Yes, let us believe that this impulse
will some day lead Swedish poetry into the only path of true
progress, to the point where dramatic expression will attain perfec-
tion of artistic form.
will some day lead Swedish poetry into the only path of true
progress, to the point where dramatic expression will attain perfec-
tion of artistic form.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v02 - Aqu to Bag
923 (#345) ############################################
ATHENÆUS
923
and unhonest to give ill example to laymen, not kept in gardens
and corners, not lurking on the night and in holes, but ever-
more in the face of men, either to rebuke it when it doeth ill,
or else to testify on it when it doth well, let him seek chiefly of
all other for shooting.
ATHENÆUS
(Third Century A. D. )
ITTLE is known that is authentic about the Græco-Egyptian
Sophist or man of letters, Athenæus, author of the 'Deipno-
sophistæ or Feast of the Learned, except his literary
bequest. It is recorded that he was born at Naucratis, a city of the
Nile Delta; and that after living at Alexandria he migrated to Rome.
His date is presumptively fixed in the early part of the third century
by his inclusion of Ulpian, the eminent jurist (whose death occurred
A. D. 228) among the twenty-nine guests of the banquet whose wit
and learning furnished its viands. He was perhaps a contempo-
rary of the physician Galen, another of the putative banqueters, who
served as a mouthpiece of the author's erudition.
Probably nothing concerning him deserved preservation except
his unique work, the 'Feast of the Learned. ' Of the fifteen books
transmitted under the above title, the first two, and portions of the
third, eleventh, and fifteenth, exist only in epitome-the name of the
compiler and his time being equally obscure; yet it is curious that for
many centuries these garbled fragments were the only memorials of
the author extant. The other books, constituting the major portion
of the work, have been pronounced authentic by eminent scholars
with Bentley at their head. Without the slightest pretense of lit-
erary skill, the Feast of the Learned' is an immense storehouse of
Ana, or table-talk. Into its receptacles the author gathers fruitage
from nearly every branch of contemporary learning. He seemed to
anticipate Macaulay's "vice of omniscience," though he lacked Macau-
lay's incomparable literary virtues. Personal anecdote, criticism of
the fine arts, the drama, history, poetry, philosophy, politics, medicine,
and natural history enter into his pages, illustrated with an aptness
and variety of quotation which seem to have no limit. He preserves
old songs, folk-lore, and popular gossip, and relates whatever he
may have heard, without sifting it. He gives, for example, a vivid
account of the procession which greeted Demetrius Poliorketes:-
## p. 924 (#346) ############################################
ATHENÆUS
924
"When Demetrius returned from Leucadia and Corcyra to Athens, the
Athenians received him not only with incense and garlands and libations,
but they even sent out processional choruses, and greeted him with Ithyphallic
hymns and dances. Stationed by his chariot-wheels, they sang and danced
and chanted that he alone was a real god; the rest were sleeping or were on
a journey, or did not exist: they called him son of Poseidon and Aphrodite,
eminent for beauty, universal in his goodness to mankind; then they prayed
and besought and supplicated him like a god. ”
The hymn of worship which Athenæus evidently disapproved has
been preserved, and turned into English by the accomplished J.
A. Symonds on account of its rare and interesting versification. It
belongs to the class of Prosodia, or processional hymns, which the
greatest poets delighted to produce, and which were sung at religious
festivals by young men and maidens, marching to the shrines in time
with the music, their locks crowned with wreaths of olive, myrtle,
or oleander; their white robes shining in the sun.
"See how the mightiest gods, and best beloved,
Towards our town are winging!
For lo! Demeter and Demetrius
This glad day is bringing!
She to perform her Daughter's solemn rites;
Mystic pomps attend her;
He joyous as a god should be, and blithe,
Comes with laughing splendor.
Show forth your triumph! Friends all, troop around,
Let him shine above you!
Be you the stars to circle him with love;
He's the sun to love you.
Hail, offspring of Poseidon, powerful god,
Child of Aphrodite!
The other deities keep far from earth;
Have no ears, though mighty;
They are not, or they will not hear us wail:
Thee our eye beholdeth;
Not wood, not stone, but living, breathing, real,
Thee our prayer enfoldeth.
First give us peace! Give, dearest, for thou canst;
Thou art Lord and Master!
The Sphinx, who not on Thebes, but on all Greece
Swoops to gloat and pasture;
The Ætolian, he who sits upon his rock,
Like that old disaster;
He feeds upon our flesh and blood, and we
Can no longer labor;
For it was ever thus the Etolian thief
Preyed upon his neighbor;
## p. 925 (#347) ############################################
ATHENÆUS
925
Him punish Thou, or, if not Thou, then send
Edipus to harm him,
Who'll cast this Sphinx down from his cliff of pride,
Or to stone will charm him. "
The Swallow song, which is cited, is an example of the folklore
and old customs which Athenæus delighted to gather; and he tells
how in springtime the children used to go about from door to door,
begging doles and presents, and singing such half-sensible, half-
foolish rhymes as-
"She is here, she is here, the swallow!
Fair seasons bringing, fair years to follow!
Her belly is white,
Her back black as night!
From your rich house
Roll forth to us
Tarts, wine, and cheese;
Or, if not these,
Oatmeal and barley-cake
The swallow deigns to take.
What shall we have? or must we hence away!
Thanks, if you give: if not, we'll make you pay!
The house-door hence we'll carry;
Nor shall the lintel tarry;
From hearth and home your wife we'll rob;
She is so small,
To take her off will be an easy job!
Whate'er you give, give largess free!
Up! open, open, to the swallow's call!
No grave old men, but merry children we! »
The 'Feast of the Learned' professes to be the record of the
sayings at a banquet given at Rome by Laurentius to his learned
friends. Laurentius stands as the typical Mæcenas of the period. The
dialogue is reported after Plato's method, or as we see it in the more
familiar form of the Satires' of Horace, though lacking the pithy
vigor of these models. The discursiveness with which topics succeed
each other, their want of logic or continuity, and the pelting fire of
quotations in prose and verse, make a strange mixture. It may be
compared to one of those dishes known both to ancients and to
moderns, in which a great variety of scraps is enriched with condi-
ments to the obliteration of all individual flavor. The plan of execu-
tion is so cumbersome that its only defense is its imitation of the
inevitably disjointed talk when the guests of a dinner party are busy
with their wine and nuts. One is tempted to suspect Athenæus of a
sly sarcasm at his own expense, when he puts the following flings at
pedantry in the mouths of some of his puppets
## p. 926 (#348) ############################################
926
ATHENÆUS
"And now when Myrtilus had said all this in a connected statement, and
when all were marveling at his memory, Cynulcus said,-
"Your multifarious learning I do wonder at,
Though there is not a thing more vain and useless. '
"Says Hippo the Atheist, But the divine Heraclitus also says, 'A great
variety of information does not usually give wisdom. ' And Timon said, . . .
'For what is the use of so many names, my good grammarian, which are
more calculated to overwhelm the hearers than to do them any good? >»
This passage shows the redundancy of expression which disfigures
so much of Athenæus. It is also typical of the cudgel-play of repar-
tee between his characters, which takes the place of agile witticism.
But if he heaps up vast piles of scholastic rubbish, he is also the
Golden Dustman who shows us the treasure preserved by his saving
pedantry. Scholars find the Feast of the Learned' a quarry of quo-
tations from classical writers whose works have perished. Nearly
eight hundred writers and twenty-four hundred separate writings are
referred to and cited in this disorderly encyclopædia, most of them
now lost and forgotten. This literary thrift will always give rank to
the work of Athenæus, poor as it is. The best editions of the origi-
nal Greek are those of Dindorf (Leipzig, 1827), and of Meineke (Leip-
zig, 1867). The best English translation is that of C. D. Yonge in
'Bohn's Classical Library,' from which, with slight alterations, the
appended passages are selected.
WHY THE NILE OVERFLOWS
From the Deipnosophistæ >
THA
HALES the Milesian, one of the Seven Wise Men, says that
the overflowing of the Nile arises from the Etesian winds;
for that they blow up the river, and that the mouths of
the river lie exactly opposite to the point from which they blow;
and accordingly, that the wind blowing in the opposite direction
hinders the flow of the waters; and the waves of the sea, dash-
ing against the mouth of the river, and coming on with a fair
wind in the same direction, beat back the river, and in this
manner the Nile becomes full to overflowing. But Anaxagoras,
the natural philosopher, says that the fullness of the Nile arises
from the snow melting; and so too says Euripides, and some
others of the tragic poets. Anaxagoras says this is the sole ori-
gin of all that fullness; but Euripides goes further and describes
the exact place where this melting of the snow takes place.
## p. 927 (#349) ############################################
ATHENÆUS
HOW TO PRESERVE THE HEALTH
From the 'Deipnosophistæ
927
ON
NE ought to avoid thick perfumes, and to drink water that is
thin and clear, and that in respect of weight is light, and
that has no earthy particles in it. And that water is best
which is of moderate heat or coldness, and which, when poured
into a brazen or silver vessel, does not produce a blackish sedi-
ment. Hippocrates says, "Water which is easily warmed or easily
chilled is alway lighter. " But that water is bad which takes a
long time to boil vegetables; and so too is water full of nitre, or
brackish. And in his book 'On Waters,' Hippocrates calls good
water drinkable; but stagnant water he calls bad, such as that
from ponds or marshes. And most spring-water is rather hard.
Erasistratus says that some people test water by weight, and
that is a most stupid proceeding. "For just look," says he, "if
men compare the water from the fountain Amphiaraus with that
from the Eretrian spring, though one of them is good and the
other bad, there is absolutely no difference in their respective
weights. " And Hippocrates, in his book 'On Places,' says that
those waters are the best which flow from high ground, and from
dry hills, "for they are white and sweet, and are able to bear
very little wine, and are warm in winter and cold in summer. "
And he praises those most, the springs of which break toward
the east, and especially toward the northeast, for they must be
inevitably clear and fragrant and light. Diocles says that water
is good for the digestion and not apt to cause flatulency, that it
is moderately cooling, and good for the eyes, and that it has no
tendency to make the head feel heavy, and that it adds vigor to
the mind and body. And Praxagoras says the same; and he also
praises rain-water. But Euenor praises water from cisterns, and
says that the best is that from the cistern of Amphiaraus, when
compared with that from the fountain in Eretria.
That water is really nutritious is plain from the fact that some
animals are nourished by it alone, as for instance grasshoppers.
