You stand sick, with the incurable disease which caused his death
a few months later.
Great and wondrous visions, probably (cf. also the following
stanza) of the truth of the orthodox faith, which Bj?rnson at the
time still firmly held.
Note 49.
GOOD CHEER. This poem stood last in the first edition, with the
title "Last Song." It is a vigorous, partly humorous, beautiful,
true self-characterization of Bj?rnson's position in the life of
Christiania and Norway just prior to 1870, and a statement of his
ideals and models in the three Scandinavian countries, Grundtvig,
Runeberg, and Wergeland. From the beginning of 1865 to the middle
of 1867 he had been director of the Theater, and since March, 1866,
as editor no less than as author, active in polemics, political and
literary. His election early in December, 1869, as president of the
Students' Union, was a demonstration in his favor, shortly after
which this poem was written. Compare also the poem, Oh, When Will
You Stand Forth?, and note thereto.
The twelfth and thirteenth stanzas refer to Grundtvig, for whom see Note 57.
The fourteenth stanza refers to the Finnish Swedish poet, Johan Ludvig
Runeberg (1804-1877), whose lyric, ballad, and epic genius was of national
importance for Sweden. He was a champion of true freedom and naturalness
in literature and life.
Wergeland, see Note 78.
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