No More Learning

I cannot go without you! " cried his son.
"They're going to hurt you, daddy, all these men! "
The father whispered to the Communards
That held him. "Let me say good-bye to him,
And you can shoot me round the corner-house;
Or where you will! " They loosed their prisoner
A moment, and he said unto his child:
"You see, we're only playing. They are friends,
And I am going for a walk with them.
Be a good boy, my darling, and run home. "
Raising his face up to be kissed, the child
Smiled through his tears, and skipped into the house.
"Now," said his father to the silent mob,
"Where would you like to shoot me; by this wall,
Or round the corner? " Through the crowd of men,
Mad with the lust for blood, a shudder passed,
And with one voice they cried: "Go home! Go home! "


FOOTNOTES:

[M] English poetry of the last eighty years is fine in quality
and great in volume, but it would be difficult to maintain that it
is the finest and greatest poetry of the period. It was France that
produced the master-singer, and with rare generosity both Tennyson and
Swinburne acknowledged that Victor Hugo was their superior. The range
of power of the Frenchman was marvellous; he was a great novelist, a
great playwright, a great political writer; but, above all, he was a
poet.
His immense force of imagination and narrative power is displayed
at its best in "The Legend of the Ages" ("La Legende des Siecles"). The
first part appeared in 1859, the second in 1877, and the last in 1883.
It consists of a series of historical and philosophic poems, in which
the story of the human race is depicted in the lightning flashes of a
resplendent imagination. Some of the poems, given here for the first
time in English, contain stories as fine as the masterpieces of the
great novelists.




HENRIK IBSEN[N]




The Master Builder


_Persons in the Drama_

HALVARD SOLNESS, _the Master Builder_
ALINE SOLNESS, _his wife_
DR. HERDAL, _physician_
KNUT BROVIK, _formerly an architect, now in Solness's employment_
RAGNAR BROVIK, _his son_
KAIA FOSLI, _his niece, book-keeper_
HILDA WANGEL


ACT I

SCENE. --_A plainly furnished work-room in the house of_ HALVARD
SOLNESS. _At the back, visible through an open door, is the
draughtsman's office, where sit_ KNUT BROVIK _and his son_,
RAGNAR, _occupied with plans and calculations. At the desk
in the outer office_ KAIA FOSLI _is writing in the ledger.
She is young, slight, and delicate-looking. She wears a
green shade over her eyes. All three work for some time
in silence_.

KNUT BROVIK _(rising as if in distress_): No, I can't
bear it much longer!

KAIA: You're feeling very ill, aren't you, uncle?

BROVIK: Oh, I seem to get worse every day!

RAGNAR _(advancing)_: You ought to go home, father.