And there are many other liquids that are nutritious, such as
milk, barleywater, and wine. At all events, animals at the breast
are nourished by milk; and there are many nations who drink
nothing but milk. And it is said that Democritus, the philosopher
of Abdera, after he had determined to rid himself of life on
## p. 928 (#350) ############################################
928
ATHENÆUS
account of his extreme old age, and after he had begun to dimin-
ish his food day by day, when the day of the Thesmophorian fes-
tival came round, and the women of his household besought him
not to die during the festival, in order that they might not be
debarred from their share in the festivities, was persuaded, and
ordered a vessel full of honey to be set near him: and in this
way he lived many days with no other support than honey; and
then some days after, when the honey had been taken away, he
died. But Democritus had always been fond of honey; and he
once answered a man, who asked him how he could live in the
enjoyment of the best health, that he might do so if he con-
stantly moistened his inward parts with honey, and the outer man
with oil. And bread and honey was the chief food of the Pytha-
goreans, according to the statement of Aristoxenus, who says
that those who eat this for breakfast were free from disease all
their lives. And Lycus says that the Cyrneans (a people who
live near Sardinia) are very long-lived, because they are contin-
ually eating honey; and it is produced in great quantities among
them.
AN ACCOUNT OF SOME GREAT EATERS
From the Deipnosophistæ
Η
ERACLITUS, in his 'Entertainer of Strangers,' says that there
was a woman named Helena who ate more than any other
woman ever did. And Posidippus, in his 'Epigrams,' says
that Phuromachus was a great eater, on whom he wrote this
epigram:-
"This lowly ditch now holds Phuromachus,
Who used to swallow everything he saw,
Like a fierce carrion crow who roams all night.
Now here he lies wrapped in a ragged cloak.
But, O Athenian, whosoe'er you are,
Anoint this tomb and crown it with a wreath,
If ever in old times he feasted with you.
At last he came sans teeth, with eyes worn out,
And livid, swollen eyelids; clothed in skins,
With but one single cruse, and that scarce full;
Far from the gay Lenæan Games he came,
Descending humbly to Calliope. "
## p. 929 (#351) ############################################
ATHENAEUS
929
Amarantus of Alexandria, in his treatise on the Stage, says
that Herodorus, the Megarian trumpeter, was a man three cubits
and a half in height; and that he had great strength in his chest,
and that he could eat six pounds of bread, and twenty litræ of
meat, of whatever sort was provided for him, and that he could
drink two choes of wine; and that he could play on two trumpets
at once; and that it was his habit to sleep on only a lion's skin,
and when playing on the trumpet he made a vast noise. Accord-
ingly, when Demetrius the son of Antigonus was besieging Argos,
and when his troops could not bring the battering ram against
the walls on account of its weight, he, giving the signal with his
two trumpets at once, by the great volume of sound which he
poured forth, instigated the soldiers to move forward the engine
with great zeal and earnestness; and he gained the prize in all
the games ten times; and he used to eat sitting down, as Nestor
tells us in his Theatrical Reminiscences. ' And there was a
woman, too, named Aglais, who played on the trumpet, the
daughter of Megacles, who, in the first great procession which
took place in Alexandria, played a processional piece of music;
having a head-dress of false hair on, and a crest upon her head,
as Posidippus proves by his epigrams on her. And she too could
eat twelve litre of meat and four chanixes of bread, and drink
a chanus of wine, at one sitting.
There was besides a man of the name of Lityerses, a bastard
son of Midas, the King of Celænæ, in Phrygia, a man of a sav-
age and fierce aspect, and an enormous glutton. He is mentioned
by Sositheus, the tragic poet, in his play called 'Daphnis' or
'Lityersa'; where he says:-
"He'll eat three asses' panniers, freight and all,
Three times in one brief day; and what he calls
A measure of wine is a ten-amphoræ cask;
And this he drinks all at a single draught. "
And the man mentioned by Pherecrates, or Strattis, whichever
was the author of the play called 'The Good Men,' was much
such another; the author says:-
"A. -I scarcely in one day, unless I'm forced,
Can eat two bushels and a half of food.
B. -A most unhappy man! how have you lost
Your appetite, so as now to be content
With the scant rations of one ship of war? »
11-59
## p. 930 (#352) ############################################
930
ATHENÆUS
And Xanthus, in his 'Account of Lydia,' says that Cambles,
who was the king of the Lydians, was a great eater and drinker,
and also an exceeding epicure; and accordingly, that he one
night cut up his own wife into joints and ate her; and then, in
the morning, finding the hand of his wife still sticking in his
mouth, he slew himself, as his act began to get notorious. And
we have already mentioned Thys, the king of the Paphlagoni-
ans, saying that he too was man of vast appetite, quoting
Theopompus, who speaks of him in the thirty-fifth book of his
'History'; and Archilochus, in his 'Tetrameters,' has accused
Charilas of the same fault, as the comic poets have attacked
Cleonymus and Pisander. And Phoenicides mentions Charippus
in his 'Phylarchus' in the following terms:—
"And next to them I place Chærippus third;
He, as you know, will without ceasing eat
As long as any one will give him food,
Or till he bursts, such stowage vast has he,
Like any house. "
And Nicolaus the Peripatetic, in the hundred and third book
of his History,' says that Mithridates, the king of Pontus, once
proposed a contest in great eating and great drinking (the prize
was a talent of silver), and that he himself gained the victory.
in both; but he yielded the prize to the man who was judged
to be second to him, namely, Calomodrys, the athlete of Cyzicus.
And Timocreon the Rhodian, a poet and an athlete who had
gained the victory in the pentathlum, ate and drank a great deal,
as the epigram on his tomb shows:-
"Much did I eat, much did I drink, and much
Did I abuse all men; now here I lie:-
My name Timocreon, my country Rhodes. "
And Thrasymachus of Chalcedon, in one of his prefaces, says
that Timocreon came to the great king of Persia, and being
entertained by him, did eat an immense quantity of food; and
when the king asked him, What he would do on the strength
of it? he said that he would beat a great many Persians; and
the next day having vanquished a great many, one after another,
taking them one by one, after this he beat the air with his
hands; and when they asked him what he wanted, he said that
he had all those blows left in him if any one was inclined to
## p. 931 (#353) ############################################
ATHENAEUS
931
come on. And Clearchus, in the fifth book of his 'Lives,' says
that Cantibaris the Persian, whenever his jaws were weary with
eating, had his slaves to pour food into his mouth, which he
kept open as if they were pouring it into an empty vessel. But
Hellanicus, in the first book of his Deucalionea, says that Ery-
sichthon, the son of Myrmidon, being a man perfectly insatiable
in respect of food, was called Ethon. Also Polemo, in the first
book of his Treatise addressed to Timæus,' says that among the
Sicilians there was a temple consecrated to gluttony, and an
image of Demeter Sito; near which also there was a statue of
Himalis, as there is at Delphi one of Hermuchus, and as at
Scolum in Boeotia there are statues of Megalartus and Megalo--
mazus.
THE LOVE OF ANIMALS FOR MAN
From the Deipnosophistæ
A
ND even dumb animals have fallen in love with men; for there
was a cock who took a fancy to a man of the name of Secun-
dus, a cupbearer of the king; and the cock was nicknamed
"the Centaur. " This Secundus was a slave of Nicomedes, the
king of Bithynia; as Nicander informs us in the sixth book of
his essay on The Revolutions of Fortune. ' And at Ægium, a
goose took a fancy to a boy; as Clearchus relates in the first
book of his 'Amatory Anecdotes. ' And Theophrastus, in his
essay On Love,' says that the name of this boy was Amphilo-
chus, and that he was a native of Olenus. And Hermeas the
son of Hermodorus, who was a Samian by birth, says that a
goose also took a fancy to Lacydes the philosopher. And in
Leucadia (according to a story told by Clearchus), a peacock fell
so in love with a maiden there that when she died, the bird died
too. There is a story also that at Iasus a dolphin took a fancy
to a boy, and this story is told by Duris, in the ninth book of
his 'History'; and the subject of that book is the history of
Alexander, and the historian's words are these:-
"He likewise sent for the boy from Iasus. For near Iasus
there was a boy whose name was Dionysius, and he once, when
leaving the palæstra with the rest of the boys, went down to the
sea and bathed; and a dolphin came forward out of the deep-
water to meet him, and taking him on his back, swam away
## p. 932 (#354) ############################################
ATHENÆUS
932
with him a considerable distance into the open sea, and then
brought him back again to land. "
The dolphin is in fact an animal which is very fond of
men, and very intelligent, and one very susceptible of gratitude.
Accordingly, Phylarchus, in his twelfth book, says: -
"Coiranus the Milesian, when he saw some fishermen who
had caught a dolphin in a net, and who were about to cut it up,
gave them some money and bought the fish, and took it down
and put it back in the sea again. And after this it happened to
him to be shipwrecked near Myconos, and while every one else
perished, Coiranus alone was saved by a dolphin. And when
at last he died of old age in his native country, as it so happened
that his funeral procession passed along the seashore close to
Miletus, a great shoal of dolphins appeared on that day in the
harbor, keeping only a very little distance from those who were
attending the funeral of Coiranus, as if they also were joining
in the procession and sharing in their grief. ”
The same Phylarchus also relates, in the twentieth book of
his 'History,' the great affection which was once displayed by
an elephant for a boy. And his words are these:-
-
"Now there was a female elephant kept with this elephant,
and the name of the female elephant was Nicæa; and to her the
wife of the king of India, when dying, intrusted her child, which
was just a month old. And when the woman did die, the affec-
tion for the child displayed by the beast was most extraordinary;
for it could not endure the child to be away; and whenever it
did not see him, it was out of spirits. And so, whenever the
nurse fed the infant with milk, she placed it in its cradle
between the feet of the beast; and if she had not done so, the
elephant would not take any food; and after this, it would take.
whatever reeds and grass there were near, and, while the child
was sleeping, beat away the flies with the bundle. And when-
ever the child wept, it would rock the cradle with its trunk, and
lull it to sleep. And very often the male elephant did the same. ”
## p. 933 (#355) ############################################
933
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
(1790-1855)
MONG the leaders of the romantic movement which affected
Swedish literature in the earlier half of the nineteenth cen-
tury was P. D. A. Atterbom, one of the greatest lyric poets
of his country. He was born in Ostergöthland, in 1790, and at the
age of fifteen was already so advanced in his studies that he entered
the University of Upsala. There in 1807 he helped to found the
"Musis Amici," a students' society of literature and art; its member-
ship included Hedbom, who is remembered for his beautiful hymns,
and the able and laborious Palmblad,-author of several popular
books, including the well-known novel 'Aurora Königsmark. ' This
society soon assumed the name of the Aurora League, and set itself
to free Swedish literature from French influence. The means chosen
were the study of German romanticism, and a treatment of the higher
branches of literature in direct opposition to the course decreed by
the Academical school. The leaders of this revolution were Atterbom,
eighteen years old, and Palmblad, twenty!
The first organ of the League was the Polyfem, soon replaced by
the Phosphorus (1810-1813), from which the young enthusiasts received
their sobriquet of "Phosphorists. " Theoretically this sheet was given.
to the discussion of Schelling's philosophy, and of metaphysical prob-
lems in general; practically, to the publication of the original poetry
of the new school. The Phosphorists did a good work in calling
attention to the old Swedish folk-lore, and awakening a new interest
in its imaginative treasures. But their best service lay in their forci-
ble and earnest treatment of religious questions, which at that time
were most superficially dealt with.
