Thirty years later, for the silver wedding anniversary of Herman Anker and his wife, Björnson wrote another poem of patriotic and idealistic strains, beginning, Land That Shall Be! Thither, when thwarted our longings, we sail,-- Sighs to the clouds, that we breathe when we fail, Form a mirage of rich valley and mead Over our need,-- Visions revealing the future until Faith shall fulfill,-- The land that shall be![39] Ever after a visit to Upsala University and a longer residence in Copenhagen, Björnson had cravings to write and to direct plays. In the latter position he served for a time, 1857-1859, at Bergen. His first plays were of saga heroes and chieftains, like Halvard of _Between the Battles_ and _Sigurd Slembe_ or _Sigurd the Bad_. They possess militant virtues and moral integrity but they are driven to misdeeds and despair by opposition to their good intentions. Thus Sigurd seeks to make peace with his half-brother, Harold Gille, but is betrayed into revenge and murder. Mr. Brandes suggests that in these plays the spiritual sufferings of Björnson--who would elevate and harmonize the Norwegian people but finds himself misunderstood and rejected in his idealism--are revealed by analogy. He stresses the difference between Björnson and Ibsen in this respect and others; the former seeks comradeship and unity; the latter is “solitary by nature.” Björnson portrays all aspects of nature; Ibsen seldom uses such descriptions. With fine distinctions between the two men, in nature and literature, Mr. Brandes writes: “Henrik Ibsen is a judge, stern as one of the judges of Israel of old; Björnson is a prophet, the delightful herald of a better age. In the depths of his nature, Ibsen is a great revolutionist.... Björnson’s is a conciliatory mind; he wages warfare without bitterness. His poetry sparkles with the sunshine of April, while that of Ibsen, with its deep earnestness, seems to lurk in dark shadows.” Ibsen loved the idea; Björnson loved humanity.[40]