The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 1, August, 1851Various
History
The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 1, August, 1851
Various
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- History -- Periodicals
"Let us sit here, between the fragments of rock by the
shore, in the red evening sunlight, which sheds a golden
lustre on the waters of the Dal-elv.
"Glorious river! But a few seconds' work hast thou to do in
the mills yonder, and thou rushest foaming on over
Elvkarleby's rocks, down into the deep bed of the river,
which leads thee to the Baltic--thy eternity."
We could fill half our number with passages just as beautiful; but
will leave the rest of the poet's landscapes till some American
publisher brings out the book. We must nevertheless quote one picture
of a different kind. "One touch of nature makes the whole world kin;"
and the sorrows of the palace and the cottage alike find their level
and their rest in the grave. The "Mute Book" speaks with a moving
eloquence to those who can read it aright:
"By the high-road into the forest there stood a solitary
farm-house. One way lay right through the farm-yard; the sun
shone; all the windows were open; there was life and bustle
within, but in the yard, in an arbor of flowering lilacs,
there stood an open coffin. The corpse had been placed out
here, and it was to be buried that forenoon. No one stood
by, and wept over that dead man; no one hung sorrowfully
over him. His face was covered with a white cloth, and under
his head there lay a large, thick book, every leaf of which
was a whole sheet of gray paper, and, between each, lay
withered flowers, deposited and forgotten,--a whole
herbarium, gathered in different places. He himself had
requested that it should be laid in the grave with him. A
chapter of his life was blended with every flower! 'Who is
that dead man?' we asked, and the answer was, 'The old
student from Upsala. They say he was once very clever; he
knew the learned languages, could sing and write verses too;
but then there was something that went wrong, and so he gave
both his thoughts and himself up to drinking spirits, and,
as his health suffered by it, he came out here into the
country, where they paid for his board and lodging. He was
as gentle as a child when the dark humor did not come over
him, for then he was strong, and ran about in the forest
like a hunted deer; but when we got him home, we persuaded
him to look into the book with the dry plants. Then he would
sit the whole day, and look at one plant, and then at
another, and many a time the tears ran down his cheeks. God
knows what he then thought! But he begged that he might have
the book with him in his coffin; and now it lies there, and
the lid will soon be fastened down, and then he will take
his peaceful rest in the grave!'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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