are all cut, and the +scene ends with Titania's speech: + + "Come, wait upon him, lead him to my bower," etc. + +Act III, Sc. 2, follows immediately, but the translation ends with the +first line of Oberon's speech to Puck before the entrance of Demetrius +and Hermia: + + "This falls out better than I could devise." + +and resumes with Oberon's words: + + "I'll to my queen and beg her Indian boy," + +and includes (with the omission of the last two lines) Oberon's speech +beginning: + + "But we are spirits of another sort." + +Eggen then jumps to the fourth act and translates Titania's opening +speech. After this there is a break till the entrance of Oberon. The +dialogue between Titania and Oberon is given faithfully, except that +in the speech in which Oberon removes the incantation, all the lines +referring to the wedding of Theseus are omitted; the speeches of Puck, +Oberon, and Titania immediately preceding the entrance of Theseus, +Hippolyta, Egeus, and their train, are rendered. + +From Act V the entire second scene is given. + +Eggen has, then, attempted to give a translation into Norwegian +Landsmaal of the fairy scenes in _A Midsummer Night's Dream_. He has +confined himself severely to his task as thus limited, even cutting out +lines from the middle of speeches when these lines refer to another part +of the action or to another group of characters. What we have is, then, +a fragment, to be defended only as an experiment, and successful in +proportion as it renders single lines, speeches, or songs well. On the +whole, Eggen has been successful. There is a vigor and directness in his +style which, indeed, seem rather Norwegian than Shakespearean, but which +are, nevertheless, entirely convincing. One is scarcely conscious that +it is a translation. And in the lighter, more romantic passages Eggen +has hit the right tone with entire fidelity. His knowledge is sound. His +notes, though exhibiting no special learning, show clearly that he is +abreast of modern scholarship. Whenever his rendering seems daring, he +accompanies it with a note that clearly and briefly sets forth why a +particular word or phrase was chosen. The standard Danish, Norwegian, +and German translations are known to him, and occasionally he borrows +from them. But he knows exactly why he does borrow. His scholarship +and his real poetic power combine to give us a translation of which +Landsmaal literature has every reason to be proud. We need give only +a few passages. I like the rollicking humor of Puck's words: + + Kor torer uhengt kjeltrings pakk daa skvaldre + so naere vogga hennar alvemor? + Kva?--skodespel i gjerdom? Eg vil sjaa paa-- + kann hende spele med, um so eg synest. + +And a little farther on when Bottom, adorned with his ass's head, +returns with Puck, and the simple players flee in terror and Puck +exclaims: + + Eg fylgjer dykk og forer rundt i tunn, + i myr og busk og ormegras og klunger, + og snart eg er ein hest og snart ein hund, + ein gris, ein mannvond bjorn, snart flammetungur, + og kneggjer, goyr og ryler, murrar, brenn, + som hest, hund, gris, bjorn, varme--eitt um senn. + +we give our unqualified admiration to the skill of the translator. Or, +compare Titania's instructions to the faries to serve her Bottom: + + Ver venlege imot og ten den herren! + Dans vaent for augo hans, hopp der han gjeng! + Gjev aprikos og frukt fraa blaabaerlid, + ei korg med druvur, fikjur, morbaer i! + Stel honningsekken bort fraa annsam bi! + Til Nattljos hennar voksbein slit i fleng,-- + kveik deim paa jonsok-onn i buskeheng! + Lys for min ven, naar han vil gaa i seng. + Fraa maala fivreld slit ein fager veng, + og fraa hans augo maaneljose steng. + Hels honom so, og kyss til honom sleng. + + _Fyrste Alven_: + Menneskje. + + _Andre Alven_: + Heil deg! + + _Tridje Alven_: + Heil! + + _Fjerde Alven_: + Heil og sael! + + _Titania_: + Ten honom so! Leid honom til mitt rom! + Eg tykkjer maanen er i augo vaat; + og naar han graet, daa graet kvar litin blom, + og minnest daa ei tilnoydd dygd med graat. + Legg handi paa hans munn! Og stilt far aat! + +It is, however, in his exquisitely delicate rendering of the songs of +this play--certainly one of the most difficult tasks that a translator +can undertake--that Eggen has done his best work. There is more than a +distant echo of the original in this happy translation of Bottom's song: + + Han trostefar med svarte kropp + og nebb som appelsin, + og gjerdesmett med litin topp + og stare med tone fin. + Og finke, sporv og lerke graa + og gauk,--ho, ho![34] han laer, + so tidt han gjev sin naeste smaa; + men aldri svar han faer. + + [34. The translator explains in a note the pun in the original.] + +The marvelous richness of the Norwegian dialects in the vocabulary of +folklore is admirably brought out in the song with which the fairies +sing Titania to sleep:[35] + + _Ein alv_: + Spettut orm med tungur tvo, + kvass bust-igel, krjup kje her! + Ole, staal-orm, fara no, + kom vaar alvemor ei naer! + + _Alle alvene_: + Maaltrost, syng med tone full + du med oss vaart bysselull: + bysse, bysse, bysselull, + ei maa vald, + ei heksegald + faa vaar dronning ottefull; + so god natt og bysselull. + + _Ein annan alv_: + Ingi kongrov vil me sjaa, + langbeint vevekjering, gakk! + Svart tordivel, burt her fraa, + burt med snigil og med makk! + + _Alle alvene_: + Maaltrost, syng med tone full + du med oss vaart bysselull: + bysse, bysse, bysselull, + bysse, bysse, bysselull, + ei maa vald, + ei heksegald + faa vaar dronning ottefull; + so god natt og bysselull. + + [35. Act II, Sc. 2.] + +It is easy to draw upon this fragment for further examples of felicitous +translation. It is scarcely necessary, however. What has been given is +sufficient to show the rare skill of the translator. He is so fortunate +as to possess in a high degree what Bayard Taylor calls "secondary +inspiration," without which the work of a translator becomes a soulless +mass and frequently degenerates into the veriest drivel. Erik Eggen's +_Alveliv_ deserves a place in the same high company with Taylor's +_Faust_. + +Nine years later, in 1912, Eggen returned to the task he had left +unfinished with the fairy scenes in _Syn og Segn_ and gave a complete +translation of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_. In a little prefatory note +he acknowledges his indebtedness to Arne Garborg, who critically +examined the manuscript and gave valuable suggestions and advice. +The introduction itself is a restatement in two pages of the +Shakespeare-Essex-Leicester-Elizabeth story. Shakespeare recalls the +festivities as he saw them in youth when he writes in Act II, Sc. 2: + + thou rememberest + Since once I sat upon a promontory, + And heard a mermaid upon a dolphin's back, etc. + +And it is Elizabeth he has in mind when, in the same scene, we read: + + That very time I saw, but thou could'st not, + Flying between the cold moon and the earth, + Cupid all armed, etc. + +All of this is given by way of background, and it is of little +importance to the general readers what modern Shakespeare scholars +may say of it. + +Eggen has not been content merely to reprint in the complete translation +his earlier work from _Syn og Segn_, but he has made a thoroughgoing +revision.[36] It cannot be said to be altogether happy. Frequently, of +course, a line or phrase is improved or an awkward turn straightened +out, but, as a whole, the first version surpasses the second not in +poetic beauty merely, but in accuracy. Compare, for example, the two +renderings of the opening lines: + + SYN OG SEGN--1903 + + _Nissen_: + Kor no ande! seg, kvar skal du av? + + REVISION OF 1912 + + _Tuften_: + Hallo! Kvar skal du av, du vesle vette? + + _Alven_: + Yver dal, yver fjell, + gjenom vatn, gjenom eld, + yver gras, yver grind, + gjenom klunger so stinn, + yver alt eg smett og kliv + snoggare enn maanen sviv; + eg i gras dei ringar doggar, + der vaar mori dans seg voggar. + + _Alven_: + Yver dal, yver fjell, + gjenom vatn, gjenom eld, + yver gras, yver grind, + gjenom klunger so stinn, + alle stad'r eg smett og kliv + snoggare enn maanen sviv; + eg dogge maa + dei grone straa + som vaar dronning dansar paa. + + Hennar vakt mun symrur vera, + gyllne klaede mun dei bera; + sjaa dei stjernur alvar gav deim! + Derfraa kjem all angen av deim. + Aa sanke dogg--til de eg kom; + ei perle fester eg til kvar ein blom. + Far vel, du ande-styving! Eg maa vekk; + vaar dronning er her ho paa fljugand' flekk. + + Kvart nykelband + er adelsmann, + med ordenar dei glime kann; + kvar blank rubin, + paa bringa skin, + utsender ange fin. + Doggdropar blanke + skal eg sanke, + mange, mange, + dei skal hange + kvar av hennar + adels-mennar + glimande i oyra. + + [36. William Shakespeare--_Jonsok Draumen_--Eit Gamenspel. Paa + Norsk ved Erik Eggen. Oslo, 1912.] + +Now, admitting that + + eg dogge maa + dei grone straa + som vaar dronning dansar paa. + +is a better translation than in the _Syn og Segn_ text--which is +doubtful enough--it is difficult to see what can be the excuse for such +pompous banality as + + Kvart nykelband + er adelsmann, + med ordenar dei glime kann; + +the first version is not above reproach in this respect. It might +fairly be asked: where does Eggen get his authority for + + sjaa dei stjernur alvar gav deim! + +But the lines are not loaded down with imagery which is both misleading +and in bad taste. Eggen should have left his first version unchanged. +Such uninspired prose as: + + kvar blank rubin, + paa bringa skin, + utsender ange fin. + +have to the ears of most Norwegians the atmosphere of the back stairs. +Better the unadorned version of 1903. + +In the passage following, Robin's reply, the revised version is probably +better than the first, though there seems to be little to choose between +them. But in the fairy's next speech the translator has gone quite +beyond his legitimate province, and has improved Shakespeare by a +picture from Norwegian folklore. Following the lines of the original: + + Misleade nightwanderers, laughing at their harm, + +Eggen has added this homelike conception in his translation: + + som og kann draga for til hest og naut, + naar berre du kvar torsdag faer din graut. + +Shakespeare in Elysium must have regretted that he was not born in the +mountains of Norway! + +And when Robin, in the speech that follows, tells of his antics, one +wonders just a little what has been gained by the revision. The same +query is constantly suggested to anyone who compares the two texts. + +Nor do I think that the lyrics have gained by the revision. Just a +single comparison--the lullaby in the two versions. We have given it +above as published in _Syn og Segn_. The following is its revised form: + + _Fyrste alven_: + Spettut orm, bustyvel kvass, + eiter-odle, sleve graa, + fare burt fraa denne plass, + so vaar dronning sova maa! + + _Alle_: + Maaltrost, syng med oss i lund + dronningi i saelan blund: + Byssam, byssam barne, + gryta heng i jarne. + Troll og nykk, + gakk burt med dykk + denne saele skymingsstund! + So god natt! Sov sott i lund! + + _Andre alven_: + Burt, tordivel, kom kje her! + Makk og snigill, burt dykk vinn! + Kongro, far ei onnor ferd, + langt ifraa oss din spune spinn! + + _Alle_: + Maaltrost, syng med oss i lund, etc. + +The first version is not only more literal but, so far as I can judge, +superior in every way--in music and delicacy of phrase. And again, Eggen +has taken it upon himself to patch up Shakespeare with homespun rags +from his native Norwegian parish. It is difficult to say upon what +grounds such tinkerings with the text as: + + Byssam, byssam barne, + gryta, heng i jarne, + +can be defended. + +But we have already devoted too much space to this matter. Save for a +few isolated lines, Eggen might very well have left these scenes as he +gave them to us in 1903. We then ask, "What of the much greater part of +the play now translated for the first time?" Well, no one will dispute +the translator's triumph in this scene:[37] + + _Monsaas_: + Er heile kompanie samla? + + _Varp_: + Det er best du ropar deim upp alle saman, mann for mann, etter + lista. + + _Monsaas_: + Her er ei liste yver namni paa alle deim som me i heile Aten finn + mest hovelege til aa spela i millomstykke vaareses framfyre hertugen + og frua hans paa brudlaupsdagen um kvelden. + + _Varp_: + Du Per Monsaas, lyt fyrst segja kva stykke gjeng ut paa; les so upp + namni paa spelarne, og so--til saki. + + _Monsaas_: + Ja vel. Stykke heiter: "Det grotelege gamanspele um Pyramus og Tisbi + og deira syndlege daude." + + _Varp_: + Verkeleg eit godt stykke arbeid, skal eg segja dykk, og morsamt med. + No, min gode Per Monsaas, ropa upp spelarne etter lista. Godtfolk, + spreid dykk. + + _Monsaas_: + Svara ettersom eg ropar dykk upp. + Nils Varp, vevar? + + _Varp_: + Her! Seg kva for ein rolle eg skal hava, og haldt so fram. + + _Monsaas_: + Du, Nils Varp, er skrivin for Pyramus. + + _Varp_: + Kva er Pyramus for slags kar? Ein elskar eller ein fark? + + _Monsaas_: + Ein elskar som drep seg sjolv paa aegte riddarvis av kjaerleik. + + _Varp_: + Det kjem til aa koste taarur um ein spelar det retteleg. Faer eg + spela det, so lyt nok dei som ser paa, sjaa til kvar dei hev augo + sine; eg skal grote steinen, eg skal jamre so faelt so. For resten, + mi gaave ligg best for ein berserk. Eg skulde spela herr Kules + fraamifra--eller ein rolle, der eg kann klore og bite og slaa all + ting i mol og mas: + Og sprikk det fjell + med toresmell, + daa sunder fell + kvar port so sterk. + Stig Fobus fram + bak skyatram, + daa sprikk med skam + alt gygere-herk. + Det der laag no hogt det. Nemn so resten av spelarane. Dette var + rase til herr Kules, berserk-ras; ein elskar er meir klagande. + + [37. Act II, Sc. 2.] + +There can be no doubt about the genuineness of this. It catches the +spirit of the original and communicates it irresistibly to the reader. +When Bottom (Varp) says "Kva er Pyramus for slags kar?" or when he +threatens, "Eg skal grote steinen, eg skal jamre so faelt so," one who +has something of Norwegian "Sprachgefuehl" will exclaim that this is +exactly what it should be. It is not the language of Norwegian +artisans--they do not speak Landsmaal. But neither is the language of +Shakespeare's craftsmen the genuine spoken language of Elizabethan +craftsmen. The important thing is that the tone is right. And this +feeling of a right tone is still further satisfied in the rehearsal +scene (III, Sc. 1). Certain slight liberties do not diminish our +pleasure. The reminiscence of _Richard III_ in Bottom's, "A calendar, a +calendar, looke in the Almanack, finde out moonshine," translated "Ei +almanakke, ei almanakke, mit kongerike for ei almanakke," seems, +however, a labored piece of business. One line, too, has been added to +this speech which is a gratuitous invention of the translator, or +rather, taken from the curious malaprop speech of the laboring classes; +"Det er rett, Per Monsaas; sjaa millom aspektarane!" There can be no +objection to an interpolation like this if the translation does not aim +to be scholarly and definitive, but merely an effort to bring a foreign +classic home to the masses. And this is, obviously, Eggen's purpose. +Personally I do not think, therefore, that there is any objection to a +slight freedom like this. But it has no place at all in the fairies' +lullaby. + +When we move to the circle of the high-place lovers or the court, +I cannot feel that the Landsmaal is quite so convincing. There is +something appallingly clumsy, labored, hard, in this speech of Hermia's: + + Min eigin gut, + eg sver ved beste bogen Amor hev, + ved beste pili hans, med odd av gull, + ved duvune, dei reine og dei kvite + som flyg paa tun hjaa fagre Afrodite, + ved det som knyter mannehjarto saman, + ved det som foder kjaerlerks fryd og gaman, + ved baale, der seg dronning Dido brende, + daa seg AEneas trulaus fraa ho vende, + ved kvar den eid som falske menn hev svori-- + langt fleir enn kvinnelippur fram hev bori, + at paa den staden du hev nemnt for meg, + der skal i morgo natt eg mote deg. + +In spite of the translator's obvious effort to put fire into the +passage, his failure is all too evident. Even the ornament of these +lines--to which there is nothing to correspond in the original--only +makes the poetry more forcibly feeble: + + ved duvune, dei reine og dei kvite + som flyg paa tun hjaa fagre Afrodite, + +Shakespeare says quite simply: + + By the simplicity of Venus Doves, + +and to anyone but a Landsmaal fanatic it seems ridiculous to have +Theseus tell Hermia: "Demetrius er so gild ein kar som nokon." +"Demetrius is a worthy gentleman," says Shakespeare and this has +"the grand Manner." But to a cultivated Norwegian the translation is +"Bauernsprache," such as a local magnate might use in forcing a suitor +on his daughter. + +All of which goes back to the present condition of Landsmaal. It has +little flexibility, little inward grace. It is not a finished literary +language. But, despite its archaisms, Landsmaal is a living language and +it has, therefore, unlike the Karathevusa of Greece, the possibility of +growth. The translations of Madhus and Aasen and Eggen have made notable +contributions to this development. They are worthy of all praise. Their +weaknesses are the result of conditions which time will change. + + +J + +One might be tempted to believe from the foregoing that the +propagandists of "Maalet" had completely monopolized the noble task of +making Shakespeare accessible in the vernacular. And this is almost +true. But the reason is not far to seek. Aside from the fact that in +Norway, as elsewhere, Shakespeare is read mainly by cultivated people, +among whom a sound reading knowledge of English is general, we have +further to remember that the Foersom-Lembcke version has become standard +in Norway and no real need has been felt of a separate Norwegian version +in the dominant literary language. In Landsmaal the case is different. +This dialect must be trained to "Literaturfaehigkeit." It is not so much +that Norway must have her own Shakespeare as that Landsmaal must be put +to use in every type of literature. The results of this missionary +spirit we have seen. + +One of the few translations of Shakespeare that have been made into +Riksmaal appeared in 1912, _Hamlet_, by C.H. Blom. As an experiment it +is worthy of respect, but as a piece of literature it is not to be taken +seriously. Like Lassen's work, it is honest, faithful, and utterly +uninspired. + +The opening scene of _Hamlet_ is no mean test of a translator's +ability--this quick, tense scene, one of the finest in dramatic +literature. Foersom did it with conspicuous success. Blom has reduced +it to the following prosy stuff: + + _Bernardo_: + Hvem der? + + _Francisco_: + Nei, svar mig forst; gjor holdt og sig hvem der! + + _Ber_: + Vor konge laenge leve! + + _Fra_: + De, Bernardo? + + _Ber_: + Ja vel. + + _Fra_: + De kommer jo paa klokkeslaget. + + _Ber_: + Ja, den slog tolv nu. Gaa til ro, Francisco. + + _Fra_: + Tak for De loser av. Her er saa surt, og jeg er dodsens traet. + + _Ber_: + Har du hat rolig vagt? + + _Fra_: + En mus har ei + sig rort. + + _Ber_: + Nu vel, god nat. + Hvis du Marcellus og Horatio ser, + som skal ha vakt med mig, bed dem sig skynde. + + _Fra_: + Jeg horer dem vist nu. Holdt hoi! Hvem der. + (Horatio og Marcellus kommer.) + + _Horatio_: + Kun landets venner. + + _Marcellus_: + Danekongens folk! + + _Fra_: + God nat, sov godt! + + _Mar_: + Godnat, du bra soldat! + Hvem har lost av? + + _Fra_: + Bernardo staar paa post. + God nat igjen. (Gaar.) + +It requires little knowledge of Norwegian to dismiss this as dull +and insipid prose, a part of which has accidentally been turned into +mechanical blank verse. Moreover, the work is marked throughout by +inconsistency and carelessness in details. For instance the king begins +(p. 7) by addressing Laertes: + + Hvad melder _De_ mig om _Dem_ selv, Laertes? + +and two lines below: + + Hvad kan _du_ be mig om? + +It might be a mere slip that the translator in one line uses the formal +_De_ and in another the familiar _du_, but the same inconsistency occurs +again and again throughout the volume. In itself a trifle, it indicates +clearly enough the careless, slipshod manner of work--and an utter lack +of a sense of humor, for no one with a spark of humor would use the +modern, essentially German _De_ in a Norwegian translation of +Shakespeare. If a formal form must be used it should, as a matter +of course, be _I_. + +Nor is the translation itself so accurate as it should be. For example, +what does it mean when Marcellus tells Bernardo that he had implored +Horatio "at vogte paa minutterne inat" (to watch over the minutes this +night)? Again, in the King's speech to Hamlet (Act I, Sc. 2) the phrase +"bend you to remain" is rendered by the categorical "se til at bli +herhjemme," which is at least misleading. Little inaccuracies of this +sort are not infrequent. + +But, after all, a translator with a new variorum and a wealth of +critical material at hand cannot go far wrong in point of mere +translation. The chief indictment to be made against Blom's translation +is its prosiness, its prosy, involved sentences, its banality. What in +Shakespeare is easy and mellifluous often becomes in Blom so vague that +its meaning has to be discovered by a reference to the original. + +We gave, some pages back, Ivar Aasen's translation of Hamlet's +soliloquy. The interesting thing about that translation is not only that +it is the first one in Norwegian but that it was made into a new dialect +by the creator of that dialect himself. When we look back and consider +what Aasen had to do--first, make a literary medium, and then pour into +the still rigid and inelastic forms of that language the subtlest +thinking of a great world literature--we gain a new respect for his +genius. Fifty years later Blom tried his hand at the same soliloquy. He +was working in an old and tried literary medium--Dano-Norwegian. But he +was unequal to the task: + + At vaere eller ikke vaere, det + problemet er: Om det er storre av + en sjael at taale skjaebnens pil og slynge + end ta til vaaben mot et hav av plager + og ende dem i kamp? At do,--at sove, + ei mer; og tro, at ved en sovn vi ender + vor hjerteve og livets tusen stot, + som kjod er arving til--det maal for livet + maa onskes inderlig. At do,--at sove-- + at sove!--Kanske dromme! Der er knuten; + for hvad i dodsens sovn vi monne dromme, + naar livets laenke vi har viklet av, + det holder os igjen; det er det hensyn, + som gir vor jammer her saa langt et liv' etc. + + +K + +Much more interesting than Blom's attempt, and much more significant, +is a translation and working over of _As You Like It_ which appeared +in November of the same year. The circumstances under which this +translation were made are interesting. Fru Johanne Dybwad, one of the +"stars" at the National Theater was completing her twenty-fifth year +of service on the stage, and the theater wished to commemorate the event +in a manner worthy of the actress. For the gala performance, Herman +Wildenvey, a poet of the young Norway, made a new translation and +adaptation of _As You Like It_.