404 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1898. 



back-street life"; great success); and "Johanne," 

 a three-act play with which Bjorn Bjornson (son of 

 Bjornstjerne) made his debut (interesting ; not very 

 original) all four very successful; and Sigbjorn 

 Obstfelder's "Drops of Red" and Hans Kinck's 

 restless drama " Between the Processions " (a " cut- 

 ting attack on the new woman in her professed dis- 

 like to the male sex"), both somewhat puzzling in 

 their eccentric and entire variation from traditional 

 dramatic effects, but showing true artistic instinct 

 as well as blind ardor. 



Poland. Various phases of Polish history are 

 illustrated in Sulim.Vs History of the Year 1863" 

 (the Polish insurrection) ; " Memoirs of the Years 

 1822-1883," by Z. Pelinski, former Archbishop of 

 Warsaw; K. Potkanski's "Cracow before the Pi- 

 asts " : K. Koneczny's " History of Silesia " ; A. Kar- 

 bowiak's " History of Education and School Life in 

 Poland"; and K. Pulaski's "Historical Sketches 

 and Researches." Much literary history has seen 

 the light, notably: II. Biegeleisen's "Illustrated 

 Historv of Polish Literature " (Vol. I); P. Chmie- 

 lowski's "Our dramatic Literature " (especially of 

 the nineteenth century) ; M. Zdziechowski's " Byron 

 and his Age" (deals with his influence on the Sla- 

 vonic world); I. Matuszewski's "Our Men and the 

 Foreigners" ("literary and {esthetic studies"); J. 

 Kallenbach's psychological and aesthetic study of 

 the works of "Adam Mickiewicz " (whose centenary 

 was celebrated with great enthusiasm, occasioning 

 the publication of numerous books, music, and pic- 

 tures) ; and biographies of " Jan Kochanowski," a 

 poet of the sixteenth century, by R. Plenkiewicz 

 (sympathetic ; thorough), and of H. Kajsiewicz and 

 H. Sienkiewicz, by S. Tarnowski. J. Kotarbinski 

 portrays " Unhealthy Love" in literature and life 

 " with'artistic moderation and great knowledge of 

 the subject." 



The list of novels and short stories includes " The 

 Way to Luck " (rather sketchy), by T. T. Jez (called 

 the Nestor of Polish novelists) ; K. P. Tetmajer's 

 "The Angel of Death" (historical novel; light, 

 humorous); A. Krechowiecki's "Rust"; M. Jasi- 

 enczyk's " In Wielgie " (realism ; artistic power) ; 

 " A False Partridge, by the late Klemens Junosza ; 

 K. Laskowski's " Kulturtrftger " ; A. Gruszecki's 

 " Rugiwoiscy " (satirical) ; M. Pawlikowski's " Bacz- 

 maha " (philosophical ; fatalism; keen observation) ; 

 A. Dvgasinski's "Village Dramas," "The Broken 

 Life, and " Life's Misery " (effective pictures of the 

 lower classes) ; Fr. Rawita's " Zdomu niewoli " ; a 

 group of works by women Mme. E. Orzeszko's 

 " The Sparks " ; three collections of stories by M. 



polska's " The Leader of the Dance " ; " The Jewel," 

 by Mme. M. Rodziewicz (exaggerated idealism) and 

 two successful debuts, that of W. Sieroszewski 

 (Sirko), with five tales of Siberian life, and that of 

 J. Weyssenhoff, with his satirical " The Life and 

 Thoughts of Sigismund Podfilipski." In poetry, 

 Vol. Ill of K. Przerwa-Tetmajer s "Poems'' holds 

 first rank. The dramatic successes of the year were 

 " Malka Schwarzenkonf " (a drama of Jewish life) 

 and " He," by Mme. Or. Zapolska. Other plays to 

 be noted are K. Glinski's tragedy " Almansor" (has 

 fine episodes, but " lacks psychological motive ") ; 

 K. Zalewski's drama " The Chains " (delicate prob- 

 lem of the repentant Magdalene not successfully 

 solved); "The Deceit," by M. S/ukiewicz; and M. 

 DzieduszyckiV'The Mammoths." The "Dramas and 

 Comedies" of Adam Belcikowski (five volumes) show 

 poetical inspiration and powerful character drawing. 