When the 'Phosphorus' was in its third year the Romanticists
united in bringing out two new organs: the Poetical Calendar
(1812-1822), which published poetry only, and the Swedish Literary
News (1813-1824), containing critical essays of great scientific value.
The Phosphorists, who had shown themselves ardent but not always
sagacious fighters, now appeared at their best, and dashed into the
controversy which was engaging the attention of the Swedish reading
public. This included not only literature, but philosophy and reli-
gion, as well as art. The odds were now on one side, now on the
other. The Academicians might easily have conquered their youth-
ful opponents, however, had not their bitterness continually forged
new weapons against themselves. In 1820 the Phosphorists wrote the
## p. 934 (#356) ############################################
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
:
934
excellent satire, Marskall's Sleepless Nights,' aimed at Wallmark,
leader of the Academicians. Gradually the strife died out, and the
man who carried off the palm, and for a time became the leader of
Swedish poetry, was Tegnèr, who was hardly a partisan of either
side.
In 1817 Atterbom had gone abroad, broken down in health by his
uninterrupted studies. While in Germany he entered into a warm
friendship with Schelling and Steffens, and in Naples he met the
Danish sculptor Thorwaldsen, to whose circle of friends he became
attached. On his return he was made tutor of German and literature
to the Crown Prince. In 1828 the Chair of Logics and Metaphysics
at Upsala was offered him, and he held this for seven years, when
he exchanged it for that of Esthetics. In 1839 he was elected a
member of the Academy whose bitterest enemy he had been, and so
the peace was signed.
Atterbom is undoubtedly the greatest lyrical poet in the ranks of
the Phosphorists. His verses are wonderfully melodious and full of
charm, in spite of the fact that his tendency to the mystical at times
makes him obscure. Among the best of his productions are a cycle
of lyrics entitled 'The Flowers'; 'The Isle of Blessedness,' a roman-
tic drama of great beauty, published in 1823; and a fragment of a
fairy drama, 'The Blue Bird. ' He introduced the sonnet into Swedish
poetry, and did a great service to the national literature by his criti-
cal work, 'Swedish Seers and Poets,' a collection of biographies and
criticisms of poets and philosophers before and during the reign of
Gustavus III. Atterbom's life may be accounted long in the way of
service, though he died at the age of sixty-five.
THE GENIUS OF THE NORTH
Its
IT
T IS true that our Northern nature is lofty and strong.
characteristics may well awaken deep meditation and emotion.
When the Goddess of Song has grown up in these surround-
ings, her view of life is like that mirrored in our lakes, where,
between the dark shadows of mountain and trees on the shore, a
light-blue sky looks down. Over this mirror the Northern morn-
ing and the Northern day, the Northern evening and the North-
ern night, rise in a glorious beauty. Our Muse kindles a lofty
hero's flame, a lofty seer's flame, and always the flame of a lofty
immortality. In this sombre North we experience an immense
joyousness and an immense melancholy, moods of earth-coveting
and of earth-renunciation. With equal mind we behold the fleet,
## p. 935 (#357) ############################################
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
935
charming dream of her summers, her early harvest with its
quickly falling splendor, and the darkness and silence of the long
winter's sleep. For if the gem-like green of the verdure pro-
claims its short life, it proclaims at the same time its richness,-
and in winter the very darkness seems made to let the starry
vault shine through with a glory of Valhalla and Gimle. Indeed,
in our North, the winter possesses an impressiveness, a freshness,
which only we Norsemen understand. Add to these strong
effects of nature the loneliness of life in a wide tract of land,
sparingly populated by a still sparingly educated people, and then
think of the poet's soul which must beat against these barriers of
circumstance and barriers of spirit! Yet the barriers that hold
him in as often help as hinder his striving. These conditions
explain what our literature amply proves; that so far, the only
poetical form which has reached perfection in Sweden is the lyr-
ical. This will be otherwise only as the northern mind, through
a growing familiarity with contemporaneous Europe, will consent
to be drawn from its forest solitude into the whirl of the motley
World's Fair outside its boundaries. It is probable that the lyrical
gift will always be the true possession of the Swedish poet. His
genius is such that it needs only a beautiful moment's exaltation
(blissful, whether the experience be called joy or sorrow) to rise
on full, free wings, suddenly singing out his very inmost being.
Whether the poet makes this inmost being his subject, or quite
forgets himself in a richer and higher theme, is of little conse-
quence.
If, again, no true lyric can express a narrow egoism, least of
all could the Swedish, in spite of the indivisible relation between
nature and man. The entire Sämunds-Edda shows us that Scan-
dinavian poetry was originally lyrical-didactic, as much religious
as heroic. Not only in lyrical impression, but also in lyrical con-
templation and lyrical expression, will the Swedish heroic poem
still follow its earliest trend.
Yes, let us believe that this impulse
will some day lead Swedish poetry into the only path of true
progress, to the point where dramatic expression will attain perfec-
tion of artistic form. This development is foreshadowed already
in the high tragic drama, in the view of the world taken by the
old Swedish didactic poem; and in some of the songs of the
Edda, as well as in many an old folk-song and folk-play. ·
## p. 936 (#358) ############################################
936
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
O
THE LILY OF THE VALLEY
'ER hill and dale the welcome news is flying
That summer's drawing near;
Out of my thicket cool, my cranny hidden,
Around I shyly peer.
He will not notice me, this guest resplendent,
Unseen I shall remain,
Content to live if of his banquet royal
Some glimpses I may gain.
Behold! Behold! His banquet hall's before me,
Pillared with forest trees;
Lo! as he feasts, a thousand sunbeams sparkle,
His gracious smiles are these.
Hail to thee, brilliant world! Ye heavens fretted
With clouds of silver hue!
Ye waves of mighty ocean, tossing, tossing,
Fair in my sight as new!
Far in the past (if years my life has numbered,
Ghost-like in thought they drift),
Came to me silently the truth eternal-
Joy is life's richest gift.
Thus, in return for life's abundant dower,
A gift have I: I bear
A spotless soul, from whose unseen recesses
Exhales a fragrance rare.
Strong is the power in gentle souls indwelling,
Born of a joy divine;
Theirs is a sphere untrod by creatures earthly,
By beings gross, supine.
Fragile and small, and set in quiet places,
My worth should I forget?
Some one who seeks friend, counselor, or lover,
Will find and prize me yet.
Thou lovely maid, through mossy pathways straying,
Striving to make thy choice,
Hearing the while the brook which downward leaping,
Lifts up its merry voice,
## p. 937 (#359) ############################################
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
Pluck me; and as a rich reward I'll whisper
Things thou wilt love to hear:
The name of him who comes to win thy favor
I'll whisper in thine ear!
SVANHVIT'S COLLOQUY
From The Islands of the Blest'
SVANHVIT (alone in her chamber)
N°
o ASDOLF yet,-in vain and everywhere
Hath he been sought for, since his foaming steed,
At morn, with vacant saddle, stood before
The lofty staircase in the castle yard.
His drooping crest and wildly rolling eye,
And limbs with frenzied terror quivering,
All seemed as though the midnight fiends had urged
His swiftest flight through many a wood and plain.
O Lord, that know'st what he hath witnessed there'
Wouldst thou but give one single speaking sound.
Unto the faithful creature's silent tongue,
That momentary voice would be, for me,
A call to life or summons to the grave.
[She goes to the window. ]
And yet what childish fears are these! How oft
Hath not my Asdolf boldest feats achieved
And aye returned, unharmed and beautiful!
Yes, beautiful, alas! like this cold flower
That proudly glances on the frosty pane.
Short is the violet's, short the cowslip's spring;-
The frost-flowers live far longer: cold as they
The beautiful should be, that it may share
The splendor of the light without its heat;
For else the sun of life must soon dissolve
The hard, cold, shining pearls to liquid tears;
And tears-flow fast away.
937
[She breathes on the window. ]
Become transparent, thou fair Asdolf flower,
That I may look into the vale beneath!
There lies the city, - Asdolf's capital:
How wondrously the spotless vest of snow
## p. 938 (#360) ############################################
938
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
:
On roof, on mount, on market-place now smiles
A glittering welcome to the morning sun,
Whose blood-red beams shed beauty on the earth!
The Bride of Sacrifice makes no lament,
But smiles in silence, knowing sadly well
That she is slighted, and that he, who could
Call forth her spring, doth not, but rather dwells
In other climes, where lavishly he pours
His fond embracing beams, while she, alas!
In wintry shade and lengthened loneliness
Cold on the solitary couch reclines. -
[After a pause. ]
What countless paths wind down, from divers points,
To yonder city gates! -Oh, wilt not thou,
My star, appear to me on one of them?
Whate'er I said,-thou art my worshiped sun.
Then pardon me;-thou art not cold; oh, no!
Too warm, too glowing warm, art thou for me.
Yet thus it is! Thy being's music has
A thousand chords with thousand varying tones,
Whilst I but one poor sound can offer thee
Of tenderness and truth. At times, indeed,
This too may have its power,- but then it lasts
One and the same forever, sounding still
Unalterably like itself alone;
A wordless prayer to God for what we love,
'Tis more a whisper than a sound, and charms
Like new-mown meadows, when the grass exhales
Sweet fragrance to the foot that tramples it.
Kings, heroes, towering spirits among men,
Rush to their aim on wild and stormy wings,
And far beneath them view the world, whose form
For ever varies on from hour to hour.
What would they ask of love? That, volatile,
In changeful freshness it may charm their ears
With proud, triumphant songs, when high in air
Victorious banners wave; or sweetly lull
To rapturous repose, when round them roars
The awful thunder's everlasting voice!
Mute, mean, and spiritless to them must seem
The maid who is no more than woman. How
Should she o'er-sound the storm their wings have raised?
## p. 939 (#361) ############################################
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
939
[Sitting down. ]
Great Lord! how lonely I become within
These now uncheerful towers! O'er all the earth
No shield have I,-no mutual feeling left!
'Tis true that those around me all are kind,
And well I know they love me,-more, indeed,
Than my poor merits claim. Yet, even though
They raised me to my Asdolf's royal throne,
As being the last of all his line,-ah me!
No solace could it bring;-for then far less
Might I reveal the sorrow of my soul!
A helpless maiden's tears like raindrops fall,
Which in a July night, ere harvest-time,
Bedew the flowers, and, trembling, stand within
Their half-closed eyes unnumbered and unknown.
[She rises. ]
-
Yet One there is, who counts the maiden's tears; -
But when will their sad number be fulfilled? —
[Walking to and fro. ]
How calm was I in former days! — I now
Am so no more! My heart beats heavily,
Oppressed within its prison-cave. Ah! fain
Would I that it might burst its bonds, so that
'Twere conscious, Asdolf, I sometimes had seemed
Not all unworthy in thine eyes.