[38] And no choice could have been more +felicitous. Fru Dybwad had scored her greatest success as Puck; the life +and sparkle and jollity of that mischievous wight seemed like a poetic +glorification of her own character. It might be expected, then, that she +would triumph in the role of Rosalind. + + [38: _As You Like It_, eller _Livet i Skogen_. Dramatisk Skuespil + av William Shakespeare. Oversat og bearbeidet for Nationaltheatret + av Herman Wildenvey. Kristiania og Kobenhavn. 1912.] + +Then came the problem of a stage version. A simple cutting of Lembcke +seemed inappropriate to this intensely modern woman. There was danger, +too, that Lembcke's faithful Danish would hang heavy on the light and +sparkling Norwegian. Herman Wildenvey undertook to prepare an acting +version that should fit the actress and the occasion. The result is the +text before us. For the songs and intermissions, Johan Halvorsen, +Kapelmester of the theater, composed new music and the theater provided +a magnificent staging. The tremendous stage-success of Wildenvey's _As +You Like It_ belongs rather to stage history, and for the present we +shall confine ourselves to the translation itself. + +First, what of the cutting? In a short introduction the translator has +given an apologia for his procedure. It is worth quoting at some length. +"To adapt a piece of literature is, as a rule, not especially +commendable. And now, I who should be the last to do it, have become the +first in this country to attempt anything of the sort with Shakespeare. + +"I will not defend myself by saying that most of Shakespeare's plays +require some sort of adaptation to the modern stage if they are to be +played at all. But, as a matter of fact, I have done little adapting. I +have dusted some of the speeches, maltreated others, and finally cut out +a few which would have sputtered out of the mouths of the actors like +fringes of an old tapestry. But, above all, I have tried to reproduce +the imperishable woodland spirit, the fresh breath of out-of-doors which +permeates this play." + +Wildenvey then states that in his cuttings he has followed the edition +of the British Empire Shakespeare Society. But the performance in +Kristiania has demanded more, "and my adaptation could not be so +wonderfully ideal. _As You Like It_ is, probably more than any other of +Shakespeare's plays, a jest and only in part a play. Through the title +he has given his work, he has given me the right to make my own +arrangement which is accordingly, yours truly _As You Like It_." + +But the most cursory examination will show that this is more than a mere +"cutting." In the first place, the five acts have been cut to four and +scenes widely separated, have often been brought together. In this way +unnecessary scene-shifts have been avoided. But the action has been kept +intact and only two characters have been eliminated: Jacques de Bois, +whose speeches have been given to Le Beau, and Hymen, whose role has +been given to Celia. Two or three speeches have been shifted. But to a +reader unacquainted with Shakespeare all this would pass unnoticed, as +would also, doubtless, the serious cutting and the free translation. + +A brief sketch of Wildenvey's arrangement will be of service. + +[Transcriber's Note: +The summary is given here exactly as it appears in Ruud's text. Note +in particular Wildenvey's I, 2, and Shakespeare's II, 1.] + + Act I, Sc. 1. + + An open place on the road to Sir Oliver's house. + + The scene opens with a short, exceedingly free rendering of + Orlando's speech and runs on to the end of Scene 1 in Shakespeare. + + Act I, Sc. 2. + + Outside of Duke Frederik's Palace. + + Begins with I, 2 and goes to I, 3. Then follows without change of + scene, I, 3. and, following that, 1, 3. + + Act II. + + In Wildenvey this is all one scene. + + Opens with a rhapsodical conversation between the banished duke and + Amiens on the glories of nature and the joys of out-door life. It is + fully in Shakespeare's tone, but Wildenvey's own invention. After + this the scene continues with II, 1. The first lord's speech in + Wildenvey, however, is merely a free adaptation of the original, and + the later speech of the first lord, describing Jacques' reveries on + the hunt, is put into the mouth of Jacques himself. A few entirely + new speeches follow and the company goes out upon the hunt. + + There is then a slight pause, but no scene division, and Shakespeare's + II, 4 follows. This is succeeded again without a break, by II, 5, II, + 6, and II, 7 (the opening of II, 7 to the entrance of Jacques, is + omitted altogether) to the end of the act. + + Act III. + + This act has two scenes. + + Sc. 1. In Duke Frederik's palace. It opens with II, I and then + follows III, 1. + + Sc. 2. In the Forest of Arden. Evening. + + Begins with III, 2. Then follows III, 4, III, 5, IV, 1. + + Act IV. + + Wildenvey's last act (IV) opens with Shakespeare's IV, 2 and + continues: IV, 3, V, 1, V, 2, V, 3, V, 4. + +A study of this scheme shows that Wildenvey has done no great violence +to the fable nor to the characters. His shifts and changes are sensible +enough. In the treatment of the text, however, he has had no scruples. +Shakespeare is mercilessly cut and mangled. + +The ways in which this is done are many. A favorite device is to break +up long speeches into dialogue. To make this possible he has to put +speeches of his own invention into the mouths of other characters. The +opening of the play gives an excellent illustration. In Wildenvey we +read: + + _Orlando_: (kommer ind med tjeneren Adam) + Nu kan du likesaa godt faa vite hvordan alle mine bedroveligheter + begynder, Adam! Min salig far testamenterte mig nogen fattige tusen + kroner og paala uttrykkelig min bror at gi mig en standsmaessig + opdragelse. Men se hvordan han opfylder sin broderpligt mot mig! + Han lar min bror Jacques studere, og rygtet melder om hans store + fremgang. Men mig underholder han hjemme, det vil si, han holder mig + hjemme uten at underholde mig. For man kan da vel ikke kalde det at + underholde en adelsmand som ellers regnes for at staldfore en okse! + + _Adam_: + Det er synd om Eder, herre, I som er min gamle herres bedste son! + Men jeg tjener Eders bror, og er alene tjener... + + _Orl_: + Her hos ham har jeg ikke kunnet laegge mig til noget andet end vaekst, + og det kan jeg vaere ham likesaa forbunden for som hans husdyr hist + og her. Formodentlig er det det jeg har arvet av min fars aand som + gjor opror mot denne behandling. Jeg har ingen utsigt til nogen + forandring til det bedre, men hvad der end haender, vil jeg ikke + taale det laenger. + +Orlando's speech, we see, has been broken up into two, and between the +two new speeches has been interpolated a speech by Adam which does not +occur in the original. The same trick is resorted to repeatedly. Note, +for instance, Jacques first speech on the deer (Act II, 7) and Oliver's +long speech in IV, 3. The purpose of this is plain enough--to enliven +the dialogue and speed up the action. Whether or not it is a legitimate +way of handling Shakespeare is another matter. + +More serious than this is Wildenvey's trick of adding whole series of +speeches. We have noted in our survey of the "bearbeidelse" that the +second act opens with a dialogue between the Duke and Amiens which is a +gratuitous addition of Wildenvey's. It is suggested by the original, +but departs from it radically both in form and content. + + Den Landflygtige Hertug (kommer ut fra en grotte i skogen) + Vaer hilset, dag, som laegges til de andre + av mine mange motgangs dage. + Vaer hilset nu, naar solen atter stempler + sit gyldne segl paa jordens stolte pande. + Vaer hilset, morgen, med din nye rigdom, + med dug og duft fra alle traer og blomster. + Glade, blanke fugleoines perler + blinker alt av sol som duggens draaper, + hilser mig som herre og som ven. (En fugl flyver op over hans hode.) + Ei, lille sangerskjelm, godt ord igjen? + + _Amiens_: + (hertugens ven, kommer likeledes ut av hulen). + Godmorgen, ven og broder i eksilet. + + _Hertugen_: + Godmorgen, Amiens, du glade sanger! + Du er vel enig i at slik en morgen + i skogen her med al dens liv og lek + er fuld erstatning for den pragt vi tapte, + ja mer end hoffets smigergyldne falskhet? + + _Amiens_: + Det ligner litt paa selve Edens have, + og traer og dyr og andre forekomster + betragter os som Adamer, kanhaende. + + _Hertugen_: + Din spog er vel en saadan sanger vaerd. + Du mener med at her er alting herlig, + sommer, vinter, vaar og hosttid veksler. + Solen skinner, vind og veiret driver. + Vinterblaasten blaaser op og biter + og fortaeller uden sminket smiger + hvem vi er, og hvor vi os befinder. + Ja, livet her er ei ly for verdens ondskap, + er stolt og frit og fuldt av rike glaeder: + hver graasten synes god og kirkeklok, + hvert redetrae er jo en sangers slot, + og alt er skjont, og alt er saare godt. + + _Amiens_: + Du er en godt benaadet oversaetter, + naar du kan tolke skjaebnens harske talesaet + i slike sterke, stemningsfulde ord... + + (En hofmand, derefter Jacques og tjenere kommer.) + + _Hertugen_: + Godmorgen, venner--vel, saa skal vi jage + paa vildtet her, de vakre, dumme borgere + av denne ode og forlate stad... + + _Jacques_: + Det er synd at sondre deres vakre lemmer + med pile-odd. + + _Amiens_: + Det samme sier du altid, + du er for melankolsk og bitter, Jacques. + +A careful comparison of the translation with the original will reveal +certain verbal resemblances, notably in the duke's speech: + + Din spok er vel en saadan sanger vaerd, etc. + +But, even allowing for that, it is a rephrasing rather than a +translation. The stage action, too, is changed. Notice that Jacques +appears in the scene, and that in the episode immediately following, the +second part of the first lord's speech is put into Jacques' mouth. In +other words, he is made to caricature himself! + +This is Wildenvey's attitude throughout. To take still another example. +Act IV, 2 begins in the English with a brief dialogue in prose between +Jacques and the two lords. In Wildenvey this is changed to a rhymed +dialogue in iambic tetrameters between Jacques and Amiens. In like +manner, the blank verse dialogue between Silvius and Phebe (Silvius and +Pippa) is in Norwegian rendered, or rather paraphrased, in iambic verse +rhyming regularly abab. + +Occasionally meanings are read into the play which not only do not +belong in Shakespeare but which are ridiculously out of place. As an +illustration, note the dialogue between Orlando and Rosalind in II, 2 +(Original, III, 2). Orlando remarks: "Your accent is something finer +than could be purchased in so remote a dwelling." Wildenvey renders +this: "Eders sprog er mer elevert end man skulde vente i disse vilde +trakter. De taler ikke Landsmaal." Probably no one would be deceived by +this gratuitous satire on the Landsmaal, but, obviously, it has no place +in what pretends to be a translation. The one justification for it is +that Shakespeare himself could not have resisted so neat a word-play. + +Wildenvey's version, therefore, can only be characterized as needlessly +free. For the text as such he has absolutely no regard. But for the fact +that he has kept the fable and, for the most part, the characters, +intact, we should characterize it as a belated specimen of Sille Beyer's +notorious Shakespeare "bearbeidelser" in Denmark. But Wildenvey does not +take Sille Beyer's liberties with the dramatis personae and he has, +moreover, what she utterly lacked--poetic genius. + +For that is the redeeming feature of _Livet i Skogen_--it does not +translate Shakespeare but it makes him live. The delighted audience +which sat night after night in Christiania and Copenhagen and drank in +the loveliness of Wildenvey's verse and Halvorsen's music cared little +whether the lines that came over the footlights were philologically an +accurate translation or not. They were enchanted by Norwegian verse and +moved to unfeigned delight by the cleverness of the prose. If Wildenvey +did not succeed in translating _As You Like It_--one cannot believe that +he ever intended to,--he did succeed in reproducing something of "its +imperishable woodland spirit, its fresh breath of out-of-doors." + +We have already quoted the opening of Act II. It is not Shakespeare but +it is good poetry in itself. And the immortal scene between Touchstone +and Corin in III, 2 (Shak. III, 2), in which Touchstone clearly proves +that the shepherd is damned, is a capital piece of work. The following +fragment must serve as an example: + + _Touchstone_: + Har du vaeret ved hoffet, hyrde? + + _Korin_: + Visselig ikke. + + _Touch_: + Da er du evig fordomt. + + _Korin_: + Det haaber jeg da ikke. + + _Touch_: + Visselig, da er du fordomt som en sviske. + + _Korin_: + Fordi jeg ikke har vaeret ved hoffet? Hvad mener I? + + _Touch_: + Hvis du ikke har vaeret ved hoffet, saa har du aldrig set gode seder, + og hvis du ikke har set gode seder, saa maa dine seder vaere slette, + og slette seder er synd, og syndens sold er dod og fordommelse. Du + er i en betaenkelig tilstand, hyrde! + +And the mocking verses all rhyming in _in-ind_ in III, 3 (Shak. III, 2): +"From the East to western Ind," etc., are given with marvelous +cleverness: + + Fra ost til vest er ei at finde + en aedelsten som Rosalinde. + Al verden om paa alle vinde + skal rygtet gaa om Rosalinde. + Hvor har en maler nogensinde + et kunstverk skapt som Rosalinde? + Al anden deilighet maa svinde + av tanken bort--for Rosalinde. + +Or Touchstone's parody: + + Hjorten skriker efter hinde, + skrik da efter Rosalinde, + kat vil katte gjerne finde, + hvem vil finde Rosalinde. + Vinterklaer er tit for tynde, + det er ogsaa Rosalinde. + Notten sot har surhamshinde, + slik en nott er Rosalinde. + Den som ros' med torn vil finde, + finder den--og Rosalinde. + +With even greater felicity Wildenvey has rendered the songs of the play. +His verses are not, in any strict sense, translations, but they have a +life and movement which, perhaps, interpret the original more fully than +any translation could interpret it. What freshness and sparkle in "Under +the Greenwood Tree!" I give only the first stanza: + + Under de gronne traer + hvem vil mig mote der? + Hvem vil en tone slaa + frit mot det blide blaa? + Kom hit og herhen, hit og herhen, + kom, kjaere ven, + her skal du se, + traer skal du se, + sommer og herlig veir skal du se. + +Or what could be better than the exhilirating text of "Blow, blow, thou +winter wind," as Wildenvey has given it? Again only the first stanza: + + Blaas, blaas du barske vind, + trolose venners sind + synes os mere raa. + Bar du dig end saa sint, + bet du dog ei saa blindt, + pustet du ogsaa paa. + Heiho! Syng heiho! i vor skog under lovet. + Alt venskap er vammelt, al elskov er tovet, + men her under lovet + er ingen bedrovet. + +_Livet i Skogen_, then, must not be read as a translation of _As You +Like It_, but is immensely worth reading for its own sake. Schiller +recast and rewrote _Macbeth_ in somewhat the same way, but Schiller's +_Macbeth_, condemned by its absurd porter-scene, is today nothing +more than a literary curiosity. I firmly believe that Wildenvey's +"bearbeidelse" deserves a better fate. It gave new life to the +Shakespeare tradition on the Norwegian stage, and is in itself, +a genuine contribution to the literature of Norway. + + +SUMMARY + +If we look over the field of Norwegian translation of Shakespeare, +the impression we get is not one to inspire awe. The translations are +neither numerous nor important. There is nothing to be compared with the +German of Tieck and Schlegel the Danish of Foersom, or the Swedish of +Hagberg. + +But the reason is obvious. Down to 1814 Norway was politically and +culturally a dependency of Denmark. Copenhagen was the seat of +government, of literature, and of polite life. To Copenhagen cultivated +Norwegians looked for their models and their ideals. When Shakespeare +made his first appearance in the Danish literary world--Denmark and +Norway--it was, of course, in pure Danish garb. Boye, Rosenfeldt, +and Foersom gave to their contemporaries more or less satisfactory +translations of Shakespeare, and Norwegians were content to accept the +Danish versions. In one or two instances they made experiments of their +own. An unknown man of letters translated a scene from _Julius Caesar_ +in 1782, and in 1818 appeared a translation of _Coriolanus_. But there +is little that is typically Norwegian about either of these--a word or a +phrase here and there. For the rest, they are written in pure Danish, +and but for the title-page, no one could tell whether they were +published in Copenhagen or Christiania and Trondhjem. + +In the meantime Foersom had begun his admirable Danish translations, +and the work stopped in Norway. The building of a nation and literary +interests of another character absorbed the attention of the cultivated +world. Hauge's translation of _Macbeth_ is not significant, nor are +those of Lassen thirty years later. A scholar could, of course, easily +show that they are Norwegian, but that is all. They never succeeded in +displacing Foersom-Lembcke. + +More important are the Landsmaal translations beginning with Ivar +Aasen's in 1853. They are interesting because they mark one of the most +important events in modern Norwegian culture--the language struggle. +Ivar Aasen set out to demonstrate that "maalet" could be used in +literature of every sort, and the same purpose, though in greatly +tempered form, is to be detected in every Landsmaal translation since. +Certainly in their outward aim they have succeeded. And, despite the +handicap of working in a language new, rough, and untried, they have +given to their countrymen translations of parts of Shakespeare which +are, at least, as good as those in "Riksmaal." + +Herman Wildenvey stands alone. His work is neither a translation nor +a mere paraphrase; it is a reformulating of Shakespeare into a new work +of art. He has accomplished a feat worth performing, but it cannot be +called translating Shakespeare. It must be judged as an independent +work. + +Whether Norway is always to go to Denmark for her standard Shakespeare, +or whether she is to have one of her own is, as yet, a question +impossible to answer. A pure Landsmaal translation cannot satisfy, and +many Norwegians refuse to recognize the Riksmaal as Norwegian at all. In +the far, impenetrable future the language question may settle itself, +and when that happy day comes, but not before, we may look with some +confidence for a "standard" Shakespeare in a literary garb which all +Norwegians will recognize as their own. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +Shakespeare Criticism In Norway + + +The history of Shakespearean translation in Norway cannot, by any +stretch of the imagination, be called distinguished. It is not, however, +wholly lacking in interesting details. In like manner the history of +Shakespearean criticism, though it contains no great names and no +fascinating chapters, is not wholly without appeal and significance. We +shall, then, in the following, consider this division of our subject. + +Our first bit of Shakespearean criticism is the little introductory note +which the anonymous translator of the scenes from _Julius Caesar_ put at +the head of his translation in _Trondhjems Allehaande_ for October 23, +1782. And even this is a mere statement that the passage in the original +"may be regarded as a masterpiece," and that the writer purposes to +render not merely Antony's eloquent appeal but also the interspersed +ejaculations of the crowd, "since these, too, are evidence of +Shakespeare's understanding of the human soul and of his realization +of the manner in which the oration gradually brought about the result +toward which Antony aimed." + +This is not profound criticism, to be sure, but it shows clearly that +this litterateur in far-away Trondhjem had a definite, if not a very new +and original, estimate of Shakespeare. It is significant that there is +no hint of apology, of that tone which is so common in Shakespearean +criticism of the day--Shakespeare was a great poet, but his genius was +wild and untamed. This unknown Norwegian, apparently, had been struck +only by the verity of the scene, and in that simplicity showed himself a +better critic of Shakespeare than many more famous men. Whoever he was, +his name is lost to us now. He deserves better than to be forgotten, +but it seems that he was forgotten very early. Foersom refers to him +casually, as we have seen, but Rahbek does not mention him.[1] Many +years later Paul Botten Hansen, one of the best equipped bookmen that +Norway has produced, wrote a brief review of Lembcke's translation. In +the course of this he enumerates the Dano-Norwegian translations known +to him. There is not a word about his countryman in Trondhjem.[2] + + [1. "Shakespeareana i Danmark"--_Dansk Minerva_, 1816 (III) + pp. 151 ff.] + + [2. _Illustreret Nyhedsblad_, 1865, pp. 96 ff.] + +After this solitary landmark, a long time passed before we again find +evidence of Shakespearean studies in Norway. The isolated translation +of _Coriolanus_ from 1818 shows us that Shakespeare was read, carefully +and critically read, but no one turned his attention to criticism or +scholarly investigation. Indeed, I have searched Norwegian periodical +literature in vain for any allusion to Shakespeare between 1782 and +1827. Finally, in the latter year _Den Norske Husven_ adorns its +title-page with a motto from Shakespeare. _Christiania Aftenbladet_ +for July 19, 1828, reprints Carl Bagger's clever poem on Shakespeare's +reputed love-affair with "Fanny," an adventure which got him into +trouble and gave rise to the bon-mot, "William the Conqueror ruled +before Richard III." The poem was reprinted from _Kjoebenhavns Flyvende +Post_ (1828); we shall speak of it again in connection with our study of +Shakespeare in Denmark. + +After this there is another break. Not even a reference to Shakespeare +occurs in the hundreds of periodicals I have examined, until the long +silence is broken by a short, fourth-hand article on Shakespeare's life +in _Skilling Magazinet_ for Sept. 23, 1843. The same magazine gives a +similar popular account in its issue for Sept. 4, 1844. Indeed, several +such articles and sketches may be found in popular periodicals of the +years following. + +In 1855, however, appeared Niels Hauge's afore mentioned translation of +_Macbeth_, and shortly afterward Professor Monrad, who, according to +Hauge himself, had at least given him valuable counsel in his work, +wrote a review in _Nordisk Tidsskrift for Videnskab og Literatur_.