The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-06-05
Incidents and Observations
IBsEN---AND MYSTICISM APPLIED
BY r. L. GRAY.

TRAGEDY IF the commonplace i in
proportion 10 the lack ~ notice II re-
ceiHes the more truly tragic. Nha
80 fun Of pathps or 50 INFINITE
in suggestion rs q lonely death or q
life estrangcd 10y society into ioneli-
ness,
Through all this mis-caIlod pessim-
ism the struggle ruu~-thc past. throt-
thing the present into obcisance. con
tending with the dcathless spark Of
individuality still fcebly alight, I'M
snuffcd by dogma. Sometimes, A
with Nora the toE-wife Of the Dolls
House. il is tho sudden realization Of
the rights and duties Of freedom that
/ brings the crash. Again. ~ in Ros-
mersholm. the actors die a they
are impoteUt to survive their unnat-
uraI selves. I'm Ghosts. the marriage
Of convenience, stripped of the last YES
tige Of its ~pretenses. finds in the i'm
beciIH babbling Of paresis but one
phas" Of its crime against present and
future lives. in the Pillars Of Society
are laid bare the hypOcriSics and de-
ccits Of commercialism. a forecast in
miniature of latter day indictments.
But it is always the play and tho
characters that speak for themselves
and. speaking, make allegation against
their audience. 1t is no preachmcnt
from an arbitrary premise. Before
ones eyes is the sham and the lie and
the hate worked out. But there are
no neutrality-suspicious. as the
crueities presented may be. Their is
Spoken neither condemnation nor ex-
cusc. The people exist. They act thus.
Why? The reason may touch either
the forces Of the ghOstly company be-
lind the circle of the lamp, or pause
at a position in a bank. But the ebb
n flow of the mental evolution
C9.-it, VOC aI,1Et1p tl-y HnfrYrna,, tha+ Y|IiaE
the soul knows as its right and that
which circumstance has made it. The
resultant is fearful in its idiocy and
appalling in its truth.
That it all is so true. is that it is a
recognition of that which for the want
of a better word the world is accus-
toned to call mysticism. Mysticism
has its cults, like realiSm-Iike Ibsen-
ism. if you will. But the mystic
haunts Ibsen. He wants phrase, ro-
tundity, color. He is for biiloWy
clouds of rose on which to float. To
be mystic" is to dream and not to
see. 1t is plucking the invisible
thought from the atmosphere between
the tips Of the fingers. Maeterlink
gives here to perfection. It
Is a birds diet all too often but there
is a flattering distinction in delicate alb
s~temiOusncsS But Ibscn puts his mys-
tISlt W WI L III L III ii -
ner and finds it at home. He is not
always even pleased to find it. He rec
ognizcs that it is not a thing apart,
but something which is q part of life
itself. How it makes and mars he
sets down, with sad accuracy. Time
was when as a poet he rolled in meas
ure and reVClcd in sound. But one can
not preach in verse and beauty makes
it's real appeal only to the beautiful.
ibSca'S duty was to shake the world
awake, to un-blind society. Doing so.
he pointed out the incubus of the past
and it's burdenS-Of morals, ambition,
low and religion. But he did not, with
the vague joy of words. sigh for q
helpless humanity or ~rhapsodise over
the winged flame of the soul scOrning
earth.
The mystic forces are abroad. But at
war with them eternal is the reveal
ton of self-demanding justice against
the worlds chicane! Mystic, but not
jrGOmitablC.