 An American critic notes the fact that "a renaissance 

 of letters and of the national spirit has been in 

 progress for the last quarter of a century in the 



dislocated members of the quondam Polish king- 

 dom, which gives fair promise soon to rival, if not 

 to surpass, its golden age in the sixteenth century." 



Portugal. The quadriceiitenary of the discovery 

 of the water way to India occasioned the important 

 " ReligiSes da Lusitania na Parte que principal- 

 mente se refere a Portugal " (1897), by J. Leite de 

 Vasconcellos, and " Chronica dos Reis de Bisnaga. 

 Manuscripto inedito do Seculo XVI" (1897) and 

 " Textos em Aljamia portuguesa. Documentos para 

 a Historia do Dominio portugues en Safim, extra- 

 hidos dos Originaes da Torre do Tombo " (1897), 

 both interesting, edited by the Orientalist David 

 Lopes. Other new books are Rocha Peixoto's " A 

 Terra portugueza (Chronicas cientificas) " (1897 ; 

 articles published in the periodical " Primeiro do 

 Janeiro ) ; Martinho Brederode's " P6 da Estrada " 

 (1898); and "P. de Andrade Caminha. Poesias 

 ineditas, publicadas por J. Priebsch " (Halle, 1898) 

 Caminha was one of the classic lyrists of the six- 

 teenth century in Portugal. " Institute. Revista 

 cientifica y literaria " is published monthly at 

 Coimbra. 



Russia. Historical works to be noted are Vene- 

 vitinov's " The Russians in Holland : The Great 

 Embassy, 1697-'8," compiled from Russian and 

 Dutch sources ; V. Aleksandrenko's " Russian Dip- 

 lomatic Agents in London in the Eighteenth 

 Century " ; E. Karnovich's " Russian Officials in 

 Past and Present Times " (" incomplete but inter- 

 esting ") ; and A. Volinski's essays on the Italian 

 Renaissance, published in the " Northern Messen- 

 ger." H. Hulevich's timely " War and National 

 Economy " is not entirely trustworthy, yet deserves 

 the attention of every lover of peace. S. Vengerof 

 has issued Vol. V of the important " Critico-Bio- 

 graphical Dictionary of Russian Writers and 

 Scholars " and Vol. I of " Russian Poetry " (a sort 

 of anthology, with important biographical and 

 critical notes). Leo Tolstoi's " What is A rt f " takes 

 a utilitarian standpoint ; " the purpose of Christian 

 art is to realize the brotherly union of man." 

 Criticism varies from the statement that it is one of 

 his " most searching and enlightened works of 

 criticism " to its characterization as " at times 

 infantile, showing his weakness as a thinker." 



In belles-lettres, too, not much is worthy of atten- 

 tion: A. Chekhofs "Tales" (including "Among 

 Peasants," delineating village life, and " My Life," 

 depicting provincial life, showing the author's usual 

 skill, observation, and realism) ; " The Mirrors " 

 (stories and poems), by Zenaida Gippius. who affects 

 elegance and symbolism, and has not altogether re- 

 deemed the promise of her " New People," and 

 " Shadows " (stories and poetry), by Th. Sologub. who 

 shows similar delicate qualities; Vol. II of Mme. 

 Myrrha Lokhvitskaya's poems (conspicuously melo- 

 dious verse, devoted almost exclusively to the subjects 

 love and death) ; and the story " Malva " (published 

 in the " Northern Messenger "), by M. Gorski, a new 

 writer, sprung from the people. A'third edition of H. 

 Zlatovratski's works and a second edition of " Poems 

 of the Years 1878-'87 " (full of a peculiarly Russian, 

 melancholy tenderness), by the able though little 

 known S. Andreevski, have been issued. The last- 

 named volume includes translations of poems by 

 E. A. Poe, who has many admirers here. In fact, 

 the recent translation of Ibsen and retranslation 

 of Byron, Shelley, Tennyson, and Burns serve to 

 show that foreign poets, especially English, Ger- 

 man, and Scandinavian, are popular in Russia. 

 Some critics build high hopes on the influence 

 which the study of such models may have on Rus- 

 sian literature. For it continues to be impressed on 

 us that literature in this country is in a condition 

 of decay and stagnation ; the little talent that does 

 exist is not vigorous enough to bring life into this 



