The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-01-21

!.Scs n: moa:l!,Ss ySS 4. e: .s .,s, , . sS.,, w saS.
blned work into something ugly and oommSn.
a. he spssis Of his guilt. burdened conscience
Not YET. however, does. he understand her.
tits true she upbraids him for spelling thelyork
which had cost her the love sne ,os's Sn LOT
That. IL why. she calls him poet" because hs
10 live, And that is why abe slowly makes
clear TO him how insignificant his existence
has been
into the world That should have been my mis.
sion. should never have served you-a poet
She refuses TO- assist him In creating new
things; even 4 she s, e9 ,yha, s IL snG ' s,is's d Of
light" she viii devote herself TO the task OF
making him follow her up the mountain. the
yeTy mountain = iIns b ir9% pr ,ns 1op V 10 show hcS her he 0s the
splendors OF the world. The conversation Ice.
tween them is Interrupted but for q moment
s,s aai erie. who 90, from to oo tes GeSS ps on t nae sy Si inc
which Ia near she Will go on an advehtu.e
with the bear killer" as eompanion' Lie,
everything else she has experienced, and
Jubilantly she sings:
am freei am fresl l am freel
The PRISON no longer l seel
am free as q bird, l am freel
Almost mockingly the song reaches the two
palid-faced persons-the tired. nerye,unstrung
T TSs o, ana TIM, tRe ,Se nIeasuf unHS,nnSe eou pSW who
are to hunt the brown bear, are about TO
wander out In the delicious summer night: q
haunting blow to the desires and aspirations OF
Rubek and Irene. Ulfheim and Mala are as the
slaves Of old who may get Intoxicated while
their masters dare not touch the wine that Ia
red. And II Is now that Rubek follows on the
command OF Irene.
Prof. Rubek repeats reaminglyl-Summe night
N the mountain An, Irene, that would have been
lrene-We only see the irreparable when-,stops
short
| Irene-Nhen We dead awaken,
Prof. Rubek shakes his head minouslyl-And
what il there Is then to be seem
lrene-we see then that We have never lived.
This brings the oct, to a close. Again the
deaconess stands behind Irene ike some
thhre siiS ssn shn %Sich NJ ma ,ss s i..san Ssnt Is IN neS ssr
jubilant frame OF mind.
The third act is very brief. The action takes
Ragged mountain tops are shown, with abysses
stands u surroqnded BY 81 broken sSui1sTs.
to drag the still desisting Maja. But he has
the power over her through HE nrdor, and she.
1, ,n .H ,SsS sU ,s , i hi ia., BY & R15 su .ss. 'e .Ss s,oPm
threatens with death in its wake they hasten
toward the valley. at the very moment when
ifhhs sKl mssi /. soe eS SsnSi HSu' walk Sn TOWARD %fpu the
irene and Rubek do not fee the storm which
threatens. They have no desire to hide them
selves In the hut, as is suggested by Ulfheim.
and walt until he can summon asslstance-
strong. men with ropes who MAJ, save them;
bind her! She begs Of Rpbek that he, protect
her and DO not desert her Now she con-
fesses that she would have kille! him when
thny IN III oh tnuathar the prayipua lly she did
nor stab him in the back simply because she
had d discovered that ne was dead already. Her
beyond doubt, hut 10 Rubek every word is lu-
cIdity itself. Two clammy bodies, she names
both, because in him Is dead the burning De.
sire OF youth and strength which formerly
he hattled against, and because for botn
earthly love is absolutely extInguished.
It'll then that the scales drop from his. eyes'
been I, who placed the dead image Of clay above
the fulness Of life-above the happiness OF love.
And now he loves, her with a passion o.
highest intensity, and with almost violent
fervor he takes her into his arms:
Then let us two, who are dead FOR one hriei
moment. exist in earnest--before we descend into
our graves.
Carried away by the highest ecstasy. they
ascend the mountain further still, to the sun
covered apex. whore they will celebrate their
marriage feast. The sun NAV look down upon
them II he cares. all the powers Of light and Of
darkness, even. may watch them in theil
JOYOUS celebration.
Up and up, and still further up they move.
They pass above the clouds, they. roach the
utmost summit which %sparkles in the morning
sun. Once mora the wild hear song OF Mas
floats up from the derth below. the deacones'
the avalanche and between the mormon
masses otsnow the two. who have at last tounC
each other. are whirled into the gaping abyss.
The play closes in this way.
The Deaconess-tstands silent for a moment. Tho
she crosses herself and says
Pax yObiscum.
From a depth still deeper down the tubilant SOM
of Msis comes floating up
ruauestionahly there will be many objection
the high-sounding prose at times may seen
vulnerable to the attack Of logical analysis, An!
It Is quite certain that the objections vii
gather themselves into the pertinent question
|, Why did Henrik Ibsen show Irene az insan
and why does he let Rubek. who is not insane
prefer the abnormal woman to the beautiful
To this may be answered: II Ibsen with sucI
violence desired to emphasize that life In II
entirety, even wen t., The, most Sst a ,bn H. is IT to I be counts u ,s,
q love. to both, Irene and Mala. then, he a
forced to employ the, most drastic pictures G
, surediy is. Insanity. without a doubt, is bot
' mental and physical death though the insan
/ may exist. yet humanity does not conside
= Had not Irene stood there. 50 heartbroker
n so i'll in mind and. evil, so, d%esirous and yet 3
! afraid. with the black shadow OF cell and re
. would not be too plain: Without %love-no lft
, II Ia Irene. OF course. who il the star charaC
q q ter In the play. IL is far from being the undo
cisive Rubek who not until the hour Of hi
\ death understood tn. love which Irene ohere
= him. which in Maja's case was confined to III
a customs OF conventional marriage.
a That Hen rik Ibsen stands untouched by h
a weight ~ years. this drama will ere long Al
n nounce 10 the entire world. II is quite tru
y that the 81 dcture OF the play cannot be ana
ly2ed on the spur Of the moment. The cor
/ struction enbodies a stage setting which wi
r enhance the worth ~ the drama, Almost wit
n the Identical progress which Irene and Ruhe
" make toward the mountaintor. the acts VI
fold themselves lucidly and entirely comprc
hensihle. The more tbs. psychological problei
is studied the better will II be- understood VIII
Ihsen is called great,
when We Dead Awaken"is a masters wor
. and a masterpiece, Like none others Is lhsel
; so grand. so mystical. and yet So entirely
, agreement with the organic makeup Of hi
manity From the peak ot the mountain !
speaks to us. aged AZ to years. youthful in dee
and daring. There IL but one ruler. says Her
rik Ib.ed the great Eros. md the poet IL h
a prophet! DIR. EDuARD BRANDEs.
> AUSTRIAyS INVEST IGATE POKER.