[She takes the guitar. ]
A gentle friend - the Master from Vallandia-
Has taught me how I may converse with thee,
Thou cherished token of my Asdolf's love!
I have been told of far-off lakes, around
Whose shores the cypress and the willow wave,
And make a mournful shade above the stream,
Which, dark, and narrow on the surface, swells
Broad and unfathomably deep below:-
From these dark lakes at certain times, and most
On Sabbath morns and eves of festivals,
Uprising from the depths, is heard a sound
Most strange and wild, as of the tuneful bells
Of churches and of castles long since sunk;
And as the wanderer's steps approach the shore,
He hears more plainly the lamenting tone
## p. 940 (#362) ############################################
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
940
Of the dark waters, whilst the surface still
Continues motionless and calm, and seems
To listen with a melancholy joy,
While thus the dim mysterious depths resound;
So let me strive to soften and subdue
My heart's dark swelling with a soothful song.
[She plays and sings. ]
The maiden bound her hunting-net
At morning fresh and fair —
Ah, no! that lay doth ever make me grieve.
Another, then! that of the hapless flower,
Surprised by frost and snow in early spring.
[Sings. ]
Hush thee, oh, hush thee,
Slumber from snow and stormy sky,
Lovely and lone one!
Now is the time for thee to die,
When vale and streamlet frozen lie.
Hush thee, oh, hush thee!
Hours hasten onward;-
For thee the last will soon be o'er.
Rest thee, oh, rest thee!
Flowers have withered thus before,-
And, my poor heart, what wouldst thou more?
Rest thee, oh, rest thee!
Shadows should darkly
Enveil thy past delights and woes.
Forget, oh, forget them!
'Tis thus that eve its shadows throws;
But now, in noiseless night's repose,
Forget, oh, forget them!
Slumber, oh, slumber!
No friend hast thou like kindly snow;
Sleep is well for thee,
For whom no second spring will blow;
Then why, poor heart, still beating so?
Slumber, oh, slumber!
Hush thee, oh, hush thee!
Resign thy life-breath in a sigh,
Listen no longer,
Life bids farewell to thee. - then die!
Sad one, good night! -in sweet sleep lie!
Hush thee, oh, hush thee!
## p. 941 (#363) ############################################
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
941
[She bursts into tears. ]
Would now that I might bid adieu to life;
But, ah! no voice to me replies, "Sleep well! "
THE MERMAID
L
EAVING the sea, the pale moon lights the strand.
Tracing old runes, a youth inscribes the sand.
And by the rune-ring waits a woman fair,
Down to her feet extends her dripping hair.
Woven of lustrous pearls her robes appear,
Thin as the air and as the water clear.
Lifting her veil with milk-white hand she shows
Eyes in whose deeps a deadly fire glows.
Blue are her eyes: she looks upon him- bound,
As by a spell, he views their gulf profound.
Heaven and death are there: in his desire,
He feels the chill of ice, the heat of fire.
Graciously smiling, now she whispers low:-
"The runes are dark, would you their meaning know?
Follow! my dwelling is as dark and deep;
You, you alone, its treasure vast shall keep! "
"Where is your dwelling, charming maid, now say! "
"Built on a coral island far away,
Crystalline, golden, floats that castle free,
Meet for a lovely daughter of the sea! "
Still he delays and muses, on the strand;
Now the alluring maiden grasps his hand.
"Ah! Do you tremble, you who were so bold? "
"Yes, for the heaving breakers are so cold! "
"Let not the mounting waves your spirit change!
Take, as a charm, my ring with sea-runes strange.
Here is my crown of water-lilies white,
Here is my harp, with human bones bedight. "
"What say my Father and my Mother dear?
What says my God, who bends from heaven to hear? »
"Father and Mother in the churchyard lie.
As for thy God, he deigns not to reply. "
## p. 942 (#364) ############################################
942
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
Blithely she dances on the pearl-strewn sand,
Smiting the bone-harp with her graceful hand.
Fair is her bosom, through her thin robe seen,
White as a swan beheld through rushes green.
"Follow me, youth! through ocean deeps we'll rove;
There is my castle in its coral grove;
There the red branches purple shadows throw,
There the green waves, like grass, sway to and fro.
"I have a thousand sisters; none so fair.
He whom I wed receives my sceptre rare.
Wisdom occult my mother will impart.
Granting his slightest wish, I'll cheer his heart. "
"Heaven and earth to win you I abjure!
Child of the ocean, is your promise sure? "
"Heaven and earth abjuring, great's your gain,
Throned with the ancient gods, a king to reign! "
Lo, as she speaks, a thousand starlights gleam,
Lighted for Heaven's Christmas day they seem.
Sighing, he swears the oath,- the die is cast;
Into the mermaid's arms he sinks at last.
High on the shore the rushing waves roll in.
"Why does the color vary on your skin?
What! From your waist a fish's tail depends! »
"Worn for the dances of my sea-maid friends. "
High overhead, the stars, like torches, burn:
"Haste! to my golden castle I return.
Save me, ye runes! "-"Yes, try them now; they fail.
Pupil of heathen men, my spells prevail! »
Proudly she turns; her sceptre strikes the wave,
Roaring, it parts; the ocean yawns, a grave.
Mermaid and youth go down; the gulf is deep.
Over their heads the surging waters sweep.
Often, on moonlight nights, when bluebells ring,
When for their sports the elves are gathering,
Out of the waves the youth appears, and plays
Tunes that are merry, mournful, like his days.
## p. 943 (#365) ############################################
943
AUCASSIN AND NICOLETTE
(Twelfth Century)
BY FREDERICK MORRIS WARREN
HIS charming tale of mediæval France has reached modern
times in but one manuscript, which is now in the National
Library at Paris. It gives us no hint as to the time and
place of the author, but its linguistic forms would indicate for local-
ity the borderland of Champagne and Picardy, while the fact that the
verse of the story is in assonance would point to the later twelfth
century as the date of the original draft. It would thus be contem-
poraneous with the last poems of Chrétien de Troyes (1170-80). The
author was probably a minstrel by profession, but one of more than
ordinary taste and talent. For, evidently skilled in both song and
recitation, he so divided his narrative between poetry and prose that
he gave himself ample opportunity to display his powers, while at the
same time he retained more easily, by this variety, the attention of
his audience. He calls his invention - if his invention it be—a "song-
story. " The subject he drew probably from reminiscences of the
widely known story of Floire and Blanchefleur; reversing the parts,
so that here it is the hero who is the Christian, while the heroine is
a Saracen captive baptized in her early years. The general outline
of the plot also resembles indistinctly the plot of Floire and Blanche-
fleur, though its topography is somewhat indefinite, and a certain
amount of absurd adventure in strange lands is interwoven with it.
With these exceptions, however, few literary productions of the Mid-
dle Ages can rival Aucassin and Nicolette' in graceful sentiment
and sympathetic description.
The Paris manuscript gives the music for the poetical parts,-
music that is little more than a modulation. There is a different
notation for the first two lines, but for the other lines this notation
is repeated in couplets, except that the last line of each song or
laisse-being a half-line- has a cadence of its own. The lines are
all seven syllables in length, save the final half-lines, and the asso-
nance, which all but the half-lines observe, tends somewhat towards
rhyme.
The story begins with a song which serves as prologue; and
then its prose takes up the narrative, telling how Aucassin, son of
Garin, Count of Beaucaire, so loved Nicolette, a Saracen maiden,
who had been sold to the Viscount of Beaucaire, baptized and
adopted by him, that he had forsaken knighthood and chivalry and
## p. 944 (#366) ############################################
944
AUCASSIN AND NICOLETTE
even refused to defend his father's territories against Count Bougart
of Valence. Accordingly his father ordered the Viscount to send
away Nicolette, and he walled her up in a tower of his palace.
Later, Aucassin is imprisoned by his father. But Nicolette escapes,
hears him lamenting in his cell, and comforts him until the warden
on the tower warns her of the approach of the town watch. She
flees to the forest outside the gates, and there, in order to test
Aucassin's fidelity, builds a rustic tower. When he is released from
prison, Aucassin hears from shepherd lads of Nicolette's hiding-place,
and seeks her bower. The lovers, united, resolve to leave the coun-
try. They take ship and are driven to the kingdom of Torelore,
whose queen they find in child-bed, while the king is with the army.
After a three years' stay in Torelore they are captured by Saracen
pirates and separated. Contrary winds blow Aucassin's boat to Beau-
caire, where he succeeds to Garin's estate, while Nicolette is carried
to Carthage. The sight of the city reminds her that she is the
daughter of its king, and a royal marriage is planned for her. But
she avoids this by assuming a minstrel's garb, and setting sail for
Beaucaire. There, before Aucassin, she sings of her own adventures,
and in due time makes herself known to him. Now in one last
strain our story-teller celebrates the lovers' meeting, concluding
with-
"Our song-story comes to an end,
I know no more to tell. »
And thus he takes leave of the gentle and courageous maiden.
The whole account of these trials and reunions does not occupy
over forty pages of the original French, which has been best edited
by H. Suchier at Paderborn (second edition, 1881). In 1878, A. Bida
published, with illustrations, a modern French version of the story
at Paris, accompanied by the original text and a preface by Gaston
Paris. This version was translated into English by A. Rodney Mac-
donough under the title of The Lovers of Provence: Aucassin and
Nicolette (New York, 1880). Additional illustrations by American
artists found place in this edition. F. W. Bourdillon has published
the original text and an English version, together with an exhaustive
introduction, bibliography, notes, and glossary (London, 1887), and,
later in the same year, Andrew Lang wrote out another translation,
accompanied by an introduction and notes: Aucassin and Nicolette'
(London). The extracts given below are from Lang's version, with
occasional slight alterations.
L. M Warren.
## p. 945 (#367) ############################################
AUCASSIN AND NICOLETTE
'TIS OF AUCASSIN AND NICOLETTE
WHOG
HO would list to the good lay,
Gladness of the captive gray?
'Tis how two young lovers met,
Aucassin and Nicolette;
Of the pains the lover bore,
And the perils he outwore,
For the goodness and the grace
Of his love, so fair of face.
Sweet the song, the story sweet,
There is no man hearkens it,
No man living 'neath the sun,
So outwearied, so fordone,
Sick and woful, worn and sad,
But is healed, but is glad,
'Tis so sweet.
945
So say they, speak they, tell they The Tale,
How the Count Bougart of Valence made war on Count Garin of
Beaucaire, war so great, so marvelous, and so mortal that never
a day dawned but alway he was there, by the gates and walls and
barriers of the town, with a hundred knights, and ten thousand
men-at-arms, horsemen and footmen: so burned he the Count's
land, and spoiled his country, and slew his men. Now, the Count
Garin of Beaucaire was old and frail, and his good days were
gone over. No heir had he, neither son nor daughter, save one
young man only; such an one as I shall tell you. Aucassin was
the name of the damoiseau: fair was he, goodly, and great, and
featly fashioned of his body and limbs. His hair was yellow, in
little curls, his eyes blue-gray and laughing, his face beautiful
and shapely, his nose high and well set, and so richly seen was
he in all things good, that in him was none evil at all.
