Hermann Sudermann was born at a little village in East Prussia, near the Russian frontier. The natal landscape is dull, depressing, gloomy, and the skies are low and threatening. The clouds return after the rain. Dame Care has spread her grey wings over the flat earth, and neither the scenery nor the quality of the air are such as to inspire hope and vigour. The boy's parents were desperately poor, and the bitter struggles with poverty so frequently described in his novels are reminiscent of early experiences. In the beautiful and affectionate verses, which constitute the dedication to his father and mother, and which are placed at the beginning of _Frau Sorge_, these privations of the Sudermann household are dwelt on with loving tenderness. At the age of fourteen, the child was forced to leave school, and was apprenticed to a chemist--something that recalls chapters in the lives of Keats and of Ibsen. But, like most boys who really long for a good education, Sudermann obtained it; he continued his studies in private, and later returned to school at Tilsit. In 1875 he attended the University at Königsberg, and in 1877 migrated to the University of Berlin. His first impulse was to become a teacher, and he spent several years in a wide range of studies in philosophy and literature. Then he turned to journalism, and edited a political weekly. He finally forsook journalism for literature, and for the last twenty years he has been known in every part of the intellectual world. Like Mr. J. M. Barrie, Signor D'Annunzio, and other contemporaries, Sudermann has achieved high distinction both as a novelist and as a dramatist. Indeed, one of the signs of the times is the recruiting of playwrights from the ranks of trained experts in prose fiction. It may perhaps be regarded as one more evidence of the approaching supremacy of the Drama, which many literary prophets have foretold. After he had published a small collection of "Zwanglose Geschichten," called _Im Zwielicht_, Sudermann issued his first real novel, _Dame Care_ (_Frau Sorge_). This was followed by two tales bound together under the heading _Geschwister_, one of them being the morbidly powerful story, _The Wish_ (_Der Wunsch_). Soon after came _Der Katzensteg_, translated into English with the title, _Regina_. Then, after a surprisingly short interval, came his first play, _Die Ehre_ (1889), which appeared in the same year as his rival Hauptmann's first drama, _Vor Sonnenaufgang_. _Die Ehre_ created a tremendous sensation, and Sudermann was excitedly read and discussed far beyond the limits of his native land. He reached a wild climax of popularity a few years later with his play _Heimat_ (English version _Magda_), which has been presented by the greatest actresses in the world, and is familiar to everybody. With the exception of the long novel, _Es War_ (English translation, _The Undying Past_), which appeared in 1894, Sudermann devoted himself exclusively to the