Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/539

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SWEDEN (LANGUAGE AND LITERATUBE) morist in his Noaks Ark, but less happy in his religious epic, An&garius ; and J. C. Nyberg (Svardstrom, born 1785), a female writer of considerable ease and grace, better known as Euphrosyne. The Gothic school, which has left a more permanent impress upon poetry, developed its theories through a society, the Gdthiska Forbund (the " Gothic Union, " 1811), and a journal, Iduna (1811-'24). It sought its sources of inspiration in the ancient literature and mythology of the North. Fore- most among its members, and foremost among all the poets of Sweden, stands Esaias Tegner (1782-1846). (See TEGNER.) The historian Geijer was another member of the Gdthiska Forbund ; his lyrics are original, strong, and clear. There is more novelty and force than good poetic taste in Asarne (" The Gods of the North "), Tirfing, and the historical trage- dies of P. H. Ling (1776-1839), who is bet- ter known out of Sweden as the founder of a new system of medicine or medical gymnas- tics. Far better in style was 0. A. Meander (1799-1839), author of Runwofodet ("The Runic Sword ") and other poems. Influenced by one or other of these two schools, but to a certain extent independent of both, are E. J. Stagnelius (1793-1823), whose dramas, such as Martyrerna ("The Martyrs"), epical poems, as Wladimir, and minor pieces, are marked by an admirable spirit and great beauty of diction; Erik Sjoberg (1794-1828), better known by his assumed name Vitalis, who, like Nicander and Stagnelius, died early ; A. Lin- deblad (born 1800), a composer of religious and secular lyrics in the spirit of Tegner ; and A. A. Grafstrom (1790-1865), whose poetical de- velopment was strongly influenced by Franz6n. The highest rank among living poets is held by Johan Ludvig Raneberg (born 1804), a na- tive and resident of Finland, in whose Fdnrilc Stdls Sagner (" Ensign Stal's Stories "), a series of patriotic lyrics on the Swedish-Russian war of 1808-'9, are displayed an energy of expres- sion and a depth of poetic thought unknown to Swedish literature since the death of Tegner. 0. W. Bottlger (born 1807), the son-in-law of Tegn6r, has written some musical dramas and minor pieces, distinguished by a lively fancy and a cultivated taste. O. P. Sturzen-Becker (1811-'69) wrote lyrics after the manner of Heine, and humorous sketches. Other poets are W. von Braun (18 13-' 60), whose humor is striking, but too often broad and coarse ; Ny- bom (died 1865) ; C. W. A. Strandberg, whose pseudonymous name is Talis Qualis, and who has translated Byron and written some lyrics of great excellence; B. E. Malmstrom (1816- '66), Satherberg, J. M. Lindblad; Tekla Knos, a poetess, whose claims to fame have been sanctioned by the Swedish academy ; G. Silf- verstolpe, Wennstrom, V. E. Noren, Z. Tope- lius, a Finlander (born 1818), E. Sehlstedt (died 1874), and many others. Charles XV. and his brother and successor Oscar II. are poets of some merit ; the latter's translation of Herder's SWEDENBORG 515 Cid has great excellence. Tragedies and his- torical dramas have been written by J. Bor- jesson (1790-1866), one of the Fosforister, whose Eric XIV. is one of the masterpieces of the Swedish drama; C. E. Hylten-Cavallius, Dahlgren, andKullberg; and comedies by A. Blanche (died 1868), Jolin, Cramer, F. Hed- berg (at present the leading writer for the stage), Granlund, Beskow, and others. No romances stand higher than those of three female writers, Fredrika Bremer (died 1865), whose first work (1828) was styled Tecknin- gar ur HvardagsUfcet ("Sketches of Every- Day Life ") ; E. S. Carlen (born 1807), a pro- lific and popular authoress of novels of soci- ety ; and Baroness Knorring (died 1833). All of these are widely known both in Europe and America through numerous translations. Of the imitators of Sir Walter Scott, the high- est name is perhaps the learned and versatile V. F. Palmblad (1788-1852), celebrated as a geographer, critic, biographer, and politician of the ultra conservative school, whose Aurora Konigsmark was one of the earliest readable fictions in Swedish. Equally versatile was C. J. L. Almquist (1793-1866), whose tales, and especially a collection called Tornrosem Bok, are rich in variety and fancy. Other romancers are Count P. G. Sparre (born 1790); F. Ce- derborg (born 1784), author of Ottar Trailing and Una von Trasenberg, historical fictions of much interest ; C. F. Ridderstad (born 1807), an imitator of the Dumas school ; Kjellman- Goransson, Zeipel, Bjursten, O. P. Sturzen- Becker; C. A. Wetterberg (born 1804), a pop- ular writer of sketches and tales under the as- sumed name of Onkel Adam; G. H. Mellin (born 1803) ; and Viktor Rydberg, statesman, metaphysician, and essayist, who has produced at least one powerful work of fiction, Den siste A tenaven (" The last Athenian "). Claude Ge- rard (a pseudonyme) and Mrs. M. S. Schwartz (born 1819) enjoy at present the greatest popularity as novelists. As translators may be mentioned C. A. Hagberg, author of an ac- curate and spirited version of the complete works of Shakespeare ; Andersson, translator of Goethe ; and N. Lov6n, who has rendered the poems of Dante and Camoens into Swe- dish verse. Most of the higher efforts of _lit- erature in English, French, German, Italian, and Danish, especially in fiction, have been translated within the last 30 years. _ Sweden supports 271 newspapers, one of which, Sven- ska Veckolladet, has a circulation of 50,000 copies. On the whole the last 15 years has been a period rather of political than of liter- ary activity, yielding comparatively few works of high fEsthetical value. SWEDENBORG, Emanuel, a Swedish philoso- pher, born in Stockholm, Jan. 29, 1688, died in London, England, March 29, 1772. He was the son of Jesper Swedberg, bishop of Skara (see SWEDBERG), the name being changed to Swe- denborg in 1719 on the occasion of the enno- bling of the family. This advancement enti-