[3] +Monrad was a pedant, stiff and inflexible, but he was a man of good +sense, and when he was dealing with acknowledged masterpieces he could +be depended upon to say the conventional things well. + + [3. See Vol. III (1855), pp. 378 ff.] + +He begins by saying that if any author deserves translation it +is Shakespeare, for in him the whole poetic, romantic ideal of +Protestantism finds expression. He is the Luther of poetry, though +between Luther and Shakespeare there is all the difference between +religious zeal and the quiet contemplation of the beautiful. Both belong +to the whole world, Shakespeare because his characters, humor, art, +reflections, are universal in their validity and their appeal. Wherever +he is read he becomes the spokesman against narrowness, dogmatism, and +intolerance. To translate Shakespeare, he points out, is difficult +because of the archaic language, the obscure allusions, and the intense +originality of the expression. Shakespeare, indeed, is as much the +creator as the user of his mother-tongue. The one translation of +_Macbeth_ in existence, Foersom's, is good, but it is only in part +Shakespeare, and the times require something more adequate and +"something more distinctly our own." Monrad feels that this should +not be altogether impossible "when we consider the intimate relations +between England and Norway, and the further coincidence that the +Norwegian language today is in the same state of flux and transition, +as was Elizabethan English." All translations at present, he continues, +can be but experiments, and should aim primarily at a faithful rendering +of the text. Monrad calls attention to the fact--in which he was, of +course, mistaken--that this is the first translation of the original +_Macbeth_ into Dano-Norwegian or into Danish. It is a work of undoubted +merit, though here and there a little stiff and hazy, "but Shakespeare +is not easily clarified." The humorous passages, thinks the reviewer, +are a severe test of a translator's powers and this test Hauge has met +with conspicuous success. Also he has aquitted himself well in the +difficult matter of putting Shakespeare's meter into Norwegian. + +The last two pages are taken up with a detailed study of single +passages. The only serious error Monrad has noticed is the following: In +Act II, 3 one of the murderers calls out "A light! A light!" Regarding +this passage Monrad remarks: "It is certainly a mistake to have the +second murderer call out, "Bring a light here!" (Lys hid!) The murderer +does not demand a light, but he detects a shimmer from Banquo's +approaching torch." The rest of the section is devoted to mere trifles. + +This is the sort of review which we should expect from an intelligent +and well-informed man. Monrad was not a scholar, nor even a man of +delicate and penetrating reactions. But he had sound sense and perfect +self-assurance, which made him something of a Samuel Johnson in the +little provincial Kristiania of his day. At any rate, he was the only +one who took the trouble to review Hauge's translation, and even he was +doubtless led to the task because of his personal interest in the +translator. If we may judge from the stir it made in periodical +literature, _Macbeth_ fell dead from the press. + +The tercentenary of Shakespeare's birth (1864) aroused a certain +interest in Norway, and little notes and articles are not infrequent +in the newspapers and periodicals about that time. _Illustreret +Nyhedsblad_[4] has a short, popular article on Stratford-on-Avon. It +contains the usual Shakespeare apocrypha--the Sir Thomas Lucy story, the +story of the apple tree under which Shakespeare and his companions slept +off the effects of too much Bedford ale--and all the rest of it. It +makes no pretense of being anything but an interesting hodge-podge +for popular consumption. The next year, 1864, the same periodical +published[5] on the traditional day of Shakespeare's birth a rather long +and suggestive article on the English drama before Shakespeare. If this +article had been original, it might have had a certain significance, +but, unfortunately, it is taken from the German of Bodenstedt. The +only significant thing about it is the line following the title: "Til +Erindring paa Trehundredsaarsdagen efter Shakespeares Foedsel, d. 23 +April, 1563." + + [4. Vol. XII (1863), pp. 199 ff.] + + [5. Vol. XIII (1864), pp. 65 ff.] + +More interesting than this, however, are the verses written by the then +highly esteemed poet, Andreas Munch, and published in his own magazine, +_For Hjemmet_,[6] in April, 1864. Munch rarely rises above mediocrity +and his tribute to the bard of Avon is the very essence of it. +He begins: + + I disse Dage gaar et vaeldigt Navn + Fra Mund til Mund, fra Kyst til Kyst rundt Jorden-- + Det straaler festligt over fjernest Havn, + Og klinger selv igjennem Krigens Torden, + Det slutter alle Folk i Aandens Favn, + Og er et Eenheds Tegn i Striden vorden-- + I Stjerneskrift det staaer paa Tidens Bue, + Og leder Slaegterne med Hjertelue. + + [6. Vol. V, p. 572.] + +and, after four more stanzas, he concludes: + + Hos os har ingen ydre Fest betegnet + Vort Folks Tribut til denne store Mand. + Er vi af Hav og Fjelde saa omhegnet, + At ei hans Straaler traenge til os kan? + Nei,--Nordisk var hans Aand og netop egnet + Til at opfattes af vort Norden-Land, + Og mer maaske end selv vi tro og taenke, + Har Shakespeare brudt for os en fremmed Laenke. + +One has a feeling that Munch awoke one morning, discovered from his +calendar that Shakespeare's birthday was approaching, and ground out +this poem to fill space in _Hjemmet_. But his intentions are good. No +one can quarrel with the content. And when all is said, he probably +expressed, with a fair degree of accuracy, the feeling of his time. +It remains but to note a detail or two. First, that the poet, even in +dealing with Shakespeare, found it necessary to draw upon the prevailing +"Skandinavisme" and label Shakespeare "Nordisk"; second, the accidental +truth of the closing couplet. If we could interpret this as referring +to Wergeland, who _did_ break the chains of foreign bondage, and gave +Norway a place in the literature of the world, we should have the first +reference to an interesting fact in Norwegian literary history. But +doubtless we have no right to credit Munch with any such acumen. The +couplet was put into the poem merely because it sounded well. + +More important than this effusion of bad verse from the poet of fashion +was a little article which Paul Botten Hansen wrote in _Illustreret +Nyhedsblad_[7] in 1865. Botten Hansen had a fine literary appreciation +and a profound knowledge of books. The effort, therefore, to give +Denmark and Norway a complete translation of Shakespeare was sure to +meet with his sympathy. In 1861 Lembcke began his revision of Foersom's +work, and, although it must have come up to Norway from Copenhagen +almost immediately, no allusion to it is found in periodical literature +till Botten Hansen wrote his review of Part (Hefte) XI. This part +contains _King John_. The reviewer, however, does not enter upon any +criticism of the play or of the translation; he gives merely a short +account of Shakespearean translation in the two countries before +Lembcke. Apparently the notice is written without special research, for +it is far from complete, but it gives, at any rate, the best outline of +the subject which we have had up to the present. Save for a few lines of +praise for Foersom and a word for Hauge, "who gave the first accurate +translation of this masterpiece (_Macbeth_) of which Dano-Norwegian +literature can boast before 1861," the review is simply a loosely +connected string of titles. Toward the close Botten Hansen writes: +"When to these plays (the standard Danish translations) we add (certain +others, which are given), we believe that we have enumerated all the +Danish translations of Shakespeare." This investigation has shown, +however, that there are serious gaps in the list. Botten Hansen calls +Foersom's the first Danish translation of Shakespeare. It is curious +that he should have overlooked Johannes Boye's _Hamlet_ of 1777, or +Rosenfeldt's translation of six plays (1790-1792). It is less strange +that he did not know Sander and Rahbek's translation of the unaltered +_Macbeth_ of 1801--which preceded Hauge by half a century--for this was +buried in Sander's lectures. Nor is he greatly to be blamed for his +ignorance of the numerous Shakespearean fragments which the student may +find tucked away in Danish reviews, from M.C. Brun's _Svada_ (1796) and +on. Botten Hansen took his task very lightly. If he had read Foersom's +notes to his translation he would have found a clue of interest to him +as a Norwegian. For Foersom specifically refers to a translation of a +scene from _Julius Caesar_ in _Trondhjems Allehaande_. + + [7. Vol. XIV, p. 96.] + +Lembcke's revision, which is the occasion of the article, is greeted +with approval and encouragement. There is no need for Norwegians to go +about preparing an independent translation. Quite the contrary. The +article closes: "Whether or not Lembcke has the strength and endurance +for such a gigantic task, time alone will tell. At any rate, it is the +duty of the public to encourage the undertaking and make possible its +completion." + +We come now to the most interesting chapter in the history of +Shakespeare in Norway. This is a performance of _A Midsummer Night's +Dream_ under the direction of Bjornstjerne Bjornson at Christiania +Theater, April 17, 1865. The story belongs rather to the history of +Shakespeare on the Norwegian stage, but the documents of the affair are +contributions to Shakespearean criticism and must, accordingly, be +discussed here. Bjornson's fiery reply to his critics of April 28 +is especially valuable as an analysis of his own attitude toward +Shakespeare. + +Bjornson became director of Christiania Theater in January, 1865, and +the first important performance under his direction was _A Midsummer +Night's Dream_ (Skjaersommernatsdroemmen) in Oehlenschlaeger's translation, +with music by Mendelssohn.[8] Bjornson had strained the resources +of the theater to the utmost to give the performance distinction. +But the success was doubtful. _Aftenposten_ found it tiresome, and +_Morgenbladet_, in two long articles, tore it to shreds.[9] It is +worth while to review the controversy in some detail. + + [8. Blanc. _Christianias Theaters Historie_, p. 196.] + + [9. April 26-27, 1865.] + +The reviewer begins by saying that the play is so well known that it +is needless to give an account of it. "But what is the meaning," he +exclaims, "of this bold and poetic mixture of clowns and fairies, of +mythology, and superstition, of high and low, of the earthly and +the supernatural? And the scene is neither Athens nor Greece, but +Shakespeare's own England; it is his own time and his own spirit." We +are transported to an English grove in early summer with birds, flowers, +soft breezes, and cooling shadows. What wonder that a man coming in from +the hunt or the society of men should fill such a place with fairies and +lovely ladies and people it with sighs, and passions, and stories? And +all this has been brought together by a poet's fine feeling. This it is +which separates the play from so many others of its kind now so common +and often so well presented. Here a master's spirit pervades all, unites +all in lovely romance. Other plays are mere displays of scenery and +costume by comparison. Even the sport of the clowns throws the whole +into stronger relief. + +Now, how should such a play be given? Obviously, by actors of the first +order and with costumes and scenery the most splendid. This goes without +saying, for the play is intended quite as much to be seen as to be +heard. To do it justice, the performance must bring out some of the +splendor and the fantasy with which it was conceived. As we read +_A Midsummer Night's Dream_ it is easy to imagine the glorious +succession of splendid scenes, but on the stage the characters become +flesh and blood with fixed limitations, and the illusion is easily lost +unless every agency is used to carry it out. Hence the need of lights, +of rich costumes, splendid backgrounds, music, rhythm. + +The play opens in an apparently uninhabited wood. Suddenly all comes +to life--gay, full, romantic life. This is the scene to which we are +transported. "It is a grave question," continues the reviewer, "if it is +possible for the average audience to attain the full illusion which the +play demands, and with which, in reading, we have no difficulty. One +thing is certain, the audience was under no illusion. Some, those who do +not pretend to learning or taste, wondered what it was all about. Only +when the lion moved his tail, or the ass wriggled his ears were they at +all interested. Others were frankly amused from first to last, no less +at Hermia's and Helen's quarrel than at the antics of the clowns. Still +others, the cultivated minority, were simply indifferent." + +The truth is that the performance was stiff and cold. Not for an instant +did it suggest the full and passionate life which is the theme and the +background of the play. Nor is this strange. _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ +is plainly beyond the powers of our theatre. Individual scenes were well +done, but the whole was a cheerless piece of business. + +The next day the same writer continues his analysis. He points out that +the secret of the play is the curious interweaving of the real world +with the supernatural. Forget this but for a moment, and the piece +becomes an impossible monstrosity without motivation or meaning. +Shakespeare preserves this unity in duality. The two worlds seem to meet +and fuse, each giving something of itself to the other. But this unity +was absent from the performance. The actors did not even know their +lines, and thus the spell was broken. The verse must flow from the lips +in a limpid stream, especially in a fairy play; the words must never +seem a burden. But even this elementary rule was ignored in our +performance. And the ballet of the fairies was so bad that it might +better have been omitted. Puck should not have been given by a woman, +but by a boy as he was in Shakespeare's day. Only the clown scenes +were unqualifiedly good, "as we might expect," concludes the reviewer +sarcastically. + +The article closes with a parting shot at the costuming and the scenery. +Not a little of it was inherited from "Orpheus in the Lower World." Are +we so poor as that? Better wait, and for the present, give something +which demands less of the theatre. The critic grants that the +presentation may prove profitable but, on the whole, Bjornson must +feel that he has assisted at the mutilation of a master. + +Bjornson did not permit this attack to go unchallenged. He was not the +man to suffer in silence, and in this case he could not be silent. His +directorate was an experiment, and there were those in Christiania +who were determined to make it unsuccessful. It was his duty to set +malicious criticism right. He did so in _Aftenbladet_[10] in an article +which not only answered a bit of ephemeral criticism but which remains +to this day an almost perfect example of Bjornson's polemical +prose--fresh, vigorous, genuinely eloquent, with a marvelous fusing +of power and fancy. + + [10. April 28. Reprinted in Bjornson's _Taler og Skrifter_. + Udgivet af C. Collin og H. Eitrem. Kristiania. 1912. Vol. I, + pp. 263-270.] + +He begins with an analysis of the play: The play is called a dream. But +wherein lies the dream? 'Why,' we are told, 'in the fact that fairies +sport, that honest citizens, with and without asses' heads, put on a +comedy, that lovers pursue each other in the moonlight.' But where is +the law in all this? If the play is without law (Lov = organic unity), +it is without validity. + +But it does have artistic validity. The dream is more than a fantasy. +The same experiences come to all of us. "The play takes place, now in +your life, now in mine. A young man happily engaged or happily married +dreams one night that this is all a delusion. He must be engaged to, he +must marry another. The image of the 'chosen one' hovers before him, but +he can not quite visualize it, and he marries with a bad conscience. +Then he awakens and thanks God that it is all a bad dream (Lysander). Or +a youth is tired of her whom he adored for a time. He even begins to +flirt with another. And then one fine night he dreams that he worships +the very woman he loathes, that he implores her, weeps for her, fights +for her (Demetrius). Or a young girl, or a young wife, who loves and is +loved dreams, that her beloved is fleeing from her. When she follows him +with tears and petitions, he lifts his hand against her. She pursues +him, calls to him to stop, but she cannot reach him. She feels all the +agony of death till she falls back in a calm, dreamless sleep. Or she +dreams that the lover she cannot get comes to her in a wood and tells +her that he really does love her, that her eyes are lovelier than the +stars, her hands whiter than the snow on Taurus. But other visions come, +more confusing. Another, whom she has never given a thought, comes and +tells her the same story. His protestations are even more glowing--and +it all turns to contention and sorrow, idle pursuit and strife, till her +powers fail (Helena). + +"This is the dream chain of the lovers. The poet causes the man to dream +that he is unfaithful, or that he is enamored of one whom he does not +love. And he makes the woman dream that she is deserted or that she is +happy with one whom she cannot get. And together these dreams tell us: +watch your thoughts, watch your passions, you, walking in perfect +confidence at the side of your beloved. They (the thoughts and passions) +may bring forth a flower called 'love in idleness'--a flower which +changes before you are aware of it. The dream gives us reality reversed, +but reversed in such a way that there is always the possibility that it +may, in an unguarded moment, take veritable shape. + +"And this dream of the lovers is given a paradoxical counterpart. A +respectable, fat citizen dreams one night that he is to experience the +great triumph of his life. He is to be presented before the duke's +throne as the greatest of heroes. He dreams that he cannot get dressed, +that he cannot get his head attended to, because, as a matter of fact, +his head is not his own excellent head, but the head of an ass with long +ears, a snout, and hair that itches. 'This is exactly like a fairy tale +of my youth,' he dreams. And indeed, it is a dream! The mountain opens, +the captive princess comes forth and leads him in, and he rests his head +in her lap all strewn with blossoms. The lovely trolls come and scratch +his head and music sounds from the rocks. It is characteristic of +Shakespeare that the lovers do not dream fairy tales of their childhood. +Higher culture has given them deeper passions, more intense personal +relations; in dreams they but continue the life of waking. But the good +weaver who lives thoroughly content in his own self-satisfaction and in +the esteem of his neighbors, who has never reflected upon anything that +has happened to him, but has received each day's blessings as they have +come--this man sees, the moment he lays his head on the pillow, the +fairies and the fairy queen. To him the whole circle of childhood +fantasy reveals itself; nothing is changed, nothing but this absurd +ass's head which he wears, and this curious longing for dry, sweet hay. + +"This is the dream and the action of the play. Superficially, all this +magic is set in motion by the fairies; Theseus and his train, with whom +come hunting horn and hunting talk and processional--are, in reality, +the incarnation of the festival. And the comedy at the close is added by +way of counterpiece to the light, delicate fancies of the dream. It is +the thoughts we have thought, the painfully-wrought products of the +waking mind, given in a sparkle of mocking laughter against the +background of nightly visions. See the play over and over again. Do +not study it with Bottom's ass's head, and do not be so blase that you +reject the performance because it does not command the latest electrical +effects." + +Bjornson then proceeds to discuss the staging. He admits by implication +that the machinery and the properties are not so elaborate as they +sometimes are in England, but points out that the equipment of +Christiania Theater is fully up to that which, until a short time +before, was considered entirely adequate in the great cities of Europe. +And is machinery so important? The cutting of the play used at this +performance was originally made by Tieck for the court theater at +Potsdam. From Germany it was brought to Stockholm, and later to +Christiania. "The spirit of Tieck pervades this adaptation. It is easy +and natural. The spoken word has abundant opportunity to make itself +felt, and is neither overwhelmed by theater tricks nor set aside by +machinery. Tieck, who understood stage machinery perfectly, gave it free +play where, as in modern operas, machinery is everything. The same is +true of Mendelssohn. His music yields reverently to the spoken word. It +merely accompanies the play like a new fairy who strews a strain or two +across the stage before his companions enter, and lends them wings by +which they may again disappear. Only when the words and the characters +who utter them have gone, does the music brood over the forest like a +mist of reminiscence, in which our imagination may once more synthesize +the picture of what has gone before." + +Tieck's adaptation is still the standard one. Englishmen often stage +Shakespeare's romantic plays more elaborately. They even show us a ship +at sea in _The Tempest_. But Shakespeare has fled England; they are left +with their properties, out of which the spirit of Shakespeare will not +rise. It is significant that the most distinguished dramaturg of +Germany, Dingelstedt, planned a few years before to go to London with +some of the best actors in Germany to teach Englishmen how to play +Shakespeare once more. + +Bjornson closes this general discussion of scenery and properties +with a word about the supreme importance of imagination to the playgoer. +"I cannot refrain from saying that the imagination that delights in the +familiar is stronger and healthier than that which loses itself in +longings for the impossible. To visualize on the basis of a few and +simple suggestions--that is to possess imagination; to allow the images +to dissolve and dissipate--that is to have no imagination at all. Every +allusion has a definite relation to the