man’s capacity for action rather than the purposes toward which that capacity may be directed._ _Of three subsequent plays, “Vendt the Monk,” (1903), “Queen Tamara” (1903) and “At the Mercy of Life” (1910), the first mentioned is by far the most remarkable. It is a verse drama in eight acts, centred about one of Hamsun’s most typical vagabond heroes. The monk_ Vendt _has much in common with_ Peer Gynt _without being in any way an imitation or a duplicate. He is a dreamer in revolt against the world’s alleged injustice, a rebel against the very powers that invisibly move the universe, and a passionate lover of life who in the end accepts it as a joyful battle and then dreams of the long peace to come. The vigor and charm of the verse proved a surprise to the critics when the play was published, as Hamsun until then had given no proof of any poetic gift in the narrower sense._ _From 1897 to 1912 Hamsun produced a series of volumes that simply marked a further development of the tendencies shown in his first novels: “Siesta,” short stories, 1897; “Victoria,” a novel with a charming love story that embodies the tenderest note in his production, 1898; “In Wonderland,” travelling sketches from the Caucasus, 1903; “Brushwood,” short stories, 1903; “The Wild Choir,” a collection of poems, 1904; “Dreamers,” a novel, 1904; “Struggling Life,” short stories and travelling sketches, 1905; “Beneath the Autumn Star,” a novel, 1906; “Benoni,” and “Rosa,” two novels forming to some extent sequels to “Pan,” 1908; “A Wanderer Plays with Muted Strings,” a novel, 1909; and “The Last Joy,” a shapeless work, half novel and half mere uncoördinated reflections, 1912._ _The later part of this output seemed to indicate a lack of development, a failure to open up new vistas, that caused many to fear that the principal contributions of Hamsun already lay behind him. Then appeared in 1913 a big novel, “Children of the Time,” which in many ways struck a new note, although led up to by “Rosa” and “Benoni.” The horizon is now wider, the picture broader. There is still a central figure, and still he possesses many of the old Hamsun traits, but he has crossed the meridian at last and become an observer rather than a fighter and doer. Nor is he the central figure to the same extent as_ Lieutenant Glahn _in “Pan” or_ Kareno _in the trilogy. The life pictured is the life of a certain spot of ground--Segelfoss manor, and later the town of Segelfoss--rather than that of one or two isolated individuals. One might almost say that Hamsun’s vision has become social at last, were it not for his continued accentuation of the irreconcilable conflict between the individual and the group._