ATHENÆUS
923
and unhonest to give ill example to laymen, not kept in gardens
and corners, not lurking on the night and in holes, but ever-
more in the face of men, either to rebuke it when it doeth ill,
or else to testify on it when it doth well, let him seek chiefly of
all other for shooting.
ATHENÆUS
(Third Century A. D. )
ITTLE is known that is authentic about the Græco-Egyptian
Sophist or man of letters, Athenæus, author of the 'Deipno-
sophistæ or Feast of the Learned, except his literary
bequest. It is recorded that he was born at Naucratis, a city of the
Nile Delta; and that after living at Alexandria he migrated to Rome.
His date is presumptively fixed in the early part of the third century
by his inclusion of Ulpian, the eminent jurist (whose death occurred
A. D. 228) among the twenty-nine guests of the banquet whose wit
and learning furnished its viands. He was perhaps a contempo-
rary of the physician Galen, another of the putative banqueters, who
served as a mouthpiece of the author's erudition.
Probably nothing concerning him deserved preservation except
his unique work, the 'Feast of the Learned. ' Of the fifteen books
transmitted under the above title, the first two, and portions of the
third, eleventh, and fifteenth, exist only in epitome-the name of the
compiler and his time being equally obscure; yet it is curious that for
many centuries these garbled fragments were the only memorials of
the author extant. The other books, constituting the major portion
of the work, have been pronounced authentic by eminent scholars
with Bentley at their head. Without the slightest pretense of lit-
erary skill, the Feast of the Learned' is an immense storehouse of
Ana, or table-talk. Into its receptacles the author gathers fruitage
from nearly every branch of contemporary learning. He seemed to
anticipate Macaulay's "vice of omniscience," though he lacked Macau-
lay's incomparable literary virtues. Personal anecdote, criticism of
the fine arts, the drama, history, poetry, philosophy, politics, medicine,
and natural history enter into his pages, illustrated with an aptness
and variety of quotation which seem to have no limit. He preserves
old songs, folk-lore, and popular gossip, and relates whatever he
may have heard, without sifting it. He gives, for example, a vivid
account of the procession which greeted Demetrius Poliorketes:-
## p. 924 (#346) ############################################
ATHENÆUS
924
"When Demetrius returned from Leucadia and Corcyra to Athens, the
Athenians received him not only with incense and garlands and libations,
but they even sent out processional choruses, and greeted him with Ithyphallic
hymns and dances. Stationed by his chariot-wheels, they sang and danced
and chanted that he alone was a real god; the rest were sleeping or were on
a journey, or did not exist: they called him son of Poseidon and Aphrodite,
eminent for beauty, universal in his goodness to mankind; then they prayed
and besought and supplicated him like a god. ”
The hymn of worship which Athenæus evidently disapproved has
been preserved, and turned into English by the accomplished J.
A. Symonds on account of its rare and interesting versification. It
belongs to the class of Prosodia, or processional hymns, which the
greatest poets delighted to produce, and which were sung at religious
festivals by young men and maidens, marching to the shrines in time
with the music, their locks crowned with wreaths of olive, myrtle,
or oleander; their white robes shining in the sun.
"See how the mightiest gods, and best beloved,
Towards our town are winging!
For lo! Demeter and Demetrius
This glad day is bringing!
She to perform her Daughter's solemn rites;
Mystic pomps attend her;
He joyous as a god should be, and blithe,
Comes with laughing splendor.
Show forth your triumph! Friends all, troop around,
Let him shine above you!
Be you the stars to circle him with love;
He's the sun to love you.
Hail, offspring of Poseidon, powerful god,
Child of Aphrodite!
The other deities keep far from earth;
Have no ears, though mighty;
They are not, or they will not hear us wail:
Thee our eye beholdeth;
Not wood, not stone, but living, breathing, real,
Thee our prayer enfoldeth.
First give us peace! Give, dearest, for thou canst;
Thou art Lord and Master!
The Sphinx, who not on Thebes, but on all Greece
Swoops to gloat and pasture;
The Ætolian, he who sits upon his rock,
Like that old disaster;
He feeds upon our flesh and blood, and we
Can no longer labor;
For it was ever thus the Etolian thief
Preyed upon his neighbor;
## p. 925 (#347) ############################################
ATHENÆUS
925
Him punish Thou, or, if not Thou, then send
Edipus to harm him,
Who'll cast this Sphinx down from his cliff of pride,
Or to stone will charm him. "
The Swallow song, which is cited, is an example of the folklore
and old customs which Athenæus delighted to gather; and he tells
how in springtime the children used to go about from door to door,
begging doles and presents, and singing such half-sensible, half-
foolish rhymes as-
"She is here, she is here, the swallow!
Fair seasons bringing, fair years to follow!
Her belly is white,
Her back black as night!
From your rich house
Roll forth to us
Tarts, wine, and cheese;
Or, if not these,
Oatmeal and barley-cake
The swallow deigns to take.
What shall we have? or must we hence away!
Thanks, if you give: if not, we'll make you pay!
The house-door hence we'll carry;
Nor shall the lintel tarry;
From hearth and home your wife we'll rob;
She is so small,
To take her off will be an easy job!
Whate'er you give, give largess free!
Up! open, open, to the swallow's call!
No grave old men, but merry children we! »
The 'Feast of the Learned' professes to be the record of the
sayings at a banquet given at Rome by Laurentius to his learned
friends. Laurentius stands as the typical Mæcenas of the period. The
dialogue is reported after Plato's method, or as we see it in the more
familiar form of the Satires' of Horace, though lacking the pithy
vigor of these models. The discursiveness with which topics succeed
each other, their want of logic or continuity, and the pelting fire of
quotations in prose and verse, make a strange mixture. It may be
compared to one of those dishes known both to ancients and to
moderns, in which a great variety of scraps is enriched with condi-
ments to the obliteration of all individual flavor. The plan of execu-
tion is so cumbersome that its only defense is its imitation of the
inevitably disjointed talk when the guests of a dinner party are busy
with their wine and nuts. One is tempted to suspect Athenæus of a
sly sarcasm at his own expense, when he puts the following flings at
pedantry in the mouths of some of his puppets
## p. 926 (#348) ############################################
926
ATHENÆUS
"And now when Myrtilus had said all this in a connected statement, and
when all were marveling at his memory, Cynulcus said,-
"Your multifarious learning I do wonder at,
Though there is not a thing more vain and useless. '
"Says Hippo the Atheist, But the divine Heraclitus also says, 'A great
variety of information does not usually give wisdom. ' And Timon said, . . .
'For what is the use of so many names, my good grammarian, which are
more calculated to overwhelm the hearers than to do them any good? >»
This passage shows the redundancy of expression which disfigures
so much of Athenæus. It is also typical of the cudgel-play of repar-
tee between his characters, which takes the place of agile witticism.
But if he heaps up vast piles of scholastic rubbish, he is also the
Golden Dustman who shows us the treasure preserved by his saving
pedantry. Scholars find the Feast of the Learned' a quarry of quo-
tations from classical writers whose works have perished. Nearly
eight hundred writers and twenty-four hundred separate writings are
referred to and cited in this disorderly encyclopædia, most of them
now lost and forgotten. This literary thrift will always give rank to
the work of Athenæus, poor as it is. The best editions of the origi-
nal Greek are those of Dindorf (Leipzig, 1827), and of Meineke (Leip-
zig, 1867). The best English translation is that of C. D. Yonge in
'Bohn's Classical Library,' from which, with slight alterations, the
appended passages are selected.
WHY THE NILE OVERFLOWS
From the Deipnosophistæ >
THA
HALES the Milesian, one of the Seven Wise Men, says that
the overflowing of the Nile arises from the Etesian winds;
for that they blow up the river, and that the mouths of
the river lie exactly opposite to the point from which they blow;
and accordingly, that the wind blowing in the opposite direction
hinders the flow of the waters; and the waves of the sea, dash-
ing against the mouth of the river, and coming on with a fair
wind in the same direction, beat back the river, and in this
manner the Nile becomes full to overflowing. But Anaxagoras,
the natural philosopher, says that the fullness of the Nile arises
from the snow melting; and so too says Euripides, and some
others of the tragic poets. Anaxagoras says this is the sole ori-
gin of all that fullness; but Euripides goes further and describes
the exact place where this melting of the snow takes place.
## p. 927 (#349) ############################################
ATHENÆUS
HOW TO PRESERVE THE HEALTH
From the 'Deipnosophistæ
927
ON
NE ought to avoid thick perfumes, and to drink water that is
thin and clear, and that in respect of weight is light, and
that has no earthy particles in it. And that water is best
which is of moderate heat or coldness, and which, when poured
into a brazen or silver vessel, does not produce a blackish sedi-
ment. Hippocrates says, "Water which is easily warmed or easily
chilled is alway lighter. " But that water is bad which takes a
long time to boil vegetables; and so too is water full of nitre, or
brackish. And in his book 'On Waters,' Hippocrates calls good
water drinkable; but stagnant water he calls bad, such as that
from ponds or marshes. And most spring-water is rather hard.
Erasistratus says that some people test water by weight, and
that is a most stupid proceeding. "For just look," says he, "if
men compare the water from the fountain Amphiaraus with that
from the Eretrian spring, though one of them is good and the
other bad, there is absolutely no difference in their respective
weights. " And Hippocrates, in his book 'On Places,' says that
those waters are the best which flow from high ground, and from
dry hills, "for they are white and sweet, and are able to bear
very little wine, and are warm in winter and cold in summer. "
And he praises those most, the springs of which break toward
the east, and especially toward the northeast, for they must be
inevitably clear and fragrant and light. Diocles says that water
is good for the digestion and not apt to cause flatulency, that it
is moderately cooling, and good for the eyes, and that it has no
tendency to make the head feel heavy, and that it adds vigor to
the mind and body. And Praxagoras says the same; and he also
praises rain-water. But Euenor praises water from cisterns, and
says that the best is that from the cistern of Amphiaraus, when
compared with that from the fountain in Eretria.
That water is really nutritious is plain from the fact that some
animals are nourished by it alone, as for instance grasshoppers.
And there are many other liquids that are nutritious, such as
milk, barleywater, and wine. At all events, animals at the breast
are nourished by milk; and there are many nations who drink
nothing but milk. And it is said that Democritus, the philosopher
of Abdera, after he had determined to rid himself of life on
## p. 928 (#350) ############################################
928
ATHENÆUS
account of his extreme old age, and after he had begun to dimin-
ish his food day by day, when the day of the Thesmophorian fes-
tival came round, and the women of his household besought him
not to die during the festival, in order that they might not be
debarred from their share in the festivities, was persuaded, and
ordered a vessel full of honey to be set near him: and in this
way he lived many days with no other support than honey; and
then some days after, when the honey had been taken away, he
died. But Democritus had always been fond of honey; and he
once answered a man, who asked him how he could live in the
enjoyment of the best health, that he might do so if he con-
stantly moistened his inward parts with honey, and the outer man
with oil. And bread and honey was the chief food of the Pytha-
goreans, according to the statement of Aristoxenus, who says
that those who eat this for breakfast were free from disease all
their lives. And Lycus says that the Cyrneans (a people who
live near Sardinia) are very long-lived, because they are contin-
ually eating honey; and it is produced in great quantities among
them.
