The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-04-25


TIE UNEASY CHAIR
HERMANN suDERMANN's "sT.
JOHNS FIRE" TRANSLATED. BY
GRACE e. POLK, A GRADUATE OF
THE UNlvERSlTY.-The difficulty Of
getting recent continental drama in, trans
lations Is the most serious hindrance that
besets the student of presented day litera-
ture., a few plays Of two or three Ger
man, French and Italian dramatists are
all that are obtainable.a Spanish, French
and Scandinavian drama of the new
school Is inaccessible exceptJto those IA
miliar with those languages, Ibsen and
Maeterlinck are the only dramatic au-
thors who appear in English simultaneous
ly with their foreign publications. This
apathy of the English speaking public to-
ward the most significant field Of modern
literature IS deplorable. Our own drama
is not brought into contrast with that Of
other nations. and hence, for want of any,
thing better by which to judge them, the
intellectual feebleness, the want or es-
thetic principle, the moral timidity OF our
plays escape the scorn they deserve.
There are signs, however, that we are
approaching the end Of our dramatic
night. People who have read Ibsen and
Maeterlinck are not going to return to
the stuff Clyde Fitch Is ,ladling out to
us from the play-writer's pot au feu. Pub
fishing houses are recognizing the demand
Of the public for good drama and move
ment is beginning to bring out transla-
lions Of strong new foreign plays. Only
three have appeared in as many years.
Scribner's brought out Edith Wharton's
translation of Sudermann's Joy OF Liv-
ing'; Harpers brought out Coleman 8
translation Of Maeterlinck's "Monna Vau-
ma; and the H. W. Wilson company has
just issued Grace Folks translation of
Sudermanns St. Johns Fire. -. 49,. -
The appearance Of this last work IS
proof Of the high aims of, the II. w. VII
son company and of Miss Polk's unusuai
talent as translator.
Sudermann has but one rival in German
| drama. today; many critics insist that he
has none. However that may be. 1t Is
certain that est. Johns Fire is one OF
the most brilliant and extraordinary plays
the author has made The title is SYM
bolic. The dramatist turns a picturesque
custom of Germany into an allegorlcal
background for his story. On the short
est night Of the year, 1St. Johns Eve, the
German peasants light bonfires and dance
and carouse around them all night. me
| custom dates back to heather times, AND
Sudermann makes the fires symbolic the
o,1tburst. in the human soul after CEN
turtles Of Christian faith and discipline, OF
the wild yearnings and primeval passions
| of the unregenerate man. "A spark Oh
the heather shoulders in us ALL" There
| comes a, moment when it flares up, the
! demons and witches hold carnival, the
wild hunt Is abroad, the desires Whlcf
| life has not fulfilled and cannot fulhll
I and which we have justly murdered with
/ in us. rise like ghosts and lord 1t in ou1
soul sanctuaries until their hour is pas
and they sink again into darkness SucI
a. moment the .dramatist has CHOSEN To-
the climax of his play, and ne places
taon St. Johns. Eve with the glare O.
the st. Johns fres in the background.
The plot deals with the love story o
three people belonging to Well-to- d.
Il farming family in Germany. Trude, tn
-'Enetted daughter Of the house, is betrothet
!, to her cousin, Georg, a foster-son. lie II
j turn has always loved sMarikke, the grea
4 figure Of the play. Marikke is the daugn
} ter Of afvagrant gypsy woman, was glve1
away when an infant by her mother, an.
! has been brought up by Trude's parent
, as half servant half poor relation. Mar
like returns Georges pafsien, but dlstrus
. l. or his mOClVeSso' CeIltoASs'o wv
, to the house which Mas sheltered then
) both, enable her to crush and successful
w conceal her feeling. At last comes tn
> time when the strain overcomes her re
sistance. All her heritage of laWless IN
} stincts from her vagabond ancestry surge
t lover the barriers of self-control ana sac
Il rifice. "My mother stole. steal, 100
she cries, and takes Georg from his De
trothed. But noble nature never devote
: itself to remuneration SO surely as 1t zoe
t when it robs the helpless. Inc hour
a passion wears itself out. Marlkke mo
+ impossible to contemplate life OF pei
sonal happiness founded on her oetrays
. of her benefactors. AS the who >
/. Johns fires die in the still dawn
n Christendom, she sends her lover pach
b his betrothed and his duty.
), Miss Folks translation is at once 1altf
= full to the spirit and letter of the orlglna
' and to the idiom Of our own tongue: II
: neither slavish nor careless. She mas SUI
ceeded in clothing in admirable htera1
form one of the most difficult and evaslN
4 of modern writer's, and the change
:, language has offered the minimum OF, II
:" Jury to a strong and beautiful work;
: 1.'5'5' MARY Gray Peck.
ST a. W. Wilson company, University Press'
! Minneapolis. =, G..
l =. las 70