familiar, and if our playgoers +cannot, after all that has been given here for years, feel the least +illusion in the presence of the properties in _A Midsummer Night's +Dream_, then it simply means that bad critics have broken the spell." +Why should Norwegians require an elaborate wood-scene to be transported +to the living woods? A boulevardier of Paris, indeed, might have need of +it, but not a Norwegian with the great forests at his very doors. And +what real illusion is there in a waterfall tumbling over a painted +curtain, or a ship tossing about on rollers? Does not such apparatus +rather destroy the illusion? "The new inventions of stage mechanicians +are far from being under such perfect control that they do not often +ruin art. We are in a period of transition. Why should we here, who are +obliged to wait a long time for what is admittedly satisfactory, commit +all the blunders which mark the way to acknowledged perfection?" + +It would probably be difficult to find definite and tangible evidence +of Shakespeare's influence in Bjornson's work, and we are, therefore, +doubly glad to have his own eloquent acknowledgement of his debt +to Shakespeare. The closing passus of Bjornson's article deserves +quotation for this reason alone. Unfortunately I cannot convey its warm, +illuminating style: "Of all the poetry I have ever read, Shakespeare's +_A Midsummer Night's Dream_ has, unquestionably, had the greatest +influence upon me. It is his most delicate and most imaginative work, +appealing quite as much through its intellectual significance as through +its noble, humane spirit. I read it first in Eiksdal when I was writing +_Arne_, and I felt rebuked for the gloomy feelings under the spell of +which that book was written. But I took the lesson to heart: I felt +that I had in my soul something that could produce a play with a +little of the fancy and joy of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_--and I made +resolutions. But the conditions under which a worker in art lives in +Norway are hard, and all we say or promise avails nothing. But this I +know: I am closer to the ideal of this play now than then, I have a +fuller capacity for joy and a greater power to protect my joy and keep +it inviolate. And if, after all, I never succeed in writing such a play, +it means that circumstances have conquered, and that I have not achieved +what I have ever sought to achieve. + +"And one longs to present a play which has been a guiding star to +oneself. I knew perfectly well that a public fresh from _Orpheus_ would +not at once respond, but I felt assured that response would come in +time. As soon, therefore, as I had become acclimated as director and +knew something of the resources of the theater, I made the venture. This +is not a play to be given toward the end; it is too valuable as a means +of gaining that which is to be the end--for the players and for the +audience. So far as the actors are concerned, our exertions have been +profitable. The play might doubtless be better presented--we shall +give it better next year--but, all in all, we are making progress. +You may call this naivete, poetic innocence, or obstinacy and +arrogance--whatever it is, this play is of great moment to me, for it +is the link which binds me to my public, it is my appeal to the public. +If the public does not care to be led whither this leads, then I am not +the proper guide. If people wish to get me out of the theater, they may +attack me here. Here I am vulnerable." + +In _Morgenbladet_ for May 1st the reviewer made a sharp reply. He +insists again that the local theater is not equal to _A Midsummer +Night's Dream_. But it is not strange that Bjornson will not admit his +own failure. His eloquent tribute to the play and all that it has meant +to him has, moreover, nothing to do with the question. All that he says +may be true, but certainly such facts ought to be the very thing to +deter him from giving Shakespeare into the hands of untrained actors. +For if Bjornson feels that the play was adequately presented, then we +are at a loss to understand how he has been able to produce original +work of unquestionable merit. One is forced to believe that he is hiding +a failure behind his own name and fame. After all, concludes the writer, +the director has no right to make this a personal matter. Criticism +has no right to turn aside for injured feelings, and all Bjornson's +declarations about the passions of the hour have nothing to do with +the case. + +This ended the discussion. At this day, of course, one cannot pass +judgment, and there is no reason why we should. The two things which +stand out are Bjornson's protest against spectacular productions of +Shakespeare's plays, and his ardent, almost passionate tribute to him +as the poet whose influence had been greatest in his life. + +And then there is a long silence. Norwegian periodicals--there is not +to this day a book on Shakespeare by a Norwegian--contain not a single +contribution to Shakespearean criticism till 1880, when a church paper, +_Luthersk Ugeskrift_[11] published an article which proved beyond cavil +that Shakespeare is good and safe reading for Lutheran Christians. +The writer admits that Shakespeare probably had several irregular +love-affairs both before and after marriage, but as he grew older his +heart turned to the comforts of religion, and in his epitaph he commends +his soul to God, his body to the dust. Shakespeare's extreme objectivity +makes snap judgments unsafe. We cannot always be sure that his +characters voice his own thoughts and judgments, but, on the other hand, +we have no right to assume that they never do. The tragedies especially +afford a safe basis for judgment, for in them characterization is of the +greatest importance. No great character was ever created which did not +spring from the poet's own soul. In Shakespeare's characters sin, lust, +cruelty, are always punished; sympathy, love, kindness are everywhere +glorified. The writer illustrates his meaning with copious quotations. + + [11. Vol. VII, pp. 1-12.] + +Apparently the good Lutheran who wrote this article felt troubled about +the splendor which Shakespeare throws about the Catholic Church. But +this is no evidence, he thinks, of any special sympathy for it. Many +Protestants have been attracted by the pomp and circumstance of the +Catholic Church, and they have been none the worse Protestants for that. +The writer had the good sense not to make Shakespeare a Lutheran but, +for the rest, the article is a typical example of the sort of criticism +that has made Shakespeare everything from a pious Catholic to a champion +of atheistic democracy. If, however, the readers of _Luthersk Ugeskrift_ +were led to read Shakespeare after being assured that they might do so +safely, the article served a useful purpose. + +Eight years later the distinguished litterateur and critic, Just Bing, +wrote in _Vidar_[12], one of the best periodicals that Norway has ever +had, a brief character study of Ophelia, which, though it contains +nothing original, stands considerably higher as literary criticism than +anything we have yet considered, with the sole exception of Bjornson's +article in _Aftenbladet_, twenty-three years earlier. + + [12. 1880, pp. 61-71.] + +Bing begins by defining two kinds of writers. First, those whose power +is their keen observation. They see things accurately and they secure +their effects by recording just what they see. Second, those writers +who do not merely see external phenomena with the external eye, but +who, through a miraculous intuition, go deeper into the soul of man. +Moliere is the classical example of the first type; Shakespeare of the +second. To him a chance utterance reveals feelings, passions, whole +lives--though he probably never developed the consequences of a chance +remark to their logical conclusion without first applying to them close +and searching rational processes. But it is clear that if a critic is to +analyze a character of Shakespeare's, he must not be content merely to +observe. He must feel with it, live with it. He must do so with special +sympathy in the case of Ophelia. + +The common characteristic of Shakespeare's women is their devotion to +the man of their choice and their confidence that this choice is wise +and happy. The tragedy of Ophelia lies in the fact that outward evidence +is constantly shocking that faith. Laertes, in his worldly-wise fashion, +first warns her. She cries out from a broken heart though she promises +to heed the warning. Then comes Polonius with his cunning wisdom. But +Ophelia's faith is still unshaken. She promises her father, however, to +be careful, and her caution, in turn, arouses the suspicion of Hamlet. +Even after his wild outburst against her he still loves her. He begs her +to believe in him and to remember him in her prayers. But suspicion goes +on. Ophelia is caught between devotion and duty, and the grim events +that crowd upon her plunge her to sweet, tragic death. Nothing could be +more revealing than our last glimpse of her. Shakespeare's intuitive +knowledge of the soul was sure. The determining fact of her life was her +love for Hamlet: it is significant that when we see her insane not a +mention of it crosses her lips. + +Hamlet and Ophelia are the delicate victims of a tragic necessity. They +are undone because they lose confidence in those to whom they cling with +all the abandon of deep, spiritual souls. Hamlet is at last aroused to +desperation; Ophelia is helplessly crushed. She is the finest woman +of Shakespeare's imagination, and perhaps for that reason the most +difficult to understand and the one least often appreciated. + +The next chapter in Norwegian Shakespeareana is a dull, unprofitable +one--a series of articles on the Baconian theory appearing irregularly +in the monthly magazine, _Kringsjaa_. The first article appeared in the +second volume (1894) and is merely a review of a strong pro-Bacon +outburst in the American _Arena_. It is not worth criticising. Similar +articles appeared in _Kringsjaa_ in 1895, the material this time being +taken from the _Deutsche Revue_. It is the old ghost, the cipher in the +first folio, though not Ignatius Donnelly's cryptogram. Finally, in +1898, a new editor, Chr. Brinckmann, printed[13] a crushing reply to all +these cryptogram fantasies. And that is all that was ever published in +Norway on a foolish controversy. + + [13. _Kringsjaa_. Vol. XII, pp. 777 ff. The article upon which + this reply was based was from the _Quarterly Review_.] + +It is a relief to turn from puerilities of this sort to Theodor +Caspari's article in _For Kirke og Kultur_ (1895)[14]--_Grunddrag ved +den Shakespeareske Digtning, i saerlig Jevnfoerelse med Ibsens senere +Digtning_. + + [14. Vol. I, pp. 38 ff.] + +This article must be read with caution, partly because its analysis +of the Elizabethan age is conventional, and therefore superficial, and +partly because it represents a direction of thought which eyed the later +work of Ibsen and Bjornson with distrust. These men had rejected the +faith of their fathers, and the books that came from them were signs of +the apostasy. But _For Kirke og Kultur_ has been marked from its first +number by ability, conspicuous fairness, and a large catholicity, which +give it an honorable place among church journals. And not even a +fanatical admirer of Ibsen will deny that there is more than a grain of +truth in the indictment which the writer of this article brings against +him. + +The central idea is the large, general objectivity of Shakespeare's +plays as contrasted with the narrow, selfish subjectivity of Ibsen's. +The difference bottoms in the difference between the age of Elizabeth +and our own. Those were days of full, pulsing, untrammeled life. Men +lived big, physical lives. They had few scruples and no nerves. +Full-blooded passions, not petty problems of pathological psychology, +were the things that interested poets and dramatists. They saw life +fully and they saw it whole. So with Shakespeare. His characters are +big, well-rounded men; they are not laboratory specimens. They live in +the real Elizabethan world, not in the hothouse of the poet's brain. It +is of no consequence that violence is done to "local color." Shakespeare +beheld all the world and all ages through the lens of his own time and +country, but because the men he saw were actual, living beings, the +characters he gives us, be they mythological figures, Romans, Greeks, +Italians, or Englishmen, have universal validity. He went to Italy for +his greatest love-story. That gave him the right atmosphere. It is +significant that Ibsen once thought it necessary to seek a suggestive +background for one of his greatest characters. He went to Finmarken for +Rebecca West. + +Shakespeare's characters speak in loud, emphatic tones and they give +utterance to clear, emphatic thoughts. There is no "twilight zone" in +their thinking. Ibsen's men and women, like the children at Rosmersholm, +never speak aloud; they merely whimper or they whisper the polite +innuendos of the drawing room. The difference lies largely in the +difference of the age. But Ibsen is more decadent than his age. There +are great ideas in our time too, but Ibsen does not see them. He sees +only the "thought." Contrast with this Shakespeare's colossal scale. +He is "loud-voiced" but he is also "many-voiced." Ibsen speaks in a +salon voice and always in one key. And the remarkable thing is that +Shakespeare, in spite of his complicated plots, is always clear. The +main lines of the action stand out boldly. There is always speed and +movement--a speed and movement directly caused by powerful feelings. He +makes his readers think on a bigger scale than does Ibsen. His passions +are sounder because they are larger and more expansive. + +Shakespeare is the dramatist of our average life; Ibsen, the poet of +the rare exception. To Shakespeare's problems there is always an answer; +underneath his storms there is peace, not merely filth and doubt. There +is even a sense of a greater power--calm and immovable as history +itself. Ibsen's plays are nervous, hectic, and unbelieving. In the words +of Rosmer: "Since there is no judge over us, we must hold a judgment day +for ourselves." Contrast this with Hamlet's soliloquy. And, finally, +one feels sure in Shakespeare that the play means something. It has a +beginning and an end. "What shall we say of plays like Ibsen's, in which +Act I and Act II give no clue to Act III, and where both question and +answer are hurled at us in the same speech?" + +In the same year, 1895, Georg Brandes published in _Samtiden_,[15] at +that time issued in Bergen, two articles on _Shakespeare's Work in his +Period of Gloom_ (Shakespeare i hans Digtnings morke Periode) which +embody in compact form that thesis since elaborated in his big work. +Shakespeare's tragedies were the outcome of a deep pessimism that had +grown for years and culminated when he was about forty. He was tired of +the vice, the hollowness, the ungratefulness, of life. The immediate +cause must remain unknown, but the fact of his melancholy seems clear +enough. His comedy days were over and he began to portray a side of life +which he had hitherto kept hidden. _Julius Caesar_ marks the transition. +In Brutus we are reminded that high-mindedness in the presence of a +practical situation often fails, and that practical mistakes are often +as fatal as moral ones. From Brutus, Shakespeare came to Hamlet, a +character in transition from fine youth, full of illusions, to a manhood +whose faith is broken by the hard facts of the world. This is distinctly +autobiographical. _Hamlet_ and Sonnet 66 are of one piece. Shakespeare +was disillusioned. Add to this his struggle against his enemy, +Puritanism, and a growing conviction that the miseries of life bottom +in ignorance, and the reason for his growing pessimism becomes clear. +From Hamlet, whom the world crushes, to Macbeth, who faces it with its +own weapons, yet is haunted and terrified by what he does, the step is +easy. He knew Macbeth as he knew Hamlet. + + [15. Vol. VI, pp. 49 ff.] + +The scheming Iago, too, he must have known, for he has portrayed +him with matchless art. "But _Othello_ was a mere monograph; _Lear_ +is a cosmic picture. Shakespeare turns from _Othello_ to _Lear_ in +consequence of the necessity which the poet feels to supplement and +round out his beginning." _Othello_ is noble chamber music; _Lear_ is a +symphony played by a gigantic orchestra. It is the noblest of all the +tragedies, for in it are all the storm and tumult of life, all that +was struggling and raging in his own soul. We may feel sure that +the ingratitude he had met with is reflected in Goneril and Regan. +Undoubtedly, in the same way, the poet had met the lovely Cleopatra +and knew what it was to be ensnared by her. + +Brandes, as has often been pointed out, did not invent this theory +of Shakespeare's psychology but he elaborated it with a skill and +persuasiveness which carried the uncritical away. + +In his second article Brandes continues his analysis of Shakespeare's +pessimism. In the period of the great tragedies there can be no doubt +that Shakespeare was profoundly pessimistic. There was abundant reason +for it. The age of Elizabeth was an age of glorious sacrifices, but it +was also an age of shameless hypocrisy, of cruel and unjust punishments, +of downright oppression. Even the casual observer might well grow sick +at heart. A nature so finely balanced as Shakespeare's suffered a +thousandfold. Hence this contempt for life which showed only corruption +and injustice. Cressida and Cleopatra are sick with sin and evil; the +men are mere fools and brawlers. + +There is, moreover, a feeling that he is being set aside for younger +men. We find clear expression of this in _All's Well That Ends Well_, +in _Troilus and Cressida_. There is, too, in _Troilus and Cressida_ +a speech which shows the transition to the mood of _Coriolanus_, an +aristocratic contempt for the mass of mankind. This is the famous speech +in which Ulysses explains the necessity of social distinctions. Note +in this connection Casca's contemptuous reference to the plebeians, +Cleopatra's fear of being shown to the mob. Out of this feeling grew +_Coriolanus_. The great patrician lives on the heights, and will not +hear of bending to the crowd. The contempt of Coriolanus grew to the +storming rage of Timon. When Coriolanus meets with ingratitude, he takes +up arms; Timon is too supremely indifferent to do even this. + +Thus Shakespeare's pessimism grew from grief over the power of evil +(Othello) and misery over life's sorrows, to bitter hatred (Timon). +And when he had raged to the uttermost, something of the resignation +of old age came to him. We have the evidence of this in his last works. +Perhaps, as in the case of his own heroes, a woman saved him. Brandes +feels that the evolution of Shakespeare as a dramatist is to be traced +in his women. We have first the domineering scold, reminding him +possibly of his own domestic relations (Lady Macbeth); second, the +witty, handsome women (Portia, Rosalind); third, the simple, naive women +(Ophelia, Desdemona); fourth, the frankly sensuous women (Cleopatra, +Cressida); and, finally, the young woman viewed with all an old man's +joy (Miranda). Again his genius exercises his spell. Then, like +Prospero, he casts his magician's staff into the sea. + +In 1896 Brandes published his great work on Shakespeare. It arrested +attention immediately in every country of the world. Never had a book so +fascinating, so brilliant, so wonderfully suggestive, been written on +Shakespeare. The literati were captivated. But alas, scholars were not. +They admitted that Brandes had written an interesting book, that he had +accumulated immense stores of information and given to these sapless +materials a new life and a new attractiveness. But they pointed out that +not only did his work contain gross positive errors, but it consisted, +from first to last, of a tissue of speculations which, however +ingenious, had no foundation in fact and no place in cool-headed +criticism.[16] Theodor Bierfreund, one of the most brilliant Shakespeare +scholars in Denmark, almost immediately attacked Brandes in a long +article in the Norwegian periodical _Samtiden_.[17] + + [16. Cf. Vilhelm Moller in _Nordisk Tidskrift foer Vetenskap, Konst + och Industri_. 1896, pp. 501-519.] + + [17. _Samtiden_, 1896. (VII), pp. 382 ff.] + +He acknowledges the great merits of the work. It is an enormously rich +compilation of Shakespeare material gathered from the four corners of +the earth and illuminated by the genius of a great writer. He gives the +fullest recognition to Brandes' miraculous skill in analyzing characters +and making them live before our eyes. But he warns us that Brandes is no +critical student of source materials, and that we must be on our guard +in accepting his conclusions. It is not so certain that the sonnets mean +all that Brandes would have them mean, and it is certain that we must +be cautious in inferring too much from _Troilus and Cressida_ and +_Pericles_ for, in the opinion of the reviewer, Shakespeare probably had +little or nothing to do with them. He then sketches briefly his theory +that these plays cannot be Shakespeare's, a theory which he later +elaborated in his admirably written monograph, _Shakespeare og hans +Kunst_.