To bind man's heart by wedded vows, and teach A yearning, which the soul in God alone Of beauty and delight? This song of ours. GERBRAND BREDERODE. GERBRAND BREDERODE (1585-1618) was of humble birth and devoted his talents to the amusement of the common people. For them he depicted in his comedies their own life with its homely joys and sorrows. His numerous poems were collected after his death in volumes bearing the names, "The Facetious Song-Book," "The Meditative Song-Book," and "The Great Fountain of Love." LAMENT FOR LOST LOVE. (From "The Great Fountain of Love.") CANST thou so soon unkindly sever The precious time now lost forever, In happiness, and converse free from guile, From night till morning, and 'neath twilight's smile? A father's rage and friends' derision For thee I've borne, when thou wert kind; But they fled by me as a vision That fades and leaves no trace behind. Oh, thus I deemed, when fondly beamed, And purely gleamed, those brilliant eyes, whose ray How oft those tender hands I've taken, And drawn them to my breast, whose flame Seemed, at their gentle touch, to waken I wished to wear a lattice there, Of crystal clear or purest glass, that well So longed to wed, so cherished! Ah! who could dread that thou wouldst wanton be, And so inconstant in thy love to me? Another youth has stolen my treasure, And placed himself upon the throne Where late I reigned, supreme in pleasure, And weakly thought it all my own. What causes now that chilling brow? What thoughts, too painful to be spoken, Of vows we made beneath the shade, And kisses paid by my fond lips to thine, And given back with murmured sigh to mine! Bethink thee of those hours of wooing, Of words that seemed the breath of truth,The Eden thou hast made a ruin, My withered hopes and blighted youth! It wonders me that thou shouldst be So calm and free, nor dread the rage that burns Away,-away,- accursed deceiver ! With tears delude the eyes and brain Of him, the fond, the weak believer, Who follows now thy fickle train. That senseless hind (to whom thou'rt kind, Not for his mind, but for his treasured ore) Disturbs me not. Farewell! we meet no more! Scandinavia includes Norway, Sweden and Denmark. All three countries today are, and at various periods in the past have been, free and independent. At other times they have been held together in some sort of union. At an early period that branch of the Teutonic race from which the Northmen were descended migrated to the extreme northern part of Europe. Little is known of them during this remote age. It so happened that in the ninth century a strong prince usurped the power of king. He introduced such a rigorous rule that many of the chiefs would not submit to him. Thus a general migration began, which affected the greater part of the continent. To be sure, many bold vikings had earlier swooped down upon the settlements in Britain and France and the territory near the mouth of the Rhine. Hengist and Horsa in the middle of the fifth century responded to a cry for aid on the part of the Britains. Having repulsed the Picts and Scots, they refused to take their share of the booty and depart, as the Britains asked, but defeated those they had aided and, victorious, set up the kingdom of Kent. Norse raids along the coasts had been occasional for three centuries before the great outpouring in the eighth century, but the disturbances they provoked were slight compared with that resulting from this later exodus. So numerous were the ones who left their northern home at this time and so prolonged the migration, that it has been compared to the Wanderings of the Nations upon the fall of Rome. Iceland, Russia, England, France and Italy all received a share of the outpouring. From 874-934 is known by the Scandinavian chroniclers as the "land-taking period." The most cultured of the Norsemen removed to Iceland. Here they were able to enjoy that freedom so dear to them and no longer possible in Norway. At first they settled separately, wherever suitable lands could be found. Soon they adopted laws common throughout the island and in time the parliament of the island came into being. This was known as the Althing. It concerned itself with affairs pertaining to the common good. Unfortunately it was unable to take sufficient measures for the protection of the island against invaders, and in 1263 Norway conquered Iceland. Christianity came into Denmark and Sweden from Germany. Norway and Iceland remained longer away from its influences; about 1000 A. D. the Althing adopted it as the religion of Iceland. Fortunately there was here an absence of that destruction which so often accompanied the adoption of the new faith. With a strong aversion to anything which had been pagan, the nations of southern Europe ruthlessly destroyed temples and works of art. Thus our civilization has been bereft of many precious legacies. In the north the reverence for the old was sufficiently great to insure its preservation. Investigation of modern times has shown that the Norsemen were not alone the fierce, blood-thirsty pirates once supposed. It is true that they loved to skirt along the shores of seas and bays, suddenly falling upon settlements near at hand which they not infrequently laid waste and rushed on again in their ships. That was but one side of the matter, however. The more cultured among them were most intelligent and capable. All loved the songs of brave men and for generations before they had a written language, long stories of deities and heroes were handed down from father to son. Like the Greeks and unlike the Romans, they were gifted with vivid imaginations and wove into their stories much of beauty. Their skalds, or minstrels, went from country to country, singing their songs and returning to entertain their kinsmen with reports from remote lands. When a written language was acquired, there was a whole wealth of literature at hand to be chronicled. Thus whole cycles of songs, or sagas, were collected and preserved. Beowolf, written perhaps in England, but known much earlier in the north, is one of these hero stories. The Elder Edda, a collection of these Norse sagas prepared about 1300, was long supposed to have been the production of one; now, like the Iliad, it is understood to have been the work of many singers. Iceland, so little known even today, has been the home of a remarkable people since the latter part of the ninth century. Climatic conditions are very severe, and during the Middle Ages two-thirds of the population were wiped out by the Plague -a loss from which the island has never rallied. Nevertheless, in comparison with its population, it has produced a surprisingly rich literature. In 1874 the Icelanders celebrated their one-thousandth anniversary and it was their boast that everyone in their land could read and write and possessed a fair education, while some of their number were gifted indeed. Among those in recent years who have labored diligently to preserve and translate the old runes containing so much of value and interest for the historian the Icelanders have themselves supplied a goodly number. Denmark gained the ascendency over her Scandinavian neighbors, but this was not lasting. Free and independent for a time, in 1397 the Union of Calmar was formed, uniting all under Queen Margaret of Denmark. Each was to retain its constitution and make its own laws, but the three countries were to stand together for mutual purposes and interests. The generous minded of all three states saw in this a chance for the Norse countries to hold their own against other European states and to promote the interests of trade. However, it was a dream which was never fully realized, for jealousies and petty feuds tore the whole fabric to pieces. In 1523 Sweden revolted under the leadership of the house of Vasa. Winning her independence, she adopted Lutheranism. For some time Sweden was a state to be considered. When Gustavus Adolphus ascended the throne he found the country embroiled in three foreign complications-all stimulated by a rivalship for control of the Baltic. (1) Denmark occupied southern Sweden and the entrance to the Baltic; (2) Russia was encroaching farther and farther toward Swedish possessions in her zeal for water ways. (3) The king of Poland claimed the Swedish crown. Gustavus made war against his three enemies and was victorious over each. At this time the cause of Protestantism was suffering by the vigorous action of a Catholic Emperor. Gustavus espoused the Protestant side and his famous victories in Germany will be remembered. After a decisive battle he fell, while the Swedish army were left conquerors on the field. Sweden acquired valuable possessions by the Peace of Westphalia and remained predominant in the Baltic. |