AN ACCOUNT OF SOME GREAT EATERS
From the Deipnosophistæ
Η
ERACLITUS, in his 'Entertainer of Strangers,' says that there
was a woman named Helena who ate more than any other
woman ever did. And Posidippus, in his 'Epigrams,' says
that Phuromachus was a great eater, on whom he wrote this
epigram:-
"This lowly ditch now holds Phuromachus,
Who used to swallow everything he saw,
Like a fierce carrion crow who roams all night.
Now here he lies wrapped in a ragged cloak.
But, O Athenian, whosoe'er you are,
Anoint this tomb and crown it with a wreath,
If ever in old times he feasted with you.
At last he came sans teeth, with eyes worn out,
And livid, swollen eyelids; clothed in skins,
With but one single cruse, and that scarce full;
Far from the gay Lenæan Games he came,
Descending humbly to Calliope. "
## p. 929 (#351) ############################################
ATHENAEUS
929
Amarantus of Alexandria, in his treatise on the Stage, says
that Herodorus, the Megarian trumpeter, was a man three cubits
and a half in height; and that he had great strength in his chest,
and that he could eat six pounds of bread, and twenty litræ of
meat, of whatever sort was provided for him, and that he could
drink two choes of wine; and that he could play on two trumpets
at once; and that it was his habit to sleep on only a lion's skin,
and when playing on the trumpet he made a vast noise. Accord-
ingly, when Demetrius the son of Antigonus was besieging Argos,
and when his troops could not bring the battering ram against
the walls on account of its weight, he, giving the signal with his
two trumpets at once, by the great volume of sound which he
poured forth, instigated the soldiers to move forward the engine
with great zeal and earnestness; and he gained the prize in all
the games ten times; and he used to eat sitting down, as Nestor
tells us in his Theatrical Reminiscences. ' And there was a
woman, too, named Aglais, who played on the trumpet, the
daughter of Megacles, who, in the first great procession which
took place in Alexandria, played a processional piece of music;
having a head-dress of false hair on, and a crest upon her head,
as Posidippus proves by his epigrams on her. And she too could
eat twelve litre of meat and four chanixes of bread, and drink
a chanus of wine, at one sitting.
There was besides a man of the name of Lityerses, a bastard
son of Midas, the King of Celænæ, in Phrygia, a man of a sav-
age and fierce aspect, and an enormous glutton. He is mentioned
by Sositheus, the tragic poet, in his play called 'Daphnis' or
'Lityersa'; where he says:-
"He'll eat three asses' panniers, freight and all,
Three times in one brief day; and what he calls
A measure of wine is a ten-amphoræ cask;
And this he drinks all at a single draught. "
And the man mentioned by Pherecrates, or Strattis, whichever
was the author of the play called 'The Good Men,' was much
such another; the author says:-
"A. -I scarcely in one day, unless I'm forced,
Can eat two bushels and a half of food.
B. -A most unhappy man! how have you lost
Your appetite, so as now to be content
With the scant rations of one ship of war? »
11-59
## p. 930 (#352) ############################################
930
ATHENÆUS
And Xanthus, in his 'Account of Lydia,' says that Cambles,
who was the king of the Lydians, was a great eater and drinker,
and also an exceeding epicure; and accordingly, that he one
night cut up his own wife into joints and ate her; and then, in
the morning, finding the hand of his wife still sticking in his
mouth, he slew himself, as his act began to get notorious. And
we have already mentioned Thys, the king of the Paphlagoni-
ans, saying that he too was man of vast appetite, quoting
Theopompus, who speaks of him in the thirty-fifth book of his
'History'; and Archilochus, in his 'Tetrameters,' has accused
Charilas of the same fault, as the comic poets have attacked
Cleonymus and Pisander. And Phoenicides mentions Charippus
in his 'Phylarchus' in the following terms:—
"And next to them I place Chærippus third;
He, as you know, will without ceasing eat
As long as any one will give him food,
Or till he bursts, such stowage vast has he,
Like any house. "
And Nicolaus the Peripatetic, in the hundred and third book
of his History,' says that Mithridates, the king of Pontus, once
proposed a contest in great eating and great drinking (the prize
was a talent of silver), and that he himself gained the victory.
in both; but he yielded the prize to the man who was judged
to be second to him, namely, Calomodrys, the athlete of Cyzicus.
And Timocreon the Rhodian, a poet and an athlete who had
gained the victory in the pentathlum, ate and drank a great deal,
as the epigram on his tomb shows:-
"Much did I eat, much did I drink, and much
Did I abuse all men; now here I lie:-
My name Timocreon, my country Rhodes. "
And Thrasymachus of Chalcedon, in one of his prefaces, says
that Timocreon came to the great king of Persia, and being
entertained by him, did eat an immense quantity of food; and
when the king asked him, What he would do on the strength
of it? he said that he would beat a great many Persians; and
the next day having vanquished a great many, one after another,
taking them one by one, after this he beat the air with his
hands; and when they asked him what he wanted, he said that
he had all those blows left in him if any one was inclined to
## p. 931 (#353) ############################################
ATHENAEUS
931
come on. And Clearchus, in the fifth book of his 'Lives,' says
that Cantibaris the Persian, whenever his jaws were weary with
eating, had his slaves to pour food into his mouth, which he
kept open as if they were pouring it into an empty vessel. But
Hellanicus, in the first book of his Deucalionea, says that Ery-
sichthon, the son of Myrmidon, being a man perfectly insatiable
in respect of food, was called Ethon. Also Polemo, in the first
book of his Treatise addressed to Timæus,' says that among the
Sicilians there was a temple consecrated to gluttony, and an
image of Demeter Sito; near which also there was a statue of
Himalis, as there is at Delphi one of Hermuchus, and as at
Scolum in Boeotia there are statues of Megalartus and Megalo--
mazus.
THE LOVE OF ANIMALS FOR MAN
From the Deipnosophistæ
A
ND even dumb animals have fallen in love with men; for there
was a cock who took a fancy to a man of the name of Secun-
dus, a cupbearer of the king; and the cock was nicknamed
"the Centaur. " This Secundus was a slave of Nicomedes, the
king of Bithynia; as Nicander informs us in the sixth book of
his essay on The Revolutions of Fortune. ' And at Ægium, a
goose took a fancy to a boy; as Clearchus relates in the first
book of his 'Amatory Anecdotes. ' And Theophrastus, in his
essay On Love,' says that the name of this boy was Amphilo-
chus, and that he was a native of Olenus. And Hermeas the
son of Hermodorus, who was a Samian by birth, says that a
goose also took a fancy to Lacydes the philosopher. And in
Leucadia (according to a story told by Clearchus), a peacock fell
so in love with a maiden there that when she died, the bird died
too. There is a story also that at Iasus a dolphin took a fancy
to a boy, and this story is told by Duris, in the ninth book of
his 'History'; and the subject of that book is the history of
Alexander, and the historian's words are these:-
"He likewise sent for the boy from Iasus. For near Iasus
there was a boy whose name was Dionysius, and he once, when
leaving the palæstra with the rest of the boys, went down to the
sea and bathed; and a dolphin came forward out of the deep-
water to meet him, and taking him on his back, swam away
## p. 932 (#354) ############################################
ATHENÆUS
932
with him a considerable distance into the open sea, and then
brought him back again to land. "
The dolphin is in fact an animal which is very fond of
men, and very intelligent, and one very susceptible of gratitude.
Accordingly, Phylarchus, in his twelfth book, says: -
"Coiranus the Milesian, when he saw some fishermen who
had caught a dolphin in a net, and who were about to cut it up,
gave them some money and bought the fish, and took it down
and put it back in the sea again. And after this it happened to
him to be shipwrecked near Myconos, and while every one else
perished, Coiranus alone was saved by a dolphin. And when
at last he died of old age in his native country, as it so happened
that his funeral procession passed along the seashore close to
Miletus, a great shoal of dolphins appeared on that day in the
harbor, keeping only a very little distance from those who were
attending the funeral of Coiranus, as if they also were joining
in the procession and sharing in their grief. ”
The same Phylarchus also relates, in the twentieth book of
his 'History,' the great affection which was once displayed by
an elephant for a boy. And his words are these:-
-
"Now there was a female elephant kept with this elephant,
and the name of the female elephant was Nicæa; and to her the
wife of the king of India, when dying, intrusted her child, which
was just a month old. And when the woman did die, the affec-
tion for the child displayed by the beast was most extraordinary;
for it could not endure the child to be away; and whenever it
did not see him, it was out of spirits. And so, whenever the
nurse fed the infant with milk, she placed it in its cradle
between the feet of the beast; and if she had not done so, the
elephant would not take any food; and after this, it would take.
whatever reeds and grass there were near, and, while the child
was sleeping, beat away the flies with the bundle. And when-
ever the child wept, it would rock the cradle with its trunk, and
lull it to sleep. And very often the male elephant did the same. ”
## p. 933 (#355) ############################################
933
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
(1790-1855)
MONG the leaders of the romantic movement which affected
Swedish literature in the earlier half of the nineteenth cen-
tury was P. D. A. Atterbom, one of the greatest lyric poets
of his country. He was born in Ostergöthland, in 1790, and at the
age of fifteen was already so advanced in his studies that he entered
the University of Upsala. There in 1807 he helped to found the
"Musis Amici," a students' society of literature and art; its member-
ship included Hedbom, who is remembered for his beautiful hymns,
and the able and laborious Palmblad,-author of several popular
books, including the well-known novel 'Aurora Königsmark. ' This
society soon assumed the name of the Aurora League, and set itself
to free Swedish literature from French influence. The means chosen
were the study of German romanticism, and a treatment of the higher
branches of literature in direct opposition to the course decreed by
the Academical school. The leaders of this revolution were Atterbom,
eighteen years old, and Palmblad, twenty!
The first organ of the League was the Polyfem, soon replaced by
the Phosphorus (1810-1813), from which the young enthusiasts received
their sobriquet of "Phosphorists. " Theoretically this sheet was given.
to the discussion of Schelling's philosophy, and of metaphysical prob-
lems in general; practically, to the publication of the original poetry
of the new school. The Phosphorists did a good work in calling
attention to the old Swedish folk-lore, and awakening a new interest
in its imaginative treasures. But their best service lay in their forci-
ble and earnest treatment of religious questions, which at that time
were most superficially dealt with.