[18] This, however, belongs to the study of Shakespearean +criticism in Denmark. + + [18. Copenhagen, 1898.] + +So far as I have been able to find, Bierfreund's review was the only one +published in Norway immediately after the publication of Brandes' work, +but in 1899, S. Brettville Jensen took up the matter again in _For Kirke +og Kultur_[19] and, in 1901, Christen Collin vigorously assailed in +_Samtiden_ that elaborate and fanciful theory of the sonnets which plays +so great a part in Brandes' study of Shakespeare. + + [19. Vol. VI (1899), pp. 400 ff.] + +Brettville Jensen praises Brandes highly. He is always interesting, in +harmony with his age, and in rapport with his reader. "But his book is a +fantasy palace, supported by columns as lovely as they are hollow and +insecure, and hovering in rainbow mists between earth and sky." Brandes +has rare skill in presenting hypotheses as facts. He has attempted to +reconstruct the life of Shakespeare from his works. Now this is a mode +of criticism which may yield valuable results, but clearly it must be +used with great care. Shakespeare knew the whole of life, but how he +came to know it is another matter. Brandes thinks he has found the +secret. Back of every play and every character there is a personal +experience. But this is rating genius altogether too cheap. One must +concede something to the imagination and the creative ability of the +poet. To relate everything in Shakespeare's dramas to the experiences +of Shakespeare the man, is both fanciful and uncritical. + +The same objection naturally holds regarding the meaning of the sonnets +which Brandes has made his own. Here we must bear in mind the fact that +much of the language in the sonnets is purely conventional. We should +have a difficult time indeed determining just how much is biographical +and how much belongs to the stock in trade of Elizabethan sonneteers. +Brettville Jensen points out that if the sonnets are the expression of +grief at the loss of his beloved, it is a queer contradiction that +Sonnet 144, which voices his most poignant sorrow, should date from +1599, the year, according to Brandes, when Shakespeare's comedy period +began! + +It is doubtless true that the plays and even the sonnets mark great +periods in the life of the poet, but we may be sure that the relation +between experience and literary creation was not so literal as Brandes +would have us believe. The change from mood to mood, from play to play, +was gradual, and it never destroyed Shakespeare's poise and sanity. We +shall not judge Shakespeare rightly if we believe that personal feeling +rather than artistic truth shaped his work. + +Two years later Collin, a critic of fine insight and appreciation, wrote +in _Samtiden_[20] an article on the sonnets of Shakespeare. He begins by +picturing Shakespeare's surprise if he could rise from his grave in the +little church at Stratford and look upon the pompous and rather naive +bust, and hear the strange tongues of the thousands of pilgrims at his +shrine. Even greater would be his surprise if he could examine the +ponderous tomes in the Shakespeare Memorial Library at Birmingham which +have been written to explain him and his work. And if any of these +volumes could interest him at all it would doubtless be those in which +ingenious critics have attempted to discover the poet in the plays and +the poems. Collin then gives a brief survey of modern Shakespearean +criticism--Furnivall, Dowden, Brandl, Boas, ten Brink, and, more +recently, Sidney, Lee, Brandes, and Bierfreund. An important object of +the study of these men has been to fix the chronology of the plays. They +seldom fully agree. Sidney Lee and the Danish critic, Bierfreund, do not +accept the usual theory that the eight tragedies from _Julius Caesar_ to +_Coriolanus_ reflect a period of gloom and pessimism. In their opinion +psychological criticism has, in this instance, proved a dismal failure. + + [20. Vol. XII, pp. 61 ff.] + +The battle has raged with particular violence about the sonnets. +Most scholars assume that we have in them a direct presentation +(fremstilling) of a definite period in the life of the poet. And by +placing this period directly before the creation of _Hamlet_, Brandes +has succeeded in making the relations to the "dark lady" a crisis in +Shakespeare's life. The story, which, as Brandes tells it, has a +remarkable similarity to an ultra-modern naturalistic novel, becomes +even more piquant since Brandes knows the name of the lady, nay, even of +the faithless friend. All this information Brandes has, of course, taken +from Thomas Tyler's introduction to the Irving edition of the sonnets +(1890), but his passion for the familiar anecdote has led him to +embellish it with immense enthusiasm and circumstantiality. + +The hypothesis, however, is essentially weak. Collin disagrees +absolutely with Lee that the sonnets are purely conventional, without +the slightest biographical value. Mr. Lee has weakened his case by +admitting that "key-sonnet" No. 144 is autobiographical. Now, if this +be true, then one must assume that the sonnets set forth Shakespeare's +relations to a real man and a real woman. But the most convincing +argument against the Herbert-Fitton theory lies in the chronology. It is +certain that the sonnet fashion was at its height immediately after the +publication of Sidney's sequence in 1591, and it seems equally certain +that it had fallen off by 1598. This chronology is rendered probable +by two facts about Shakespeare's work. First, Shakespeare employs the +sonnet in dialogue in _Two Gentlemen of Verona_ and in _Romeo and +Juliet_. These plays belong to the early nineties. Second, the moods +of the sonnets exactly correspond, on the one hand, to the exuberant +sensuality of _Venus and Adonis_, on the other, to the restraint of the +_Lucrece_. + +An even safer basis for determining the chronology of the sonnets Collin +finds in the group in which the poet laments his poverty and his outcast +state. If the sonnets are autobiographical--and Collin agrees with +Brandes that they are--then this group (26, 29, 30, 31, 37, 49, 66, +71-75, 99, 110-112, 116, 119, 120, 123, and 124) must refer to a time +when the poet was wretched, poor, and obscure. And in this case, the +sonnets cannot be placed at 1598-99, when Shakespeare was neither poor +nor despised, a time in which, according to Brandes, he wrote his gayest +comedies. + +It seems clear from all this that the sonnets cannot be placed so late +as 1598-1600. They do not fit the facts of Shakespeare's life at this +time. But they do fit the years from 1591 to 1594, and especially the +years of the plague, 1592-3, when the theaters were generally closed, +and Shakespeare no doubt had to battle for a mere existence. In 1594 +Shakespeare's position became more secure. He gained the favor of +Southampton and dedicated the _Rape of Lucrece_ to him. + +Collin develops at this point with a good deal of fullness his +theory that the motifs of the sonnets recur in _Venus and Adonis_ +and _Lucrece_--in _Venus and Adonis_, a certain crass naturalism; +in _Lucrece_ a high and spiritual morality. In the sonnets the same +antithesis is found. Compare Sonnet 116--in praise of friendship--with +129, in which is pictured the tyranny and the treachery of sensual love. +These two forces, sensual love and platonic friendship, were mighty +cultural influences during Shakespeare's apprentice years and the young +poet shows plainly that he was moved by both. + +If all this be true, then the Herbert-Fitton theory falls to the ground, +for in 1597 Herbert was only seventeen. But unquestionably the sonnets +are autobiographical. They reveal with a poignant power Shakespeare's +sympathy, his unique ability to enter into another personality, his +capacity of imaginative expansion to include the lives of others. +Compare the noble sonnet 112, which Collin translates: + + Din kjaerlighed og medynk daekker til + det ar, som sladderen paa min pande trykket. + Lad andre tro og sige, hvad de vil,-- + du kjaerlig mine feil med fortrin smykket. + + Du er mit verdensalt, og fra din mund + jeg henter al min skam og al min aere. + For andre er jeg dod fra denne stund, + og de for mig som skygger blot skal vaere. + + I avgrunds dyp jeg al bekymring kaster! + for andres rost min horesans er slov. + Hvadenten de mig roser eller laster, + jeg som en hugorm er og vorder dov. + + Saa helt du fylder ut min sjael herinde, + at hele verden synes at forsvinde. + +At this point the article in _Samtiden_ closes. Collin promises to give +in a later number, a metrical translation of a number of significant +sonnets. The promised renderings, however, never appeared. Thirteen +years later, in 1914, the author, in a most interesting and illuminating +book, _Det Geniale Menneske_,[21] a study of "genius" and its relation +to civilization, reprinted his essay in _Samtiden_ and supplemented it +with three short chapters. In the first of these he endeavors to show +that in the sonnets Shakespeare gives expression to two distinct +tendencies of the Renaissance--the tendency toward a loose and +unregulated gratification of the senses, and the tendency toward an +elevated and platonic conception of friendship. Shakespeare sought in +both of these a compensation for his own disastrous love affair and +marriage. But the healing that either could give was at best transitory. +There remained to him as a poet of genius one resource. He could gratify +his own burning desire for a pure and unselfish love by living in his +mighty imagination the lives of his characters. "He who in his yearning +for the highest joys of love had been compelled to abandon hope, found +a joy mingled with pain, in giving of his life to lovers in whom the +longing of William Shakespeare lives for all time. + +"He has loved and been loved. It was he whom Sylvia, Hermia, Titania, +Portia, Juliet, Beatrice, Rosalind, Viola, and Olivia loved,--and +Ophelia, Desdemona, Hermione and Miranda." + + [21. Chr. Collin, Christiania. 1914. H. Aschehoug & Co.] + +In the second chapter Collin argues, as he had done in his essay on +_Hamlet_[22] that Shakespeare's great tragedies voice no pessimism, but +the stern purpose to strengthen himself and his contemporaries against +the evils and vices of Jacobean England--that period of moral and +intellectual disintegration which followed the intense life of the +Elizabethan age. Shakespeare battles against the ills of society as the +Greek dramatists had done, by showing sin and wickedness as destroyers +of life, and once this is done, by firing mankind to resistance against +the forces of ruin and decay. "To hold the mirror up to nature," that +men may see the devastation which evil and vice bring about in the +social body. And to do this he does not, like some modern writers, shun +moralizing. He warns against sensual excess in Adam's speech in _As You +Like It_, II, 3: + + Let me be your servant; + Though I look old, yet am I strong and lusty; + For in my youth I never did apply + Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood; + Nor did not with unbashful forehead woo + The means of weakness and debility; + + [22. See pp. 71 ff. below.] + +Or, compare the violent outburst against drunkenness in _Hamlet_ Act 1, +Sc. 4, and the stern warning against the same vice in _Othello_, where, +indeed, Cassius' weakness for strong drink is the immediate occasion of +the tragic complication. In like manner, Shakespeare moralizes against +lawless love in the _Merry Wives_, in _Troilus and Cressida_, in +_Hamlet_, in _Lear_. + +On the other hand, Shakespeare never allows artistic scruples to +stand in the way of exalting simple, domestic virtues. Simple conjugal +fidelity is one of the glories of Hamlet's illustrious father and of the +stern, old Roman, Coriolanus; the young prince, Malcolm, is as chaste +and innocent as the young barbarians of whom Tacitus tells. + +In a final section, Collin connects this view of Hamlet which he has +developed in his essay on _Hamlet_ and the Sonnets, with the theory of +human civilization which his book so suggestively advances. + +The great tragedies from _Hamlet_ to _Timon of Athens_ are not +autobiographical in the sense that they are reflections of Shakespeare's +own concrete experience. They are not the record of a bitter personal +pessimism. In the years when they were written Shakespeare was contented +and prosperous. He restored the fortunes of his family and he was hailed +as a master of English without a peer. It is therefore a priori quite +unlikely that the tragic atmosphere of this period should go back +to purely personal disappointments. The case is more likely this: +Shakespeare had grown in power of sympathy with his fellows and his +time. He had become sensitive to the needs and sorrows of the society +about him. He could put himself in the place of those who are sick in +mind and heart. And in consequence of this he could preach to this +generation the simple gospel of right living and show to them the +psychic weakness whence comes all human sorrow. + +And through this expansion of his ethical consciousness what had +he gained? Not merely a fine insight as in _Macbeth_, _Antony and +Cleopatra_, and _Coriolanus_, an insight which enables him to treat with +comprehending sympathy even great criminals and traitors, but a high +serenity and steady poise which enables him to write the romances of his +last years--_Cymbeline_, _A Winter's Tale_, and _The Tempest_. He had +come to feel that human life, after all, with its storms, is a little +thing, a dream and a fata morgana, which soon must give place to a +permanent reality: + + We are such stuff + As dreams are made of, and our little life + Is rounded with a sleep. + +In 1904 Collin wrote in _Nordisk Tidskrift foer Vetenskap, Konst och +Industri_[23] a most suggestive article on Hamlet. He again dismisses +the widely accepted theory of a period of gloom and increasing pessimism +as baseless. The long line of tragedies cannot be used to prove this. +They are the expression of a great poet's desire to strengthen mankind +in the battle of life. + + [23: This article is reprinted in _Det Geniale Menneske_ above + referred to. It forms the second of a group of essays in which + Collin analyzes the work of Shakespeare as the finest example of + the true contribution of genius to the progress and culture of + the race. Preceding the study of _Hamlet_ is a chapter called + _The Shakespearean Controversy_, and following it is a study of + Shakespeare the Man. This is in three parts, the first of which + is a reprint of an article in _Samtiden_ (1901). + + In _Det Geniale Menneske_ Collin defines civilization as that + higher state which the human race has attained by means of + "psychic organs"--superior to the physical organs. The psychic + organs have been created by the human intellect and they are + controlled by the intellect. Had man been dependent upon the + physical organs solely, he would have remained an animal. His + psychic organs have enabled him to create instruments, tangible, + such as tools and machines; intangible, such as works of art. + These are psychic organs and with their aid man has become a + civilized being. + + The psychic organs are the creation of the man of genius. To + create such organs is his function. The characteristics, then, + of the genius are an immense capacity for sympathy and an immense + surplus of power; sympathy, that he may know the needs of mankind; + power, that he may fashion those great organs of life by which the + race may live and grow. + + In the various chapters of his book, Collin analyzes in an + illuminating way the life and work of Wergeland, Ibsen, and + Bjornson as typical men of genius whose expansive sympathy gave + them insight and understanding and whose indefatigable energy + wrought in the light of their insight mighty psychic organs of + cultural progress. + + He comes then to Shakespeare as the genius par excellence. The + chapter on the _Shakespearean Controversy_ gives first a survey + of the development of modern scientific literary criticism from + Herder to Taine and Saint Beuve. He goes on to detail the + application of this method to the plays and sonnets of + Shakespeare. Furnivall, Spalding, and Brandes have attempted to + trace the genesis and the chronology of the plays. They would have + us believe that the series of tragedies--_Hamlet_, _Macbeth_, + _Othello_, _Lear_, _Antony and Cleopatra_, _Troilus and Cressida_, + _Coriolanus_, and _Timon_ are the records of an increasing + bitterness and pessimism. Brandes and Frank Harris, following + Thomas Tyler have, on the basis of the sonnets, constructed a + fascinating, but quite fantastic romance. + + Vagaries such as these have caused some critics, such as Sidney + Lee and Bierfreund, to declare that it is impossible on the basis + of the plays to penetrate to Shakespeare the man. His work is + too purely objective. Collin is not willing to admit this. He + maintains that the scientific biographical method of criticism + is fundamentally sound. But it must be rationally applied. The + sequence which Brandes has set up is quite impossible. Goswin + Konig, in 1888, applying the metrical tests, fixed the order as + follows: _Hamlet_, _Troilus and Cressida_, _Measure for Measure_, + _Othello_, _Timon_, and _Lear_, and, in another group, _Macbeth_, + _Antony and Cleopatra_, and _Coriolanus_. These results are + confirmed by Bradley in his _Shakespearean Tragedy_. + + Collin accepts this chronology. A careful study of the plays in + this order shows a striking community of ethical purpose between + the plays of each group. In the plays of the first group, the poet + assails with all his mighty wrath what to him seems the basest of + all wickedness, treachery. It is characteristic of these plays + that none of the villains attains the dignity of a great tragic + hero. They are without a virtue to redeem their faults. + Shakespeare's conception of the good and evil in these plays + approaches a medieval dualism. In the plays of the second group + the case is altered. There is no longer a crude dualism in the + interpretation of life. Shakespeare has entered into the soul of + Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, of Antony and Cleopatra, of Coriolanus, + and he has found underneath all that is weak and sinful and + diseased, a certain nobility and grandeur. He can feel with the + regicides in Macbeth; he no longer exposes and scourges; he + understands and sympathizes. The clouds of gloom and wrath have + cleared away, and Shakespeare has achieved a serenity and a fine + poise. + + It follows, then, that the theory of a growing pessimism is + untenable. We must seek a new line of evolution.] + +We need dwell but little on Collin's sketch of the "Vorgeschichte" +of _Hamlet_, for it contributes nothing that is new. _Hamlet_ was a +characteristic "revenge tragedy" like the "Spanish Tragedy" and a whole +host of others which had grown up in England under the influence, direct +and indirect, of Seneca. He points out in a very illuminating way how +admirably the "tragedy of blood" fitted the times. Nothing is more +characteristic of the renaissance than an intense joy in living. But +exactly as the appetite for mere existence became keen, the tragedy of +death gained in power. The most passionate joy instinctively calls up +the most terrible sorrow. There is a sort of morbid caution here--a +feeling that in the moment of happiness it is well to harden oneself +against the terrible reaction to come. Conversely, the contemplation of +suffering intensifies the joys of the moment. At all events, in such a +time, emotions become stronger, colors are brighter, and contrasts are +more violent. The "tragedy of blood," therefore, was more than a learned +imitation. Its sound and fury met the need of men who lived and died +intensely. + +The primitive _Hamlet_ was such a play. Shakespeare took over, doubtless +with little change, both fable and characters, but he gave to both a new +spiritual content. Hamlet's revenge gained a new significance. It is no +longer a fight against the murderer of his father, but a battle against +"a world out of joint." No wonder that a simple duty of blood revenge +becomes a task beyond his powers. He sees the world as a mass of +faithlessness, and the weight of it crushes him and makes him sick at +heart. This is the tragedy of Hamlet--his will is paralyzed and, with +it, his passion for revenge. He fights a double battle, against his +uncle and against himself. The conviction that Shakespeare, and not his +predecessor, has given this turn to the tragedy is sustained by the +other plays of the same period, _Lear_ and _Timon of Athens_. They +exhibit three different stages of the same disease, a disease in which +man's natural love of fighting is turned against himself. + +Collin denies that the tragedy of Hamlet is that of a contemplative soul +who is called upon to solve great practical problems. What right have we +to assume that Hamlet is a weak, excessively reflective nature? Hamlet +is strong and regal, capable of great, concrete attainments. But he can +do nothing except by violent and eccentric starts; his will is paralyzed +by a fatal sickness. He suffers from a disease not so uncommon in modern +literature--the tendency to see things in the darkest light. Is it far +from the pessimism of Hamlet to the pessimism of Schopenhauer and +Tolstoi? Great souls like Byron and Heine and Ibsen have seen life as +Hamlet saw it, and they have struggled as he did, "like wounded warriors +against the miseries of the times." + +But from this we must not assume that Shakespeare himself was +pessimistic. To him Hamlet's state of mind was pathological. One might +as well say that he was a murderer because he wrote _Macbeth_, a +misogynist because he created characters like Isabella and Ophelia, a +wife murderer because he wrote _Othello_, or a suicide because he wrote +_Timon of Athens_ as to say that he was a pessimist because he wrote +_Hamlet_--the tragedy of an irresolute avenger. This interpretation +is contradicted by the very play itself. "At Hamlet's side is the +thoroughly healthy Horatio, almost a standard by which his abnormality +may be measured. At Lear's side stand Cordelia and Kent, faithful +and sound to the core. If the hater of mankind, Timon, had written +a play about a rich man who was betrayed by his friends, he would +unquestionably have portrayed even the servants as scoundrels. But +Shakespeare never presented his characters as all black. Pathological +states of mind are not presented as normal." + +Collin admits, nevertheless, that there may be something +autobiographical in the great tragedies. Undoubtedly Shakespeare felt +that there was an iron discipline in beholding a great tragedy. To live +it over in the soul tempered it, gave it firmness and resolution, and it +is not impossible that the sympathetic, high-strung Shakespeare needed +just such discipline. But we must not forget the element of play. +All art is, in a sense, a game with images and feelings and human +utterances. "In all this century-old discussion about the subtlety of +Hamlet's character critics have forgotten that a piece of literature is, +first of all, a festive sport with clear pictures, finely organized +emotions, and eloquent words uttered in moments of deep feeling." The +poet who remembers this will use his work to drive from the earth +something of its gloom and melancholy. He will strengthen himself +that he may strengthen others. + +I have tried to give an adequate synopsis of Collin's article but, in +addition to the difficulties of translating the language, there are the +difficulties, infinitely greater, of putting into definite words all +that the Norwegian hints at and suggests. It is not high praise to say +that Collin has written the most notable piece of Shakespeare criticism +in Norway; indeed, nothing better has been written either in Norway or +Denmark. + +The study of Shakespeare in Norway was not, as the foregoing shows, +extensive or profound, but there were many Norwegian scholars who had +at least considerable information about things Shakespearean. No great +piece of research is to be recorded, but the stimulating criticism of +Caspari, Collin, Just Bing, and Bjornson is worth reading to this day. + +The same comment may be made on two other contributions--Wiesener's +_Almindelig Indledning til Shakespeare_ (General Introduction to +Shakespeare), published as an introduction to his school edition of +_The Merchant of Venice_,[24] and Collin's _Indledning_ to his edition +of the same play. Both are frankly compilations, but both are admirably +organized, admirably written, and full of a personal enthusiasm which +gives the old, sometimes hackneyed facts a new interest. + + [24. _Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice. Med Anmaerkninger og + Indledning_. Udgivet af G. Wiesener. Kristiania, 1880.] + +Wiesener's edition was published in 1880 in Christiania. The text is +that of the Cambridge edition with a few necessary cuttings to adapt it +for school reading. His introduction covers fifty-two closely printed +pages and gives, within these limits, an exceedingly detailed account of +the English drama, the Elizabethan stage, Shakespeare's life and work, +and a careful study of _The Merchant of Venice_ itself. The editor does +not pretend to originality; he has simply tried to bring together well +ascertained facts and to present them in the simplest, clearest fashion +possible. But the _Indledning_ is to-day, thirty-five years after it was +written, fully up to the standard of the best annotated school editions +in this country or in England. It is, of course, a little dry and +schematic; that could hardly be avoided in an attempt to compress such a +vast amount of information into such a small compass, but, for the most +part, the details are so clear and vivid that their mass rather +heightens than blurs the picture. + +From the fact that nothing in this introduction is original, it is +hardly necessary to criticise it at length; all that may be demanded +is a short survey of the contents. The whole consists of two great +divisions, a general introduction to Shakespeare and a special +introduction to _The Merchant of Venice_. The first division is, in +turn, subdivided into seven heads: 1. _The Pre-Shakespearean Drama_. +2. _The Life of Shakespeare_. 