The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1906-08-17
II + orthland
ia Bit of News for Sca.dliinavians

81. y -.
WARM LOVE LETTERS |, ~ d I lssEN.
Remarkable lnfatuatlon 81 Cynical Old
= iG. Man. t: s. y
Ibsen had I heart after III. Even
1t the advanced age Of sixty-one years
It beat with the hot ardor OF youth,
and all for . shrinking maiden Of
twenty springs. This unexpected
phase Of the great dramatist's life lis
disclosed IN . series Of letters given to
the world BY DR.: George Brandes.
They were addressed to Miss Emile
Bardath OF Vienna. and are couched
in the extravagant language Of q
schoolboy indicting his illusions to his
first love. si3
!, When the letters first appeared they
were received with incredulity, IN
spite Of the fact that they were pub
lished by the reliable old verdens
Gang and were authenticated by DR..
Erandes. It seemed to the wsrld that
the man who could remain away from
the marriage of his son to daughter
Of an old friend was incapable Of the
affection 30 fervently breathed In the
letters az they appeared in the papers.
It is generally regretted that DR..
Bfandes, to whom they were intrusted
by Miss Bardach, ever gave them to
the public. While both the persons
are wholly above suspicion, the letters
reveal q weakness entirely at variance
with the stern and unyielding charac-
ter the old poet was supposed to pos
sess.
Miss Bardach is now a mature wo-
man of thirty-seven years, and lives in
seclusion In Vienna.
She met Henrik Ibsen at Gossen-
sass in the Tyrol, where she was trav-
cling with her mother in the fall Of
1889. A warm intimacy, or a warmer
admiration, Immediately sprang up be-
tween the two, and while they never
met again, the attachment called out
q series Of most remarkable letters
from Ibsen. Miss Bardach's letters
have never been published, but they
are doubtless of the same general
tenor as those she received.
In the first place he launches out in
Q lament that she is so very far away
and speaks Of his inability to work as
he should because his thoughts are
elsewhere than on his work. A few
passages follow:
with all my heart thank you,
most esteemed fraulein, for the ex-
tremely kind and friendly letter which
I received the day before leaving Cos
sensass, and which have read again
and again. That summer resort has
worn quite mournful look for the
past week-or in any case, SO It
seemed to me. No sunshine more. All
gone-vanished. The. few visitors
that remained could, Of course, offer
me no compensation-for the fair,
brief days of summer.
II took my walk in the Pflerschthal
every day. There is seat by the
roadside where am sure two people
could converse with sympathetic feel
ing. But that seat was empty, and !
passed IL by.
"The great hall, too, found gloomy
and desolate. Do you re.
member the great deep bay Of the
window on the right Of the entrance to
the veranda? It was q beautiful bay
window. The flowers and plants with
their intoxicating perfume still stood
there as before. But otherwise how
empty-how lonely-how deserted"
The reply to this pathetic letter
must have been satisfactory, for the
tone Of the second letter is much
more cheerful and lively. It might be
said to be the most ardent Of the
twelve epistles. a- 4
MY Imagination Is lively and active
enough. But It is always soaring away
elsewhere. Thither where In work
ing hours It has no business to be. l.
cannot repress my memories OF sum-
mer. Nor will I. ! 30 through my ad-
ventures. again and again-and ever
again. To transform all this to q
poem Is at present impossible.
.".Ah, dear fraulein, IN forRtve
me; you write 80 charmfngly ii your
last. No, no. God forbid that It should
be your last. In your last letter you
write 30 charmingly:: But am not
fraulein to YOU Well. then. dear
dear child-for that you are In any
case to me-tell me, do you rernember
one day when wes talked about toll
lies and 'madness?' Or, rather.
talked a lot about them. Then you,
dear child. took up the part OF teac9er,
and remarked In your quiet melodious
way, with 8 faro6 look, that there vas
nevertheless always d dinerAnne be-
tween folly and madness. E f$5 . sSis
This letter closes With Good night
q thousand times. 70 Whether the girls
mother or Mrs. aIbsensuuts . brake on
tie ardent writings; which were u
- not known, but the latter
ones are In 4 much calmer vein: Then