Theatre
Lycksalighetens ö
Not translated into English
Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom · 1827
Synopsis
The young king Astolf, weary of his icy kingdom of the North and betrothed to Princess Svanhvit, strays while hunting as far as the cave of the winds, where little Zephyr, the west wind, describes to him the Isle of Bliss. Carried off there, he falls in love with Queen Felicia, who loves him in return, and forgets his country and his fiancée in her company. They live happily in a place of gardens, palaces and fountains; but little by little Astolf feels cramped in this paradise and longs for something other than the happiness she offers him.
Context
The subject occupied him from 1811, and he set it aside in the autumn of 1821; the two parts of this “fairy play in five adventures” appeared in Uppsala in 1824 and 1827, and the author produced a revised version in his last years. The material comes from a popular book, which goes back to Madame d'Aulnoy's tale published in 1690; the title is said to be borrowed from a poem by Stagnelius. Tegnér saw in it a city built on a balloon, but judged the lyrical parts in part masterly. A German translation appeared in Leipzig in 1831 and 1833. In the 1840s, Nils Peter Möller set ten songs of the work to music, including the chorus of the winds, which remains famous for male choir; Hilding Rosenberg drew an opera from it.
Who it is for
A long lyrical drama in two parts, made for reading rather than for the stage; allegory prevails over action.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as the great Romantic poem of Swedish literature and as its author's masterpiece.