3. _Shakespeare's Works--Order and +Chronology_. 4. _Shakespeare as a Dramatist_. 5. _Shakespeare's +Versification_. 6. _The Text of Shakespeare_. 7. _The Theatres of +Shakespeare's Time_. This introduction fills thirty-nine pages and +presents an exceedingly useful compendium for the student and the +general reader. The short introduction to the play itself discusses +briefly the texts, the sources, the characters, Shakespeare's relation +to his material and, finally, the meaning of the play. The last section +is, however, a translation from Taine and not Wiesener's at all. + +The text itself is provided with elaborate notes of the usual text-book +sort. In addition to these there is, at the back, an admirable series +of notes on the language of Shakespeare. Wiesener explains in simple, +compact fashion some of the differences between Elizabethan and modern +English and traces these phenomena back to their origins in Anglo-Saxon +and Middle English. Inadequate as they are, these linguistic notes +cannot be too highly praised for the conviction of which they bear +evidence--that a complete knowledge of Shakespeare without a knowledge +of his language is impossible. To the student of that day these notes +must have been a revelation. + +The second text edition of a Shakespearean play in Norway was Collin's +_The Merchant of Venice_.[25] His introduction covers much the same +ground as Wiesener's, but he offers no sketch of the Elizabethan drama, +of Shakespeare's life, or of his development as a dramatic artist. On +the other hand, his critical analysis of the play is fuller and, instead +of a mere summary, he gives an elaborate exposition of Shakespeare's +versification. + + [25. _The Merchant of Venice_. Med Indledning og Anmaerkninger ved + Chr. Collin. Kristiania. 1902.] + +Collin is a critic of rare insight. Accordingly, although he says +nothing new in his discussion of the purport and content of the play, +he makes the old story live anew. He images Shakespeare in the midst of +his materials--how he found them, how he gave them life and being. The +section on Shakespeare's language is not so solid and scientific as +Wiesener's, but his discussion of Shakespeare's versification is +both longer and more valuable than Wiesener's fragmentary essay, and +Shakespeare's relation to his sources is treated much more suggestively. + +He points out, first of all, that in Shakespeare's "classical" plays the +characters of high rank commonly use verse and those of low rank, prose. +This is, however, not a law. The real principle of the interchange of +prose and verse is in the emotions to be conveyed. Where these are +tense, passionate, exalted, they are communicated in verse; where they +are ordinary, commonplace, they are expressed in prose. This rule will +hold both for characters of high station and for the most humble. In Act +I, for example, Portia speaks in prose to her maid "obviously because +Shakespeare would lower the pitch and reduce the suspense. In the +following scene, the conversation between Shylock and Bassanio begins in +prose. But as soon as Antonio appears, Shylock's emotions are roused to +their highest pitch, and his speech turns naturally to verse--even +though he is alone and his speech an aside. A storm of passions sets +his mind and speech in rhythmic motion. And from that point on, the +conversations of Shylock, Bassanio, and Antonio are in verse. In short, +rhythmic speech when there is a transition to strong, more dramatic +feeling." + +The use of prose or verse depends, then, on the kind and depth of +feeling rather than on the characters. "In Act II Launcelot Gobbo and +his father are the only ones who employ prose. All the others speak in +verse--even the servant who tells of Bassanio's arrival. Not only that, +but he speaks in splendid verse even though he is merely announcing a +messenger:" + + "Yet have I not seen + So likely an ambassador of love," etc. + +Again, in _Lear_, the servant who protests against Cornwall's cruelty to +Gloster, nameless though he is, speaks in noble and stately lines: + + Hold your hand, my lord; + I've served you ever since I was a child; + But better service have I never done you + Than now to bid you hold. + +When the dramatic feeling warrants it, the humblest rise to the highest +poetry. The renaissance was an age of deeper, mightier feelings than +our own, and this intense life speaks in verse, for only thus can it +adequately express itself. + +All this is romantic enough. But it is to be doubted if the men of the +renaissance were so different from us that they felt an instinctive need +of bursting into song. The causes of the efflorescence of Elizabethan +dramatic poetry are not, I think, to be sought in such subtleties as +these. + +Collin further insists that the only way to understand Shakespeare's +versification is to understand his situations and his characters. Rules +avail little. If we do not _feel_ the meaning of the music, we shall +never understand the meaning of the verse. Shakespeare's variations from +the normal blank verse are to be interpreted from this point of view. +Hence what the metricists call "irregularities" are not irregularities +at all. Collin examines the more important of these irregularities and +tries to account for them. + +1. Short broken lines as in I, 1-5: _I am to learn._ Antonio completes +this line by a shrug of the shoulders or a gesture. "It would be +remarkable," concludes Collin, "if there were no interruptions or pauses +even though the characters speak in verse." Another example of this +breaking of the line for dramatic purposes is found in I, 3-123 where +Shylock suddenly stops after "say this" as if to draw breath and arrange +his features. (Sic!) + +2. A verse may be abnormally long and contain six feet. This is +frequently accidental, but in _M of V_ it is used at least once +deliberately--in the oracular inscriptions on the caskets: + + "Who chooseth me shall gain what men desire." + "Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves." + "Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he has." + +Collin explains that putting these formulas into Alexandrines gives them +a stiffness and formality appropriate to their purpose. + +3. Frequently one or two light syllables are added to the close of the +verse: + + Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster. + +or + + Sleep when he wakes and creep into the jaundice. + +Again, in III, 2-214 we have two unstressed syllables: + + But who comes here? Lorenzo and his infidel? + +"Shakespeare uses this unaccented gliding ending more in his later works +to give an easier more unconstrained movement." + +4. Occasionally a syllable is lacking, and the foot seems to halt as in +V, 1-17: + + As far as Belmont. In such a night, etc. + +Here a syllable is lacking in the third foot. But artistically this is +no defect. We cannot ask that Jessica and Lorenzo always have the right +word at hand. The defective line simply means a pause and, therefore, +instead of being a blemish, is exactly right. + +5. On the other hand, there is often an extra light syllable before the +caesura. (I, 1-48): + + Because you are not merry; and 'twere as easy, etc. + +This extra syllable before the pause gives the effect of a slight +retardation. It was another device to make the verse easy and +unconstrained. + +6. Though the prevailing verse is iambic pentameter, we rarely find +more than three or four real accents. The iambic movement is constantly +broken and compelled to fight its way through. This gives an added +delight, since the ear, attuned to the iambic beat, readily recognizes +it when it recurs. The presence of a trochee is no blemish, but a +relief: + + Vailing her high tops higher than her ribs. (I, 1-28) + +This inverted stress occurs frequently in Norwegian poetry. Wergeland +was a master of it and used it with great effect, for instance, in his +poem to Ludvig Daa beginning: + + Med doden i mit hjerte, + og smilet om min mund,-- + +All this gives to Shakespeare's verse a marvellous flexibility and +power. Nor are these devices all that the poet had at his disposal. We +frequently find three syllables to the foot, giving the line a certain +fluidity which a translator only rarely can reproduce. Finally, a +further difficulty in translating Shakespeare lies in the richness of +the English language in words of one syllable. What literature can rival +the grace and smoothness of: + + In sooth I know not why I am so sad. + +Ten monosyllables in succession! It is enough to drive a translator to +despair. Or take: + + To be or not to be, that is the question. + +To summarize, no other language can rival English in dramatic dialogue +in verse, and this is notably true of Shakespeare's English, where the +word order is frequently simpler and more elastic than it is in modern +English. + +Two reviews of Collin quickly appeared in a pedagogical magazine, _Den +Hoeiere Skole_. The first of them,[26] by Ivar Alnaes, is a brief, rather +perfunctory review. He points out that _The Merchant of Venice_ is +especially adapted to reading in the gymnasium, for it is unified in +structure, the characters are clearly presented, the language is not +difficult, and the picture is worth while historically. Collin has, +therefore, done a great service in making the play available for +teaching purposes. Alnaes warmly praises the introduction; it is +clear, full, interesting, and marked throughout by a tone of genuine +appreciation. But right here lies its weakness. It is not always easy +to distinguish ascertained facts from Collin's imaginative combinations. +Every page, however, gives evidence of the editor's endeavor to give to +the student fresh, stimulating impressions, and new, revealing points of +view. This is a great merit and throws a cloak over many eccentricities +of language. + + [26. Vol. 5 (1903), pp. 51 ff.] + +But Collin was not to escape so easily. In the same volume Dr. +August Western[27] wrote a severe criticism of Collin's treatment +of Shakespeare's versification. + + [27. _Ibid._ pp. 142 ff.] + +He agrees, as a matter of course, that Shakespeare is a master of +versification, but he does not believe that Collin has proved it. That +blank verse is the natural speech of the chief characters or of the +minor characters under emotional stress, that prose is _usually_ used by +minor characters or by important characters under no emotional strain +is, in Dr. Western's opinion, all wrong. Nor is prose per se more +restful than poetry. And is not Shylock more emotional in his scene +(I, 3) than any of the characters in the casket scene immediately +following (II, 1)? According to Collin, then, I, 3 should be in verse +and II, 1 in prose! Equally absurd is the theory that Shakespeare's +characters speak in verse because their natures demand it. Does Shylock +go contrary to nature in III, 1? There is no psychological reason for +Verse in Shakespeare. He wrote as he did because convention prescribed +it. The same is true of Goethe and Schiller, of Bjornson and Ibsen in +their earlier plays. Shakespeare's lapses into prose are, moreover, easy +to explain. There must always be something to amuse the gallery. Act +III, 1 must be so understood, for though Shakespeare was undoubtedly +moved, the effect of the scene was comic. The same is true of the +dialogue between Portia and Nerissa in Act I, and of all the scenes +in which Launcelot Gobbo appears. + +Western admits, however, that much of the prose in Shakespeare cannot +be so explained; for example, the opening scenes in _Lear_ and _The +Tempest_. And this brings up another point, i.e., Collin's supposition +that Shakespeare's texts as we have them are exactly as he wrote them. +When the line halts, Collin simply finds proof of the poet's fine ear! +The truth probably is that Shakespeare had a good ear and that he always +wrote good lines, but that he took no pains to see that these lines were +correctly printed. Take, for example, such a line as: + + As far as Belmont. + In such a night + +This would, if written by anyone else, always be considered bad, and Dr. +Western does not believe that Collin's theory of the pauses will hold. +The pause plays no part in verse. A line consists of a fixed number +of _heard_ syllables. Collin would say that a line like I, 1-73: + + I will not fail you, + +is filled out with a bow and a swinging of the hat. Then why are the +lines just before it, in which Salarino and Salario take leave of each +other, not defective? Indeed, how can we be sure that much of what +passes for "Shakespeare's versification" is not based on printers' +errors? In the folio of 1623 there are long passages printed in prose +which, after closer study, we must believe were written in verse--the +opening of _Lear_ and _The Tempest_. Often, too, it is plain that +the beginnings and endings of lines have been run together. Take the +passage: + + _Sal_: + Why, then you are in love. + + _Ant_: + Fie, fie! + + _Sal_: + Not in love neither? Then let us say you are sad-- + +The first line is one foot short, the second one foot too long. This +Collin would call a stroke of genius; each _fie_ is a complete foot, +and the line is complete! But what if the line were printed thus: + + _Sal_: + Why, then you are in love. + + _Ant_: + Fie, fie! + + _Sal_: + Not in + Love neither? Then let us say you are sad. + +or possibly: + + Love neither? Then let's say that you are sad. + +Another possible printer's error is found in I, 3-116: + + With bated breath and whispering humbleness + Say this; + Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last. + +Are we here to imagine a pause of four feet? And what are we to do with +the first folio which has + + Say this; Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last. + +all in one line? Perhaps some printer chose between the two. At any +rate, Collin's theory will not hold. In the schools, of course, one +cannot be a text critic but, on the other hand, one must not praise in +Shakespeare what may be the tricks of the printer's devil. The text is +not always faultless. + +Finally, Dr. Western objects to the statement that the difficulty in +translating Shakespeare lies in the great number of monosyllables and +gives + + In sooth, I know not why I am so sad + +as proof. Ten monosyllables in one line! But this is not impossible in +Norwegian: + + For sand, jeg ved ei, hvi jeg er saa trist-- + +It is not easy to translate Shakespeare, but the difficulty goes deeper +than his richness in words of one syllable. + +With the greater part of Dr. Western's article everyone will agree. It +is doubtful if any case could be made out for the division of prose and +verse based on psychology. Shakespeare probably wrote his plays in verse +for the same reason that Goethe and Schiller and Oehlenschlaeger did. It +was the fashion. And how difficult it is to break with fashion or with +old tradition, the history of Ibsen's transition from poetry to prose +shows. It is equally certain that in Collin's _Introduction_ it is +difficult to distinguish ascertained facts from brilliant speculation. +But it is not easy to agree with Dr. Western that Collin's explanation +of the "pause" is a tissue of fancy. + +In the first place, no one denies that the printers have at times +played havoc with Shakespeare's text. Van Dam and Stoffel, to whose book +Western refers and whose suggestions are directly responsible for this +article, have shown this clearly enough. But when Dr. Western argues +that because printers have corrupted the text in some places, they must +be held accountable for every defective short line, we answer, it does +not follow. In the second place, why should not a pause play a part in +prosody as well as in music? Recall Tennyson's verse: + + Break, break, break, + On thy cold, grey stones, o sea! + +where no one feels that the first line is defective. Of course the +answer is that in Tennyson no accented syllable is lacking. But it is +difficult to understand what difference this makes. When the reader has +finished pronouncing _Belmont_ there _must_ be a moment's hesitation +before Lorenzo breaks in with: + + In such a night + +and this pause may have metrical value. The only judge of verse, after +all, is the hearer, and, in my opinion, Collin is right when he points +out the value of the slight metrical pause between the bits of repartee. +Whether Shakespeare counted the syllables beforehand or not, is another +matter. In the third place, Collin did not quote in support of his +theory the preposterous lines which Dr. Western uses against him. Collin +does quote I, 1-5: + + I am to learn. + +and I, 1-73: + + I will not fail you + +is a close parallel, but Collin probably would not insist that his +theory accounts for every case. As to Dr. Western's other example of +good meter spoiled by corrupt texts, Collin would, no doubt, admit +the possibility of the proposed emendations. It would not alter his +contention that a pause in the line, like a pause in music, is not +necessarily void, but may be very significant indeed. + +The array of Shakespearean critics in Norway, as we said at the +beginning, is not imposing. Nor are their contributions important. +But they show, at least, a sound acquaintance with Shakespeare and +Shakespeareana, and some of them, like the articles of Just Bing, +Brettville Jensen, Christen Collin, and August Western, are interesting +and illuminating. Bjornson's article in _Aftenbladet_ is not merely +suggestive as Shakespearean criticism, but it throws valuable light +on Bjornson himself and his literary development. When we come to the +dramatic criticism of Shakespeare's plays, we shall find renewed +evidence of a wide and intelligent knowledge of Shakespeare in Norway. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Performances Of Shakespeare's Plays In Norway + +_Christiania_ + + +The first public theater in Christiania was opened by the Swedish +actor, Johan Peter Stroemberg, on January 30, 1827, but no Shakespeare +production was put on during his short and troubled administration. +Not quite two years later this strictly private undertaking became a +semi-public one under the immediate direction of J.K. Boecher, and at +the close of the season 1829-30, Boecher gave by way of epilogue to +the year, two performances including scenes from Holberg's _Melampe_, +Shakespeare's _Hamlet_, and Oehlenschlaeger's _Aladdin_. The Danish actor +Berg played Hamlet, but we have no further details of the performance. +We may be sure, however, that of the two translations available, Boye's +and Foersom's, the latter was used. _Hamlet_, or a part of it, was thus +given for the first time in Norway nearly seventeen years after Foersom +himself had brought it upon the stage in Denmark.[1] + + [1. Blanc: _Christianias Theaters Historie_, p. 51.] + +More than fourteen years were to elapse before the theater took +up Shakespeare in earnest. On July 28, 1844, the first complete +Shakespearean play was given. This was _Macbeth_ in Foersom's version +of Schiller's "bearbeitung," which we shall take up in our studies of +Shakespeare in Denmark.[2] No reviews of it are to be found in the +newspapers of the time, not even an announcement. This, however, does +not prove that the event was unnoticed, for the press of that day was +a naive one. Extensive reviews were unknown; the most that the public +expected was a notice. + + [2. Blanc does not refer to this performance in his _Historie_. + But this and all other data of performances from 1844 to 1899 are + taken from his "Fortegnelse over alle dramatiske Arbeider, som + siden Kristiania Offentlige Theaters Aabning, den 30. Januar 1827, + har vaert opfort af dets Personale indtil 15 Juni 1899." The work + is unpublished. Ms 4to, No. 940 in the University Library, + Christiania.] + +We are equally ignorant of the fate of _Othello_, performed the next +season, being given for the first time on January 3, 1845. Wulff's +Danish translation was used. Blanc says in his _Historie_[3] that +Desdemona and Iago were highly praised, but that the play as a whole +was greatly beyond the powers of the theater. + + [3. See p. 94, note 1.] + +Nearly eight years later, November 11, 1852, _Romeo and Juliet_ in +Foersom's translation received its Norwegian premiere. The acting +version used was that made for the Royal Theater in Copenhagen by A.E. +Boye in 1828.