Poetry
Skabelsen, Mennesket og Messias
Not translated into English
Henrik Wergeland · 1830
Synopsis
A debate between spirits opens the poem. Then come the creation of the world, then the fall of Adam and Eve, and a long passage through the ages of humanity, the longest part, in which kings and priests, philosophers, the blessed and the damned appear. A following part is devoted to Jesus. The text constantly changes manner: dialogues, monologues on temporal and spiritual powers, a series of staged scenes, cosmic narrative and visions.
Context
The poem appeared in 1830. Its author, who regarded it as his major work, had put about seven hundred pages into it, according to the encyclopedia of romantic nationalism, and set out in it his vision of human history. Johan Sebastian Welhaven, his most constant critic, judged this poetry tasteless and formless, and their quarrel pitted the “patriots” against the “intelligents” for years. On his sickbed, Wergeland reworked the book, which appeared in 1845 under the title Mennesket.
Who it is for
An immense poem, in the Danish of the period, with no French or English translation, whose form changes from one page to the next.
Prizes and reception
The work its author regarded as the most important, and the starting point of the great literary quarrel of the country.