" Six months later,
on occasion of Bjoernson's jubilee, Ibsen telegraphed: "My thanks for the
work done side by side with me in the service of freedom these twenty-
five years." These words wiped away all unhappy memories of the past;
they gave public recognition to the fact that, though the two great
poets had been divided for half a generation by the forces of
circumstance, they had both been fighting at wings of the same army
against the common enemy.
This, however, takes us for the moment a little too far ahead. After the
publication of _The Pillars of Society_, Ibsen remained quiet for some
time; indeed, from this date we find him adopting the practice which was
to be regular with him henceforth, namely, that of letting his mind lie
fallow for one year after the issue of each of his works, and then
spending another year in the formation of the new play. Munich gradually
became tedious to him, and he justly observed that the pressure of
German surroundings was unfavorable to the healthy evolution of his
genius. In 1878 he went back to Rome, which, although it was no longer
the quiet and aristocratic Rome of Papal days, was still immensely
attractive to his temperament.
Pages:
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170