In the same year (1870) was published the now
classical collection of "Poems and Songs" (_Digte og Sange_), which, it
is no exaggeration to say, marks a new era in the Norwegian lyric. Among
Bjoernson's predecessors there are but two lyrists of the first order,
viz., Wergeland and Welhaven. The former was magnificently profuse and
chaotic, abounding in verve and daring imagery, but withal
high-sounding, declamatory, and, at his worst, bombastic. There is a
reminiscence in him of Klopstock's inflated rhetoric; and a certain
dithyrambic ecstasy--a strained, high-keyed aria-style which sometimes
breaks into falsetto. His great rival, Welhaven, was soberer, clearer,
more gravely melodious. He sang in beautiful, tempered strains, along
the middle octaves, never ranging high into the treble or deep into the
base. There is a certain Tennysonian sweetness, artistic self-restraint,
and plastic simplicity in his lyrics; just as there is in Wergeland's
reformatory ardor, his noble rage, and his piling up of worlds, aeons,
and eternities a striking kinship to Shelley.
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