[4] _Christiania Posten_[5] reports a packed house and a +tremendous enthusiasm. Romeo (by Wiehe) and Juliet (by Jomfru Svendsen) +revealed careful study and complete understanding. The reviewer in +_Morgenbladet_[6] begins with the little essay on Shakespeare so common +at the time; "Everyone knows with what colors the immortal Shakespeare +depicts human passions. In _Othello_, jealousy; in _Hamlet_, despair; +in _Romeo and Juliet_, love, are sung in tones which penetrate to the +depths of the soul. Against the background of bitter feud, the love of +Romeo and Juliet stands out victorious and beneficent. Even if we cannot +comprehend this passion, we can, at least, feel the ennobling power of +the story." Both of the leading parts are warmly praised. Of Wiehe the +reviewer says: "Der var et Liv af Varme hos ham i fuldt Maal, og den +graendselose Fortvivlelse blev gjengivet med en naesten forfaerdelig +Troskab." + + [4. See Aumont og Collin: _Det Danske Nationalteater_. V Afsnit, + pp. 118 ff.] + + [5. _Christiania Posten_. November 15, 1845.] + + [6. _Morgenbladet_. November 15, 1845.] + +The same season (Dec. 11, 1852) the theater also presented _As You +Like It_ in the Danish version by Sille Beyer. The performance of two +Shakespearean plays within a year may rightly be called an ambitious +undertaking for a small theatre without a cent of subsidy. _Christiania +Posten_ says: "It is a real kindness to the public to make it acquainted +with these old masterpieces. One feels refreshed, as though coming +out of a bath, after a plunge into their boundless, pure poetry. The +marvellous thing about this comedy (_As You Like It_) is its wonderful, +spontaneous freshness, and its freedom from all sentimentality and +emotional nonsense." The acting, says the critic, was admirable, but +its high quality must, in a measure, be attributed to the sympathy and +enthusiasm of the audience. Wiehe is praised for his interpretation of +Orlando and Jomfru Svendsen for her Rosalind.[7] Apparently none of the +reviewers noticed that Sille Beyer had turned Shakespeare upside down. +Her version was given for the last time on Sept. 25, 1878, and in this +connection an interesting discussion sprang up in the press. + + [7. _Christiania Posten_. Dec. 12, 1852.] + +The play was presented by student actors, and the performance +was therefore less finished than it would have been under other +circumstances. _Aftenposten_ was doubtless right when it criticised the +director for entrusting so great a play to unpractised hands, assuming +that Shakespeare should be played at all. "For our part, we do not +believe the time far distant when Shakespeare will cease to be a +regular part of the repertoire."[8] To this statement a contributor in +_Aftenposten_ for Sept. 28 objected. He admits that Shakespeare wrote +his plays for a stage different from our own, that the ease with which +Elizabethan scenery was shifted gave his plays a form that makes them +difficult to play today. Too often at a modern presentation we feel that +we are seeing a succession of scenes rather than unified, organic drama. +But, after all, the main thing is the substance--"the weighty content, +and this will most certainly secure for them for a long time to come a +place in the repertoire of the theater of the Germanic world. So long +as we admit that in the delineation of character, in the presentation +of noble figures, and in the mastery of dialogue, Shakespeare is +unexcelled, so long we must admit that Shakespeare has a place on the +modern stage." + + [8. _Aftenposten_. Sept. 21, 1878.] + +Where did _Aftenposten_'s reviewer get the idea that Shakespeare's plays +are not adapted to the modern stage? Was it from Charles Lamb? At any +rate, it is certain that he anticipated a movement that has led to many +devices both in the English-speaking countries and in Germany to +reproduce the stage conditions under which Shakespeare's plays were +performed during his own life. + +Of the next Shakespearean piece to be performed in Christiania, +_All's Well That Ends Well_, there is but the briefest mention in +the newspapers. We know that it was given in the curiously perverted +arrangement by Sille Beyer and was presented twelve times from January +15, 1854 to May 23, 1869. On that day a new version based on Lembcke's +translation was used, and in this form the play was given eight times +the following seasons. Since January 24, 1882, it has not been performed +in Norway.[9] + + [9. See Blanc's _Fortegnelse_. p. 93.] + +At the beginning of the next season, October 29, 1854, _Much Ado About +Nothing_ was introduced to Kristiania theater-goers under the title +_Blind Alarm_. The translation was by Carl Borgaard, director of the +theater. But here, too, contemporary documents leave us in the dark. +There is merely a brief announcement in the newspapers. Blanc informs +us that Jomfru Svendsen played Hero, and Wiehe, Benedict.[10] + + [10. See Blanc's _Fortegnelse_. p. 93.] + +After _Blind Alarm_ Shakespeare disappears from the repertoire for +nearly four years. A version of _The Taming of the Shrew_ under the +title _Hun Maa Taemmes_ was given on March 28, 1858, but with no great +success. Most of the papers ignored it. _Aftenbladet_ merely announced +that it had been given.[11] + + [11. _Aftenbladet_. March 22, 1858.] + +_Viola_, Sille Beyer's adaptation of _Twelfth Night_ was presented at +Christiania Theater on November 20, 1860, the eighth of Shakespeare's +plays to be presented in Norway, and again not merely in a Danish text +but in a version made for the Copenhagen Theater. + +Neither the critics nor the public were exacting. The press hailed +_Viola_ as a tremendous relief from the frothy stuff with which +theater-goers had been sickened for a season or two. "The theater +finally justified its existence," says _Morgenbladet_,[12] "by a +performance of one of Shakespeare's plays. Viola was beautifully done." +The writer then explains in conventional fashion the meaning of the +English title and goes on--"But since the celebration of _Twelfth Night_ +could interest only the English, the Germans have "bearbeidet" the play +and centered the interest around Viola. We have adopted this version." +He approves of Sille Beyer's cutting, though he admits that much is lost +of the breadth and overwhelming romantic fulness that mark the original. +But this he thinks is compensated for by greater intelligibility and the +resulting dramatic effect. "Men hvad Stykket ved saadan Forandring, +Beklippelse, og Udeladelse saaatsige taber af sin Fylde idet ikke alt +det Leende, Sorglose og Romantiske vandre saa ligeberettiget side om +side igjennem Stykket, mens det Ovrige samler sig om Viola, det opveies +ved den storre Forstaaelighed for vort Publikum og denne mere afrundede +sceniske Virkning, Stykket ved Bearbeidelsen har faaet." As the piece is +arranged now, Viola and her brother are not on the stage at the same +time until Act V. Both roles may therefore be played by Jomfru Svendsen. +The critic is captivated by her acting of the double role, and +Jorgensen's Malvolio and Johannes Brun's Sir Andrew Aguecheek share +with her the glory of a thoroughly successful performance. + + [12. November 23, 1860.] + +Sille Beyer's _Viola_ was given twelve times. From the thirteenth +performance, January 21, 1890, _Twelfth Night_ was given in a new form +based on Lembcke's translation. + +A thorough search through the newspaper files fails to reveal even a +slight notice of _The Merchant of Venice_ (Kjobmanden i Venedig) played +for the first time on Sept. 17, 1861. Rahbek's translation was used, and +this continued to be the standard until 1874, when, beginning with the +eighth performance, it was replaced by Lembcke's. + +We come, then, to _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ (Skjaersommernatsdrommen) +played in Oehlenschlaeger's translation under Bjornson's direction on +April 17, 1865. The play was given ten times from that date till +May 27, 1866. In spite of this unusual run it appears to have been only +moderately successful, and when Bjornson dropped it in the spring of +1866, it was to disappear from the repertoire for thirty-seven years. +On January 15, 1903, it was revived by Bjornson's son, Bjorn Bjornson. +This time, however, it was called _Midsommernatsdroemmen_, and the acting +version was based on Lembcke's translation. In this new shape it has +been played twenty-seven times up to January, 1913. + +The interesting polemic which Bjornson's production occasioned has +already been discussed at some length. This may be added, however: +A play which, according to the poet's confession, influenced his life as +this one did, has played an important part in Norwegian literature. The +influence may be intangible. It is none the less real. + +More popular than any of the plays which had thus far been presented in +Norway was _A Winter's Tale_, performed at Christiania Theater for the +first time on May 4, 1866. The version used had, however, but a faint +resemblance to the original. It was a Danish revision of Dingelstedt's +_Ein Wintermaerchen_. I shall discuss this Holst-Dingelstedt text in +another place. At this point it is enough to say that Shakespeare is +highly diluted. It seems, nevertheless, to have been successful, for +between the date of its premiere and March 21, 1893, when it was given +for the last time, it received fifty-seven performances, easily breaking +all records for Shakespearean plays at the old theater. And at the new +National Theater, where it has never been given, no Shakespearean play, +with the exception of _The Taming of the Shrew_ has approached its +record. + +_Aftenbladet_[13] in its preliminary review said: "Although this is +not one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, it is well worth putting on, +especially in the form which Dingelstedt has given to it. It was +received with the greatest enthusiasm." But _Aftenbladet's_ promised +critical review never appeared. + + [13. May 5, 1866.] + +More interesting and more important than most of the performances +which we have thus far considered is that of _Henry IV_ in 1867, while +Bjornson was still director. To his desire to give Johannes Brun an +opportunity for the display of his genius in the greatest of comic roles +we owe this version of the play. Bjornson obviously could not give both +parts, and he chose to combine cuttings from the two into a single play +with Falstaff as the central figure. The translation used was Lembcke's +and the text was only slightly norvagicized. + +Bjornson's original prompt book is not now available. In 1910, however, +H. Wiers Jensen, a playwright associated with the National Theater, +shortened and slightly adapted the version for a revival of the play, +which had not been seen in Kristiania since February 8, 1885. We may +assume that in all essentials the prompt book of 1910 reproduces that of +1867. + +In this _Kong Henrik IV_ the action opens with I Henry IV, II-4, and Act +I consists of this scene freely cut and equally freely handled in the +distribution of speeches. The opening of the scene, for example, is cut +away entirely and replaced by a brief account of the robbery put naively +into the mouth of Poins. The opening of Act II is entirely new. Since +all the historical scenes of Act I of the original have been omitted, it +becomes necessary to give the audience some notion of the background. +This is done in a few lines in which the King tells of the revolt of +the nobles and of his own difficult situation. Then follows the king's +speech from Part I, Act III, Sc. 2: + + Lords, give us leave; the prince of Wales and I + must have some conference... + +and what follows is the remainder of the scene with many cuttings. Sir +Walter Blunt does not appear. His role is taken by Warwick. + +Act II, Sc. 2 of Bjornson's text follows Part I, Act III, Sc. 3 closely. + +Act III, Sc. 1 corresponds with Part I, Act III, Sc. 1 to the point +where Lady Mortimer and Lady Percy enter. This episode is cut and the +scene resumes with the entrance of the messenger in Part I, Act IV, +Sc. 1, line 14. This scene is then followed in outline to the end. + +Act III, Sc. 2 begins with Part I, Act IV, Sc. 3 from the entrance of +Falstaff, and follows it to the end of the scene. To this is added most +of Scene 4, but there is little left of the original action. Only the +Falstaff episodes are retained intact. + +The last act (IV) is a wonderful composite. Scene 1 corresponds closely +to Part II, Act III, Sc. 4, but it is, as usual, severely cut. Scene 2 +reverts back to Part II, Act III, Sc. 2 and is based on this scene to +line 246, after which it is free handling of Part II, Act V, Sc. 3. +Scene 3 is based on Part II, Act V, Sc. 5. + +A careful reading of Bjornson's text with the above as a guide will +show that this collection of episodes, chaotic as it seems, makes no +ineffective play. With a genius--and a genius Johannes Brun was--as +Falstaff, one can imagine that the piece went brilliantly. The press +received it favorably, though the reviewers were much too critical to +allow Bjornson's mangling of the text to go unrebuked. + +_Aftenbladet_ has a careful review.[14] The writer admits that in our +day it requires courage and labor to put on one of Shakespeare's +historical plays, for they were written for a stage radically different +from ours. In the Elizabethan times the immense scale of these +"histories" presented no difficulties. On a modern stage the mere +bulk makes a faithful rendition impossible. And the moment one starts +tampering with Shakespeare, trouble begins. No two adapters will agree +as to what or how to cut. Moreover, it may well be questioned whether +any such cutting as that made for the theater here would be tolerated in +any other country with a higher and older Shakespeare "Kultur." The +attempt to fuse the two parts of _Henry IV_ would be impossible in a +country with higher standards. "Our theater can, however, venture +undisturbed to combine these two comprehensive series of scenes into +one which shall not require more time than each one of them singly--a +venture, to be sure, which is not wholly without precedent in foreign +countries. It is clear that the result cannot give an adequate notion of +Shakespeare's 'histories' in all their richness of content, but it does, +perhaps, give to the theater a series of worth-while problems to work +out, the importance of which should not be underestimated. The attempt, +too, has made our theater-goers familiar with Shakespeare's greatest +comic character, apparently to their immense delight. Added to all this +is the fact that the acting was uniformly excellent." + + [14. February 18, 1867.] + +But by what right is the play called Henry IV? Practically nothing is +left of the historical setting, and the spectator is at a loss to know +just what the whole thing is about. Certainly the whole emphasis is +shifted, for the king, instead of being an important character is +overshadowed by Prince Hal. The Falstaff scenes, on the other hand, are +left almost in their original fulness, and thus constitute a much more +important part of the play than they do in the original. The article +closes with a glowing tribute to Johannes Brun as Falstaff. + +_Morgenbladet_[15] goes into greater detail. The reviewer seems to think +that Shakespeare had some deep purpose in dividing the material into two +parts--he wished to have room to develop the character of Prince Henry. +"Accordingly, in the first part he gives us the early stages of Prince +Hal's growth, beginning with the Prince of Wales as a sort of superior +rake and tracing the development of his better qualities. In Part II we +see the complete assertion of his spiritual and intellectual powers." +The writer overlooks the fact that what Shakespeare was writing first of +all--or rather, what he was revising--was a chronicle. If he required +more than five acts to give the history of Henry IV he could use ten and +call it two plays. If, in so doing, he gave admirable characterization, +it was something inherent in his own genius, not in the materials with +which he was working. + + [15. February 17, 1867.] + +The history, says the reviewer, and the Falstaff scenes are the +background for the study of the Prince, each one serving a distinct +purpose. But here the history has been made meaningless and the Falstaff +episodes have been put in the foreground. He points out that balance, +proportion, and perspective are all lost by this. Yet, granting that +such revolutionizing of a masterpiece is ever allowable, it must be +admitted that Bjornson has done it with considerable skill. Bjornson's +purpose is clear enough. He knew that Johannes Brun as Falstaff would +score a triumph, and this success for his theater he was determined to +secure. The same motive was back of the version which Stjernstrom put on +in Stockholm, and there can be little doubt that his success suggested +the idea to Bjornson. The nature of the cutting reveals the purpose at +every step. For instance, the scene in which the Gadskill robbery is +made clear, is cut entirely. We thus lose the first glimpse of the +sterner and manlier side of the royal reveller. In fact, if Bjornson had +been frank he would have called his play _Falstaff--based on certain +scenes from Shakespeare's Henry IV, Parts I and II_. + +Yet, though much has been lost, much of what remains is excellent. +Brun's Falstaff almost reconciles us to the sacrifice. Long may he live +and delight us with it! It is one of his most superb creations. The cast +as a whole is warmly praised. It is interesting to note that at the +close of the review the critic suggests that the text be revised with +Hagberg's Swedish translation at hand, for Lembcke's Danish contains +many words unusual or even unfamiliar in Norwegian. + +_Henry IV_ remained popular in Norway, although from February 8, +1885 to February 10, 1910 it was not given in Kristiania. When, in 1910, +it was revived with Lovaas as Falstaff, the reception given it by the +press was about what it had been a quarter of a century before. +_Aftenposten_'s[16] comment is characteristic: "The play is turned +upside down. The comic sub-plot with Falstaff as central figure is +brought forward to the exclusion of all the rest. More than this, what +is retained is shamelessly altered." Much more scathing is a short +review by Christian Elster in the magazine _Kringsjaa_.[17] The play, +he declares, has obviously been given to help out the box office by +speculating in the popularity of Falstaff. "There is no unity, no +coherence, no consistency in the delineation of characters, and even +from the comic scenes the spirit has fled."[17] + + [16. _Aftenposten_. February 25, 1910.] + + [17. _Kringsjaa_ XV, III (1910), p. 173.] + +To all this it may be replied that the public was right when it +accepted Falstaff for what he was regardless of the violence done to the +original. The Norwegian public cared little about the wars, little even +about the king and the prince; but people will tell one today of those +glorious evenings when they sat in the theater and revelled in Johannes +Brun as the big, elephantine knight. + +In the spring of 1813, Foersom himself brought out _Hamlet_ on the +Danish stage. Nearly sixty years were to pass before this play was put +on in Norway, March 4, 1870. + +The press was not lavish in its praise. _Dagbladet_[18] remarks +that though the performance was not what it ought to have been, the +audience followed it from first to last with undivided attention. +_Aftenbladet_[19] has a long and interesting review. Most of it is +given over to a criticism of Isaachson's Hamlet. First of all, says +the reviewer, Isaachson labors under the delusion that every line is +cryptic, embodying a secret. This leads him to forget the volume of the +part and to invent all sorts of fanciful interpretations for details. +Thus he loses the unity of the character. Things are hurried through to +a conclusion and the fine transitions are lost. For example, "Oh, that +this too, too solid flesh would melt" is started well, but the speech at +once gains in clearness and decision until one wonders at the close why +such a Hamlet does not act at once with promptness and vigor. There are, +to be sure, occasional excellences, but they do not conceal the fact +that, as a whole, Isaachson does not understand Hamlet. + + [18. March 5, 1870.] + + [19. March 8, 1870.] + +Since its first performance _Hamlet_ has been given often in +Norway--twenty-eight times at the old Christiania Theater, and (from +October 31, 1907) seventeen times at the new National Theater. Its +revival in 1907, after an intermission of twenty-four years, was a +complete success, although _Morgenbladet_[20] complained that the +performance lacked light and inspiration. The house was full and the +audience appreciative. + + [20. November 1, 1907.] + +_Aftenposten_[21] found the production admirable. Christensen's Hamlet +was a stroke of genius. "Han er voxet i og med Rollen; han har traengt +sig ind i den danske Prins' dybeste Individualitet." And of the revival +the paper says: "The performance shows that a national theater can solve +difficult problems when the effort is made with sympathy, joy, and +devotion to art." + + [21. November 1, 1907.] + +In my judgment no theater could have given a better caste for +_The Merry Wives of Windsor_ than that with which Christiania Theater +was provided. All the actors were artists of distinction; and it is +not strange, therefore, that the first performance was a huge success. +_Aftenposten_[22] declares that Brun's Falstaff was a revelation. +_Morgenbladet_[23] says that the play was done only moderately well. +Brun as Falstaff was, however, "especially amusing." _Aftenbladet_[24] +is more generous. "_The Merry Wives of Windsor_ has been awaited with a +good deal of interest. Next to the curiosity about the play itself, the +chief attraction has been Brun as Falstaff. And though Falstaff as lover +gives no such opportunities as Falstaff, the mock hero, Brun makes a +notable role out of it because he knows how to seize upon and bring out +all there is in it." + + [22. May 15, 1873.] + + [23. May 15, 1873.] + + [24. May 15, 1873.] + +Johannes Brun's Falstaff is a classic to this day on the Norwegian +stage. In _Illustreret Tidende_ for July 12, 1874, K.A. Winterhjelm has +a short appreciation of his work. "Johannes Brun has, as nearly as we +can estimate, played something like three hundred roles at Christiania +Theater. Many of them, to be sure, are minor parts--but there remains +a goodly number of important ones, from the clown in the farce to the +chief parts in the great comedies. Merely to enumerate his great +successes would carry us far afield. We recall in passing that he +has given us Falstaff both in _Henry IV_ and in _The Merry Wives of +Windsor_, Bottom in _A Midsummer Night's Dream_, and Autolycus in +_A Winter's Tale_. Perhaps he lacks something of the nobleman we feel +that he should be in _Henry IV_, but aside from this petty criticism, +what a wondrous comic character Brun has given us!" + +As to the success of _Coriolanus_, the sixteenth of Shakespeare's plays +to be put on in Kristiania, neither the newspapers nor the magazines +give us any clew. If we may believe a little puff in _Aftenposten_ for +January 20, 1874, the staging was to be magnificent. _Coriolanus_ was +played in a translation by Hartvig Lassen for the first time on January +21, 1874. After thirteen performances it was withdrawn on January 10, +1876, and has not been since presented. + +In 1877, _Richard III_ was brought on the boards for the first time, but +apparently the occasion was not considered significant, for there is +scarcely a notice of it. The public seemed surfeited with Shakespeare, +although the average had been less than one Shakespearean play a season. +At all events, it was ten years before the theater put on a new +one--_Julius Caesar_, on March 22, 1888. It had the unheard of +distinction of being acted sixteen times in one month, from the premiere +night to April 22. Yet the papers passed it by with indifference. Most +of them gave it merely a notice, and the promised review in +_Aftenposten_ never appeared. + +_Julius Caesar_ is the last new play to be presented at Christiania +Theater or at the National Theater, which replaced the old Christiania +Theater in 1899. From October, 1899 to January, 1913 the National +Theater has presented eight Shakespearean plays, but every one of +them has been a revival of plays previously presented. + + +_Bergen_ + +Up to a few years ago, the only theater of consequence in Norway, +outside of the capital, was at Bergen. In many respects the history of +the theater at Bergen is more interesting than that of the theater at +Christiania. Established in 1850, while Christiania Theater was still +largely Danish, to foster Norwegian dramatic art, it is associated with +the greatest names in Norwegian art and letters. The theater owes its +origin mainly to Ole Bull; Henrik Ibsen was official playwright from +1851 to 1857, and Bjornson was director from 1857 to 1859. For a dozen +years or more "Den Nationale Scene i Bergen" led a precarious existence +and finally closed its doors in 1863. In 1876 the theater was reopened. +During the first period only two Shakespearean plays were +given--_Twelfth Night_ and _As You Like It_. + +_As You Like It_ in Stille Beyer's version was played twice during the +season 1855-56, on September 30 and October 3. The press is silent about +the performances, but doubtless we may accept Blanc's statement that the +task was too severe for the Bergen theater.