When the 'Phosphorus' was in its third year the Romanticists
united in bringing out two new organs: the Poetical Calendar
(1812-1822), which published poetry only, and the Swedish Literary
News (1813-1824), containing critical essays of great scientific value.
The Phosphorists, who had shown themselves ardent but not always
sagacious fighters, now appeared at their best, and dashed into the
controversy which was engaging the attention of the Swedish reading
public. This included not only literature, but philosophy and reli-
gion, as well as art. The odds were now on one side, now on the
other. The Academicians might easily have conquered their youth-
ful opponents, however, had not their bitterness continually forged
new weapons against themselves. In 1820 the Phosphorists wrote the
## p. 934 (#356) ############################################
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
:
934
excellent satire, Marskall's Sleepless Nights,' aimed at Wallmark,
leader of the Academicians. Gradually the strife died out, and the
man who carried off the palm, and for a time became the leader of
Swedish poetry, was Tegnèr, who was hardly a partisan of either
side.
In 1817 Atterbom had gone abroad, broken down in health by his
uninterrupted studies. While in Germany he entered into a warm
friendship with Schelling and Steffens, and in Naples he met the
Danish sculptor Thorwaldsen, to whose circle of friends he became
attached. On his return he was made tutor of German and literature
to the Crown Prince. In 1828 the Chair of Logics and Metaphysics
at Upsala was offered him, and he held this for seven years, when
he exchanged it for that of Esthetics. In 1839 he was elected a
member of the Academy whose bitterest enemy he had been, and so
the peace was signed.
Atterbom is undoubtedly the greatest lyrical poet in the ranks of
the Phosphorists. His verses are wonderfully melodious and full of
charm, in spite of the fact that his tendency to the mystical at times
makes him obscure. Among the best of his productions are a cycle
of lyrics entitled 'The Flowers'; 'The Isle of Blessedness,' a roman-
tic drama of great beauty, published in 1823; and a fragment of a
fairy drama, 'The Blue Bird. ' He introduced the sonnet into Swedish
poetry, and did a great service to the national literature by his criti-
cal work, 'Swedish Seers and Poets,' a collection of biographies and
criticisms of poets and philosophers before and during the reign of
Gustavus III. Atterbom's life may be accounted long in the way of
service, though he died at the age of sixty-five.
THE GENIUS OF THE NORTH
Its
IT
T IS true that our Northern nature is lofty and strong.
characteristics may well awaken deep meditation and emotion.
When the Goddess of Song has grown up in these surround-
ings, her view of life is like that mirrored in our lakes, where,
between the dark shadows of mountain and trees on the shore, a
light-blue sky looks down. Over this mirror the Northern morn-
ing and the Northern day, the Northern evening and the North-
ern night, rise in a glorious beauty. Our Muse kindles a lofty
hero's flame, a lofty seer's flame, and always the flame of a lofty
immortality. In this sombre North we experience an immense
joyousness and an immense melancholy, moods of earth-coveting
and of earth-renunciation. With equal mind we behold the fleet,
## p. 935 (#357) ############################################
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
935
charming dream of her summers, her early harvest with its
quickly falling splendor, and the darkness and silence of the long
winter's sleep. For if the gem-like green of the verdure pro-
claims its short life, it proclaims at the same time its richness,-
and in winter the very darkness seems made to let the starry
vault shine through with a glory of Valhalla and Gimle. Indeed,
in our North, the winter possesses an impressiveness, a freshness,
which only we Norsemen understand. Add to these strong
effects of nature the loneliness of life in a wide tract of land,
sparingly populated by a still sparingly educated people, and then
think of the poet's soul which must beat against these barriers of
circumstance and barriers of spirit! Yet the barriers that hold
him in as often help as hinder his striving. These conditions
explain what our literature amply proves; that so far, the only
poetical form which has reached perfection in Sweden is the lyr-
ical. This will be otherwise only as the northern mind, through
a growing familiarity with contemporaneous Europe, will consent
to be drawn from its forest solitude into the whirl of the motley
World's Fair outside its boundaries. It is probable that the lyrical
gift will always be the true possession of the Swedish poet. His
genius is such that it needs only a beautiful moment's exaltation
(blissful, whether the experience be called joy or sorrow) to rise
on full, free wings, suddenly singing out his very inmost being.
Whether the poet makes this inmost being his subject, or quite
forgets himself in a richer and higher theme, is of little conse-
quence.
If, again, no true lyric can express a narrow egoism, least of
all could the Swedish, in spite of the indivisible relation between
nature and man. The entire Sämunds-Edda shows us that Scan-
dinavian poetry was originally lyrical-didactic, as much religious
as heroic. Not only in lyrical impression, but also in lyrical con-
templation and lyrical expression, will the Swedish heroic poem
still follow its earliest trend.
Yes, let us believe that this impulse
will some day lead Swedish poetry into the only path of true
progress, to the point where dramatic expression will attain perfec-
tion of artistic form. This development is foreshadowed already
in the high tragic drama, in the view of the world taken by the
old Swedish didactic poem; and in some of the songs of the
Edda, as well as in many an old folk-song and folk-play. ·
## p. 936 (#358) ############################################
936
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
O
THE LILY OF THE VALLEY
'ER hill and dale the welcome news is flying
That summer's drawing near;
Out of my thicket cool, my cranny hidden,
Around I shyly peer.
He will not notice me, this guest resplendent,
Unseen I shall remain,
Content to live if of his banquet royal
Some glimpses I may gain.
Behold! Behold! His banquet hall's before me,
Pillared with forest trees;
Lo! as he feasts, a thousand sunbeams sparkle,
His gracious smiles are these.
Hail to thee, brilliant world! Ye heavens fretted
With clouds of silver hue!
Ye waves of mighty ocean, tossing, tossing,
Fair in my sight as new!
Far in the past (if years my life has numbered,
Ghost-like in thought they drift),
Came to me silently the truth eternal-
Joy is life's richest gift.
Thus, in return for life's abundant dower,
A gift have I: I bear
A spotless soul, from whose unseen recesses
Exhales a fragrance rare.
Strong is the power in gentle souls indwelling,
Born of a joy divine;
Theirs is a sphere untrod by creatures earthly,
By beings gross, supine.
Fragile and small, and set in quiet places,
My worth should I forget?
Some one who seeks friend, counselor, or lover,
Will find and prize me yet.
Thou lovely maid, through mossy pathways straying,
Striving to make thy choice,
Hearing the while the brook which downward leaping,
Lifts up its merry voice,
## p. 937 (#359) ############################################
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
Pluck me; and as a rich reward I'll whisper
Things thou wilt love to hear:
The name of him who comes to win thy favor
I'll whisper in thine ear!
SVANHVIT'S COLLOQUY
From The Islands of the Blest'
SVANHVIT (alone in her chamber)
N°
o ASDOLF yet,-in vain and everywhere
Hath he been sought for, since his foaming steed,
At morn, with vacant saddle, stood before
The lofty staircase in the castle yard.
His drooping crest and wildly rolling eye,
And limbs with frenzied terror quivering,
All seemed as though the midnight fiends had urged
His swiftest flight through many a wood and plain.
O Lord, that know'st what he hath witnessed there'
Wouldst thou but give one single speaking sound.
Unto the faithful creature's silent tongue,
That momentary voice would be, for me,
A call to life or summons to the grave.
[She goes to the window. ]
And yet what childish fears are these! How oft
Hath not my Asdolf boldest feats achieved
And aye returned, unharmed and beautiful!
Yes, beautiful, alas! like this cold flower
That proudly glances on the frosty pane.
Short is the violet's, short the cowslip's spring;-
The frost-flowers live far longer: cold as they
The beautiful should be, that it may share
The splendor of the light without its heat;
For else the sun of life must soon dissolve
The hard, cold, shining pearls to liquid tears;
And tears-flow fast away.
937
[She breathes on the window. ]
Become transparent, thou fair Asdolf flower,
That I may look into the vale beneath!
There lies the city, - Asdolf's capital:
How wondrously the spotless vest of snow
## p. 938 (#360) ############################################
938
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
:
On roof, on mount, on market-place now smiles
A glittering welcome to the morning sun,
Whose blood-red beams shed beauty on the earth!
The Bride of Sacrifice makes no lament,
But smiles in silence, knowing sadly well
That she is slighted, and that he, who could
Call forth her spring, doth not, but rather dwells
In other climes, where lavishly he pours
His fond embracing beams, while she, alas!
In wintry shade and lengthened loneliness
Cold on the solitary couch reclines. -
[After a pause. ]
What countless paths wind down, from divers points,
To yonder city gates! -Oh, wilt not thou,
My star, appear to me on one of them?
Whate'er I said,-thou art my worshiped sun.
Then pardon me;-thou art not cold; oh, no!
Too warm, too glowing warm, art thou for me.
Yet thus it is! Thy being's music has
A thousand chords with thousand varying tones,
Whilst I but one poor sound can offer thee
Of tenderness and truth. At times, indeed,
This too may have its power,- but then it lasts
One and the same forever, sounding still
Unalterably like itself alone;
A wordless prayer to God for what we love,
'Tis more a whisper than a sound, and charms
Like new-mown meadows, when the grass exhales
Sweet fragrance to the foot that tramples it.
Kings, heroes, towering spirits among men,
Rush to their aim on wild and stormy wings,
And far beneath them view the world, whose form
For ever varies on from hour to hour.
What would they ask of love? That, volatile,
In changeful freshness it may charm their ears
With proud, triumphant songs, when high in air
Victorious banners wave; or sweetly lull
To rapturous repose, when round them roars
The awful thunder's everlasting voice!
Mute, mean, and spiritless to them must seem
The maid who is no more than woman. How
Should she o'er-sound the storm their wings have raised?
## p. 939 (#361) ############################################
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
939
[Sitting down. ]
Great Lord! how lonely I become within
These now uncheerful towers! O'er all the earth
No shield have I,-no mutual feeling left!
'Tis true that those around me all are kind,
And well I know they love me,-more, indeed,
Than my poor merits claim. Yet, even though
They raised me to my Asdolf's royal throne,
As being the last of all his line,-ah me!
No solace could it bring;-for then far less
Might I reveal the sorrow of my soul!
A helpless maiden's tears like raindrops fall,
Which in a July night, ere harvest-time,
Bedew the flowers, and, trembling, stand within
Their half-closed eyes unnumbered and unknown.
[She rises. ]
-
Yet One there is, who counts the maiden's tears; -
But when will their sad number be fulfilled? —
[Walking to and fro. ]
How calm was I in former days! — I now
Am so no more! My heart beats heavily,
Oppressed within its prison-cave. Ah! fain
Would I that it might burst its bonds, so that
'Twere conscious, Asdolf, I sometimes had seemed
Not all unworthy in thine eyes.
[She takes the guitar. ]
A gentle friend - the Master from Vallandia-
Has taught me how I may converse with thee,
Thou cherished token of my Asdolf's love!