[25] + + [25. Norges Forste Nationale Scene. Kristiania. 1884, p. 206.] + +Rather more successful were the two performances of _Twelfth Night_ in +a stage version adapted from the German of Deinhardstein. The celebrated +Laura Svendsen played the double role of Sebastian-Viola with +conspicuous success.[26] + + [26. _Ibid._, p. 304.] + +_The Merchant of Venice_ was given for the first time on October 9, +1878, two years after the reopening of the theater. _Bergens +Tidende_[27] calls the production "a creditable piece of amateur +theatricals," insisting in a review of some length that the young +theater cannot measure up to the demands which a play of Shakespeare's +makes. _Bergensposten_ is less severe. Though far from faultless, the +presentation was creditable, in some details excellent. But, quite apart +from its absolute merits, there is great satisfaction in seeing the +theater undertake plays that are worth while.[28] Both papers agree +that the audience was large and enthusiastic. + + [27. _Bergens Tidende_, October 10, 1878.] + + [28. _Bergensposten_, October 11, 1878.] + +The next season _A Winter's Tale_ was given in H.P. Holst's +translation and adaptation of Dingelstedt's German acting version +_Ein Wintermaerchen_. The press greeted it enthusiastically. _Bergens +Tidende_[29] says: "_A Winter's Tale_ was performed at our theater +yesterday in a manner that won the enthusiastic applause of a large +gathering. The principal actors were called before the curtain again and +again. It is greatly to the credit of any theater to give a Shakespeare +drama, and all the more so when it can do it in a form as artistically +perfect as was yesterday's presentation." + + [29. April 20, 1880. Cf. also _Bergensposten_, April 21, 1880.] + +Concerning _Othello_, third in order in the Shakespearean repertoire in +Bergen, the reviews of the first performance, November 13, 1881, are +conflicting. _Bergens Tidende_[30] is all praise. It has no hesitation +in pronouncing Johannesen's Iago a masterpiece. _Bergensposten_[31] +calls the performance passable but utterly damns Johannesen--"nothing +short of a colossal blunder." Hr. Johannesen is commended to the easily +accessible commentaries of Taine and Genee, and to Hamlet's speech to +the players. Desdemona and Cassio are dismissed in much the same +fashion. + + [30. November 14, 1881.] + + [31. November 15, 1881.] + +A few days later, November 18, _Bergensposten_ reviewed the performance +again and was glad to note a great improvement. + +_Bergens Addressecontoirs Efterretninger_[32] agrees with +_Bergensposten_ in its estimate of Johannesen. "He gives us only the +villain in Iago, not the cunning Ensign who deceives so many." But +Desdemona was thoroughly satisfying. + + [32. November 15, 1881.] + +Whatever may have been its initial success, _Othello_ did not last. It +was given four times during the season 1881-2, but was then dropped and +has never since been taken up. + +Three different groups of _Hamlet_ performances have been given in +Bergen. In September, 1883, the Ophelia scenes from Act IV were given; +the complete play, however, was not given till November 28, 1886. The +press,[33] for once, was unanimous in declaring the production a +success. It is interesting that an untried actor at his debut was +entrusted with the role. But, to judge from the press comments, Hr. +Lochen more than justified the confidence in him. His interpretation of +the subtlest character in Shakespeare was thoroughly satisfying.[34] + + [33. Cf. _Bergens Tidende_, November 29, 1886; _Bergens + Aftenblad_, November 29, 1886; _Bergensposten_, December 2, 1886.] + + [34. Cf. _Bergens Tidende_, November 30, 1886; _Bergens + Aftenblad_, November 29, 1886; _Bergensposten_, December 1, 1886.] + +Finally, it should be noted that a Swedish travelling company under the +direction of the well-known August Lindberg played _Hamlet_ in Bergen on +November 5, 1895. + +It is apparent, from the tone of the press comment that a Shakespearean +production was regarded as a serious undertaking. The theater approached +the task hesitatingly, and the newspapers always qualify their praise or +their blame with some apologetic remark about "the limited resources of +our theater." This explains the long gaps between new productions, five +years between _Othello_ (1881) and the complete _Hamlet_ (1886); five +years likewise between _Hamlet_ and _King Henry IV_. + +_Henry IV_ in Bjornson's stage cutting promised at first to establish +itself. Its first performance was greeted by a crowded house, and +enthusiasm ran high. The press questions the right of the play to the +title of _Henry IV_, since it is a collection of scenes grouped about +Prince Hal and Falstaff. But aside from this purely objective criticism +the comment is favorable.[35] + + [35. Cf. _Bergens Tidende_, March 2, 1891; _Bergens Aftenblad_, + March 2, 1891.] + +With the second performance (March 4, 1891) comes a change. _Bergens +Tidende_ remarks that it is a common experience that a second +performance is not so successful as the first. Certainly this was true +in the case of _Henry IV_. The life and sparkle were gone, and the +sallies of Falstaff awakened no such infectious laughter as they had a +few evenings before.[36] There was no applause from the crowded house, +and the coolness of the audience reacted upon the players--all in +violent contrast to the first performance. The reviewer in _Aftenbladet_ +predicts that the production will have no very long life.[37] He was +right. It was given once more, on March 6. Since then the theater-goers +of Bergen have not seen it on their own stage. + + [36. Cf. March 5, 1891.] + + [37. Cf. March 5, 1891.] + +Sille Beyer's _Viola_ (which, in turn, is an adaptation of the German of +Deinhardstein) had been played twice at the old Bergen Theater, July 17 +and 18, 1861. It was now (Oct. 9, 1892) revived in a new cutting based +on Lembcke's Danish translation. _Bergens Aftenblad_ declares that the +cutting was reckless and the staging almost beggarly. The presentation +itself hardly rose above the mediocre.[38] _Bergens Tidende_, on the +other hand, reports that the performance was an entire success. The +caste was unexpectedly strong; the costumes and scenery splendid. The +audience was appreciative and there was generous applause.[39] + + [38. October 10, 1892.] + + [39. October 10 and 13, 1892.] + +The last new play to find a place on the repertoire at Bergen is _Romeo +and Juliet_. This was performed four times in May, 1897. Like _Henry +IV_, it promised to be a great success, but it survived only four +performances. _Bergens Tidende_[40] gives a careful, well-written +analysis of the play and of the presentation. The reviewer gives full +credit for the beauty of the staging and the excellence of the acting, +but criticises the censor sharply for the unskillful cutting, and the +stage manager for the long, tiresome waits. _Bergens Aftenblad_[41] +praises the performance almost without reserve. + + [40. May 15, 1897.] + + [41. May 15, 1897.] + +And the last chapter in the history of Shakespeare's dramas in Bergen +is a revival of _A Winter's Tale_ in the season 1902-3. The theater had +done its utmost to give a spendid and worthy setting, and great care was +given to the rehearsals. The result was a performance which, for beauty, +symmetry, and artistic unity ranks among the very best that have ever +been seen at the theater. The press was unanimous in its cordial +recognition.[42] The play was given no less than nine times during +October, 1902. Since then Shakespeare has not been given at _Den +Nationale Scene i Bergen_. + + [42. See _Bergens Aftenblad_ for October 6-9, 1902; _Bergens + Tidende_, October 6, 1902.] + + + + +APPENDIX + +Register Of Shakespearean Performances In Norway + + +_Kristiania_ + +I. Christiania Theater. + +The following record is an excerpt of all the data relating to +Shakespeare in T. Blanc: _Fortegnelse over alle dramatiske Arbeider, som +siden Kristiania Theaters offentlige Aabning den 30 Januar, 1827, har +vaeret opforte paa samme af dets Personale indtil 15 Juni 1899_. This +_Fortegnelse_ is still unpublished. The MS. is quarto No. 940 in the +University Library, Kristiania. + +1. Blind Alarm. Skuespil i fem Akter af Shakespeare. (Original Title: +_Much Ado About Nothing_). Translated by Carl Borgaard, from the +nineteenth performance, May 18, 1878, under the title _Stor Staahei +for Ingenting_, Oct. 29, 1854, May 26, 1878. 18 times. + +2. Coriolanus. Sorgespil i 5 Akter af Shakespeare, bearbeidet for Scenen +af H. Lassen. Jan. 21, 1874--Jan. 10, 1876. 13 times. + +3. De Muntre Koner i Windsor. Lystspil i 5 Akter af Shakespeare. +(Adapted for the stage by H. Lassen.) May 14, 1873, Nov. 8, 1876. +12 times. + +4. En Skjaersommernatsdrom. Eventyrkomedie i 5 Akter af W. Shakespeare. +(Original Title: _A Midsummer Night's Dream_.) Translated by +Oehlenschlaeger. Music by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. April 17, 1865, May 27, +1866. 10 times. + +5. Et Vintereventyr. Romantisk Skuespil i 5 Akter. Adapted from +Shakespeare's _A Winter's Tale_ and Dinglestedt's _Ein Wintermaerchen_ +by H.P. Holst. Music by Flotow. May 4, 1866, March 21, 1893. 57 times. + +6. Hamlet. Tragedie i 5 Akter af W. Shakespeare. Translated by Foersom +and Lembcke. March 4, 1870, April 27, 1883. 28 times. + +7. Hun Maa Taemmes. Lystspil i 4 Akter. Adapted from Shakespeare's +_Taming of the Shrew_. March 21, 1858, April 12, 1881. 28 times. + +8. Julius Caesar. Tragedie i 5 Akter af William Shakespeare. Translated +by H. Lassen. March 22, 1887, April 22, 1887. 16 times. + +9. Kjobmanden i Venedig. Skuespil i 5 Akter af Shakespeare. Adapted for +the stage from Rahbek's translation. From the eighth performance (Oct. +14, 1874) probably in a new translation by Lembcke. Sept. 17, 1861, +June 12, 1882. 23 times. + +10. Kong Henrik Den Fjerde. Skuespil i 5 Akter af W. Shakespeare. +Adapted by Bjornstjerne Bjornson from _King Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2_ +in Lembcke's translation. Feb. 12, 1867, Feb. 8, 1885. 17 times. + +11. Kong Richard III. Tragedie i 5 Akter af W. Shakespeare. Translated +by Lembcke. May 27, 1877, March 10, 1891. 26 times. + +12. Kongens Laege. Romantisk Lystspil i 5 Akter efter Shakespeares +_All's Well That Ends Well_. Adapted by Sille Beyer. From the thirteenth +performance (May 23, 1869) given under the title _Naar Enden er god er +Alting godt_ in a new translation by Edvard Lembcke. Jan. 5, 1854, Jan. +24, 1882. 20 times. + +13. Livet i Skoven. Romantisk Lystspil i 4 Akter efter Shakespeares +_As You Like It_. Adapted by Sille Beyer. Dec. 9, 1852, Sept. 25, 1878. +19 times. + +14. Macbeth. Tragedie i 5 Akter af W. Shakespeare. Schiller's version +translated by Peter Foersom. Music by Weyse. July 28, 1844, Jan. 6, +1896. 37 times. + +15. Othello, Moren af Venedig. Tragedie i 5 Akter af Shakespeare. +Translated by P.L. Wulff. Jan. 3, 1845, March 10, 1872. 10 times. + +16. Romeo og Julie. Tragedie i 5 Akter af W. Shakespeare. Translated by +P. Foersom and A.E. Boye. From the sixth performance (April 4, 1880) +probably in a new translation by Lembcke. Nov. 11, 1852, July 12, 1899. +42 times. + +17. Viola. Lystspil i 5 Akter efter Shakespeare's _Twelfth Night_. +Translated and adapted by Sille Beyer. From the thirteenth performance +(Jan. 21, 1890) under the title _Helligtrekongersaften, eller hvad man +vil_. (In Lembcke's translation with music by Catherinus Elling.) Nov. +20, 1860, May 31, 1891. 30 times. + + +II. Nationaltheatret. + +The record of the Shakespearean performances at Nationaltheatret has +been compiled from the summary of performances given in the decade +1899-1909 contained in _Beretning om Nationaltheatrets Virksomhed i +Aaret 1909-1910_. Kristiania, 1910. The record of performances +subsequent to 1910, as well as the date of the first performances of +all plays, has been found in the Journal of the theater. + +1. Helligtrekongersaften. (Twelfth Night). Oct. 5, 1899. 10 times. + +2. Trold Kan Taemmes. (The Taming of the Shrew.) Dec. 26, 1900. 35 times. + +3. En Sommernats Droem. (A Midsummer Night's Dream) Jan. 15, 1903. +20 times. + +4. Kjoebmanden i Venedig. (The Merchant of Venice) Sept. 5, 1906. +20 times. + +5. Hamlet. Oct. 31, 1907. 17 times. + +6. Othello. Oct. 22, 1908. 12 times. + +7. Henry IV. Feb. 10, 1910. 10 times. + +8. As You Like It. Nov. 7, 1912. This play was still being given when +the investigation ceased. Ten performances had been given. + + +_Bergen_ + +I. The First Theater in Bergen (1850-1863) + +The information relating to Shakespeare at the old theater is gathered +from T. Blanc: _Norges forste nationale Scene. Bergen 1850-1863. Et +Bidrag til den norske dramatiske Kunsts Historie. Kristiania, 1884_. + +1. Livet I Skoven. Romantisk Skuespil i 4 Akter efter Shakespeares +_As You Like It_. Adapted by Sille Beyer. Sept. 30 and Oct. 9, 1855. +2 times. + +2. Viola. Lystspil i 5 Akter efter Deinhardsteins Bearbeidelse af +Shakespeares _What You Will_. Adapted by Sille Beyer. July 17 and 18, +1861. 2 times. + + +II. The New Theater at Bergen (1876) + +The following data have been communicated to me by Hr. Christian Landal, +of the theater at Bergen. They have been compiled from the _Journal +(Spillejournal)_ of the theater. + +1. Kjoebmanden i Venedig (The Merchant of Venice) Oct. 9, 11, 13, 1878. +Friday, June 18, 1880, the Shylock scenes, with Emil Paulsen (of the +Royal Theater in Copenhagen) as guest. 4 times. + +2. Et Vintereventyr. (A Winter's Tale) April 19, 21, 25, 26, 28, 1880; +May 9, 1880; Nov. 28, 29, 1889; Oct. 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 20, +1902. 18 times. + +3. Othello. Nov. 13, 16, 18, 28, 1881. 4 times. + +4. Hamlet. Nov. 28 and 29; Dec. 1, 5, 19, 1886. The Ophelia scenes from +Act 4 with Ida Falberg Kiachas as guest. Sept. 12, 14, 16, 21, 1883. +Guest performance by August Lindberg and his Swedish company. Nov. 15, +1895. 10 times. + +5. Helligtrekongersaften. (_Twelfth Night_) in Lembcke's translation. +Oct. 9, 12, 14, 16, 1892; April 23, 1893 in Stavanger. 5 times. + +6. Romeo og Julie. May 12, 16, 19, 27, 1897. 4 times. + + +SUMMARY + +There have been played in Christiania seventeen plays of Shakespeare's +with a total of 540 performances. In Bergen seven Shakespearean plays +have been played with a total of 49 performances. + + + * * * * * + +[Errors and Anomalies Noted by Transcriber: + +English: + +_passim_ + Oehlenschlaeger/Oehlenschlaeger + _variant spellings in original_ + +p. 6n. + after 1807 the history of Shakespeare in Denmark is more complicated + _original has_ Denkmark + +p. 9 + It is Coriolanus' outburst of wrath against the pretensions of the + tribunes (III, 1) + _original has_ 111-1 + +p. 15 + even to thought as sophisticated as this + _original has_ sophiscated + +p. 32 + And when we read the scenes in which Lancelot Gobbo figures... + _spelling as in original_ + +p. 36 + Titania's instructions to the fairies + _original has_ faries + +p. 39 + though there seems to be little to choose between them + _original has_ thought here + +p. 43 + the Foersom-Lembcke version has become standard + _original has_ Forsom-Lembcke + +p. 50 + notably in the duke's speech + _original has_ notaby + (Silvius and Pippa) + _original has_ anid + +p. 51 + dialogue between Orlando and Rosalind in II, 2 + _so in original_ + +p. 57 + Also he has acquitted himself well + _original has_ aquitted + +p. 68 + nothing to do with the case. + _original has_ ...with case. + +p. 69 + Moliere + _original has_ Moliere + +p. 80 + Cassius' weakness for strong drink + _so in original_ + +p. 81n. + The Shakespearean Controversy + _original has_ Shakespeareen + +p. 82n. + and Bierfreund, to declare + _original has_ ...Bierfreund to, declare + +p. 86 + He images Shakespeare + _so in original_: imagines? + +p. 88 + in I, 3-123 where Shylock suddenly stops after "say this" + _original has_ I-3-1.3 + (Sic!) + _so in original_ + Occasionally a syllable is lacking + _original has_ Occassionally + +p. 89 + Vailing her high tops higher than her ribs. (I, 1-28) + _original has_ I-1-28 + +p. 95nn. + See p. 94, note 1. + _original has_ p. 85, note 1 + November 15, 1845 (_twice_) + _date and year as in original_ + +p. 97n. + March 22, 1858. + _date as in original_ + +p. 98 + This may be added, however: A play which, according to the... + _original has_ + This may be according added, however: A play which, to the... + +p. 98 + As the piece is arranged now, Viola and her brother + _original has_ now Viola, and + +p. 102, 103 + in the magazine _Kringsjaa_.[17] .... the spirit has fled."[17] + _duplicate footnote reference in original_ + +p. 103n. + November 1, 1907. + _original has_ 1917 + +p. 104 + no theater could have given a better caste + _spelling as in original_ + +p. 107 + commentaries of Taine and Genee + _original has_ Genee + +p. 108 + The caste was unexpectedly strong + _spelling as in original_ + + +Danish and Norwegian: + +p. 2 + hvad for en Aarsag afholder + _original has_ an Aarsag + Mig synes der er megen Fornuft + _original has_ Meg synes... + +p. 3 + Du maae laese Testamentet for os, Caesars Testament! + _original has_ Caesars Testamment + +p. 7 + Maaskee I har det hort, men da de + _original has_ Maaskee i har... + Slags Smil, der sig fra Lungen ikke skrev + _original has_ Smill + +p. 8 + Endskjondt de ikke alle kunde see + _original has_ ...ikke all kunne... + +p. 10 + Der mer agtvaerdig er end nogensinde + _original has_ ...en nogensinde + +p. 11 + endnu citeres af Fords _Perkin Warbeck_, II, 2 + _original has_ 11, 2 + +p. 13 + Kinn-Ljosken hadde skemt dei Stjernor (_second occurrence_) + _original has_ Sternor + +p. 17 + og aldrig hev eg set ein Engel gaa + _original has_ en Engel + og gjenta mi ser stott eg gaa paa Jori + _original has_ Jorl + +p. 19 + Trojas Murtinder Troilus besteg, + _original has_ trojas + +p. 20 + de Trolddomsurter der foryngede / den gamle Aeson + _original has_ + ...de Troldomsurter der foryngede den / gamle Aeson + Lob fra Venedig med en lystig Elsker + _original has_ er lystig Elsker + hvis jeg ei horte nogen komme--tys! + _original has_ komm-/tys at line break + +p. 22 + Brum saa dette stolte Hierte brister; + _original has_ brist er + +p. 33 + han hadde som ein attaat-snev; + _original has_ altaat-snev + +p. 33 + "Du fenden," segjer eg, "du raader meg godt." + _original has_ "Du fenden, segjer eg... _missing close quote_ + +p. 33 + "I _Soga um Kaupmannen i Venetia_ + _original has_ I, Soga um... + +p. 34 + Velkomen, vandrar; hev du blomen der? + _original has_ Velkomon + This is all in the first selection in _Syn og Segn_, No. 3. + _original has_ Syn og segn + +p. 36 + _Fjerde Alven_: + _original has_ Fjorde + Til Nattljos hennar voksbein slit i fleng + _original has_ slitt + +p. 37 + so god natt og bysselull (_first occurrence_) + _original has_ byselul + faa vaar dronning ottefull (_first occurrence_) + _original has_ ottefulls + faa vaar dronning ottefull (_second occurrence_) + _original has_ otteful + +p. 41 + _Monsaas_: + Her er ei liste... + _original has_ Monsaas + +p. 42 + langt fleir enn kvinnelippur fram hev bori + _original has_ fler + +p. 44 + _Bernardo_: + _original has_ Bernado + +p. 94n. + "Fortegnelse over alle dramatiske Arbeider..." + _original has_ over all + +p. 97 + saaatsige taber af sin Fylde + _not an error_ (saa at sige) + +p. 107 + Bergens Addressecontoirs Efterretninger + _spelling as in original_ + +p. 110 + har vaeret opforte paa samme + _original has_ varet opforte + +p. 110 + bearbeidet for Scenen af H. Lassen + _original has_ bearbeidet for / for Scenen _at line break_ + +p. 111 + efter Shakespeares _All's Well That Ends Well_ + _original has_ after Shakespeare's... + +p. 111, 112 (twice) + Romeo og Julie. + _normal Dano-Norse form of name_ + +p. 112 + Deinhardsteins Bearbeidelse af Shakespeares _What You Will_ + _original has_ Shakespeare's ] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Essay Toward a History of +Shakespeare in Norway, by Martin Brown Ruud + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN ESSAY TOWARD A HISTORY OF *** + +***** This file should be named 16416.txt or 16416.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/4/1/16416/ + +Produced by Louise Hope, David Starner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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