I have been told of far-off lakes, around
Whose shores the cypress and the willow wave,
And make a mournful shade above the stream,
Which, dark, and narrow on the surface, swells
Broad and unfathomably deep below:-
From these dark lakes at certain times, and most
On Sabbath morns and eves of festivals,
Uprising from the depths, is heard a sound
Most strange and wild, as of the tuneful bells
Of churches and of castles long since sunk;
And as the wanderer's steps approach the shore,
He hears more plainly the lamenting tone
## p. 940 (#362) ############################################
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
940
Of the dark waters, whilst the surface still
Continues motionless and calm, and seems
To listen with a melancholy joy,
While thus the dim mysterious depths resound;
So let me strive to soften and subdue
My heart's dark swelling with a soothful song.
[She plays and sings. ]
The maiden bound her hunting-net
At morning fresh and fair —
Ah, no! that lay doth ever make me grieve.
Another, then! that of the hapless flower,
Surprised by frost and snow in early spring.
[Sings. ]
Hush thee, oh, hush thee,
Slumber from snow and stormy sky,
Lovely and lone one!
Now is the time for thee to die,
When vale and streamlet frozen lie.
Hush thee, oh, hush thee!
Hours hasten onward;-
For thee the last will soon be o'er.
Rest thee, oh, rest thee!
Flowers have withered thus before,-
And, my poor heart, what wouldst thou more?
Rest thee, oh, rest thee!
Shadows should darkly
Enveil thy past delights and woes.
Forget, oh, forget them!
'Tis thus that eve its shadows throws;
But now, in noiseless night's repose,
Forget, oh, forget them!
Slumber, oh, slumber!
No friend hast thou like kindly snow;
Sleep is well for thee,
For whom no second spring will blow;
Then why, poor heart, still beating so?
Slumber, oh, slumber!
Hush thee, oh, hush thee!
Resign thy life-breath in a sigh,
Listen no longer,
Life bids farewell to thee. - then die!
Sad one, good night! -in sweet sleep lie!
Hush thee, oh, hush thee!
## p. 941 (#363) ############################################
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
941
[She bursts into tears. ]
Would now that I might bid adieu to life;
But, ah! no voice to me replies, "Sleep well! "
THE MERMAID
L
EAVING the sea, the pale moon lights the strand.
Tracing old runes, a youth inscribes the sand.
And by the rune-ring waits a woman fair,
Down to her feet extends her dripping hair.
Woven of lustrous pearls her robes appear,
Thin as the air and as the water clear.
Lifting her veil with milk-white hand she shows
Eyes in whose deeps a deadly fire glows.
Blue are her eyes: she looks upon him- bound,
As by a spell, he views their gulf profound.
Heaven and death are there: in his desire,
He feels the chill of ice, the heat of fire.
Graciously smiling, now she whispers low:-
"The runes are dark, would you their meaning know?
Follow! my dwelling is as dark and deep;
You, you alone, its treasure vast shall keep! "
"Where is your dwelling, charming maid, now say! "
"Built on a coral island far away,
Crystalline, golden, floats that castle free,
Meet for a lovely daughter of the sea! "
Still he delays and muses, on the strand;
Now the alluring maiden grasps his hand.
"Ah! Do you tremble, you who were so bold? "
"Yes, for the heaving breakers are so cold! "
"Let not the mounting waves your spirit change!
Take, as a charm, my ring with sea-runes strange.
Here is my crown of water-lilies white,
Here is my harp, with human bones bedight. "
"What say my Father and my Mother dear?
What says my God, who bends from heaven to hear? »
"Father and Mother in the churchyard lie.
As for thy God, he deigns not to reply. "
## p. 942 (#364) ############################################
942
PER DANIEL AMADEUS ATTERBOM
Blithely she dances on the pearl-strewn sand,
Smiting the bone-harp with her graceful hand.
Fair is her bosom, through her thin robe seen,
White as a swan beheld through rushes green.
"Follow me, youth! through ocean deeps we'll rove;
There is my castle in its coral grove;
There the red branches purple shadows throw,
There the green waves, like grass, sway to and fro.
"I have a thousand sisters; none so fair.
He whom I wed receives my sceptre rare.
Wisdom occult my mother will impart.
Granting his slightest wish, I'll cheer his heart. "
"Heaven and earth to win you I abjure!
Child of the ocean, is your promise sure? "
"Heaven and earth abjuring, great's your gain,
Throned with the ancient gods, a king to reign! "
Lo, as she speaks, a thousand starlights gleam,
Lighted for Heaven's Christmas day they seem.
Sighing, he swears the oath,- the die is cast;
Into the mermaid's arms he sinks at last.
High on the shore the rushing waves roll in.
"Why does the color vary on your skin?
What! From your waist a fish's tail depends! »
"Worn for the dances of my sea-maid friends. "
High overhead, the stars, like torches, burn:
"Haste! to my golden castle I return.
Save me, ye runes! "-"Yes, try them now; they fail.
Pupil of heathen men, my spells prevail! »
Proudly she turns; her sceptre strikes the wave,
Roaring, it parts; the ocean yawns, a grave.
Mermaid and youth go down; the gulf is deep.
Over their heads the surging waters sweep.
Often, on moonlight nights, when bluebells ring,
When for their sports the elves are gathering,
Out of the waves the youth appears, and plays
Tunes that are merry, mournful, like his days.
## p. 943 (#365) ############################################
943
AUCASSIN AND NICOLETTE
(Twelfth Century)
BY FREDERICK MORRIS WARREN
HIS charming tale of mediæval France has reached modern
times in but one manuscript, which is now in the National
Library at Paris. It gives us no hint as to the time and
place of the author, but its linguistic forms would indicate for local-
ity the borderland of Champagne and Picardy, while the fact that the
verse of the story is in assonance would point to the later twelfth
century as the date of the original draft. It would thus be contem-
poraneous with the last poems of Chrétien de Troyes (1170-80). The
author was probably a minstrel by profession, but one of more than
ordinary taste and talent. For, evidently skilled in both song and
recitation, he so divided his narrative between poetry and prose that
he gave himself ample opportunity to display his powers, while at the
same time he retained more easily, by this variety, the attention of
his audience. He calls his invention - if his invention it be—a "song-
story. " The subject he drew probably from reminiscences of the
widely known story of Floire and Blanchefleur; reversing the parts,
so that here it is the hero who is the Christian, while the heroine is
a Saracen captive baptized in her early years. The general outline
of the plot also resembles indistinctly the plot of Floire and Blanche-
fleur, though its topography is somewhat indefinite, and a certain
amount of absurd adventure in strange lands is interwoven with it.
With these exceptions, however, few literary productions of the Mid-
dle Ages can rival Aucassin and Nicolette' in graceful sentiment
and sympathetic description.
The Paris manuscript gives the music for the poetical parts,-
music that is little more than a modulation. There is a different
notation for the first two lines, but for the other lines this notation
is repeated in couplets, except that the last line of each song or
laisse-being a half-line- has a cadence of its own. The lines are
all seven syllables in length, save the final half-lines, and the asso-
nance, which all but the half-lines observe, tends somewhat towards
rhyme.
The story begins with a song which serves as prologue; and
then its prose takes up the narrative, telling how Aucassin, son of
Garin, Count of Beaucaire, so loved Nicolette, a Saracen maiden,
who had been sold to the Viscount of Beaucaire, baptized and
adopted by him, that he had forsaken knighthood and chivalry and
## p. 944 (#366) ############################################
944
AUCASSIN AND NICOLETTE
even refused to defend his father's territories against Count Bougart
of Valence. Accordingly his father ordered the Viscount to send
away Nicolette, and he walled her up in a tower of his palace.
Later, Aucassin is imprisoned by his father. But Nicolette escapes,
hears him lamenting in his cell, and comforts him until the warden
on the tower warns her of the approach of the town watch. She
flees to the forest outside the gates, and there, in order to test
Aucassin's fidelity, builds a rustic tower. When he is released from
prison, Aucassin hears from shepherd lads of Nicolette's hiding-place,
and seeks her bower. The lovers, united, resolve to leave the coun-
try. They take ship and are driven to the kingdom of Torelore,
whose queen they find in child-bed, while the king is with the army.
After a three years' stay in Torelore they are captured by Saracen
pirates and separated. Contrary winds blow Aucassin's boat to Beau-
caire, where he succeeds to Garin's estate, while Nicolette is carried
to Carthage. The sight of the city reminds her that she is the
daughter of its king, and a royal marriage is planned for her. But
she avoids this by assuming a minstrel's garb, and setting sail for
Beaucaire. There, before Aucassin, she sings of her own adventures,
and in due time makes herself known to him. Now in one last
strain our story-teller celebrates the lovers' meeting, concluding
with-
"Our song-story comes to an end,
I know no more to tell. »
And thus he takes leave of the gentle and courageous maiden.
The whole account of these trials and reunions does not occupy
over forty pages of the original French, which has been best edited
by H. Suchier at Paderborn (second edition, 1881). In 1878, A. Bida
published, with illustrations, a modern French version of the story
at Paris, accompanied by the original text and a preface by Gaston
Paris. This version was translated into English by A. Rodney Mac-
donough under the title of The Lovers of Provence: Aucassin and
Nicolette (New York, 1880). Additional illustrations by American
artists found place in this edition. F. W. Bourdillon has published
the original text and an English version, together with an exhaustive
introduction, bibliography, notes, and glossary (London, 1887), and,
later in the same year, Andrew Lang wrote out another translation,
accompanied by an introduction and notes: Aucassin and Nicolette'
(London). The extracts given below are from Lang's version, with
occasional slight alterations.
L. M Warren.
## p. 945 (#367) ############################################
AUCASSIN AND NICOLETTE
'TIS OF AUCASSIN AND NICOLETTE
WHOG
HO would list to the good lay,
Gladness of the captive gray?
'Tis how two young lovers met,
Aucassin and Nicolette;
Of the pains the lover bore,
And the perils he outwore,
For the goodness and the grace
Of his love, so fair of face.
Sweet the song, the story sweet,
There is no man hearkens it,
No man living 'neath the sun,
So outwearied, so fordone,
Sick and woful, worn and sad,
But is healed, but is glad,
'Tis so sweet.
945
So say they, speak they, tell they The Tale,
How the Count Bougart of Valence made war on Count Garin of
Beaucaire, war so great, so marvelous, and so mortal that never
a day dawned but alway he was there, by the gates and walls and
barriers of the town, with a hundred knights, and ten thousand
men-at-arms, horsemen and footmen: so burned he the Count's
land, and spoiled his country, and slew his men. Now, the Count
Garin of Beaucaire was old and frail, and his good days were
gone over. No heir had he, neither son nor daughter, save one
young man only; such an one as I shall tell you. Aucassin was
the name of the damoiseau: fair was he, goodly, and great, and
featly fashioned of his body and limbs. His hair was yellow, in
little curls, his eyes blue-gray and laughing, his face beautiful
and shapely, his nose high and well set, and so richly seen was
he in all things good, that in him was none evil at all.
