Note 149 — IV.

The poet’s right name is Aasmund Olafsen Vinge. The poet has signed “Olsen” instead of “Olafsen,” probably because the name would not scan otherwise in the last line. The poet is said to have been born, 6 April, 1818, in a poor cottage (huusmands plads) in the parish of Vinge Thelemarken.

In his early youth his library consisted of his Bible, some of Holberg’s works, and a few religious books. Most of his early days were spent in tending goats and cattle in the woods, where he received those strong impressions of the wonders of nature and the beauties of mountain scenery which formed the poet of after-years. When he was grown up, he received sufficient instruction to become a teacher at Mandal, where he studied navigation and commerce.

At a comparatively late period of life, in 1850, when he was 32 years of age, he entered as a student of the university of Christiania, and, taking his degree in law, commenced practice as a solicitor.

The poet, as might be expected, was little suited to the practical requirements of the profession, and his peculiar views placed him in antagonism with the state of literature, religion, and politics of the time. The Danish book-language spoken by the educated classes, and now used as the language of literature, did not please him; and he strenuously advocated a return to the old Norsk or Icelandic language. Through the interest of friends, Vinge had obtained an appointment in a government office, which gave him the absolute necessities of life; but this he lost in consequence of his persistent attacks upon the unity of Norway and Sweden under one king, forgetting that the union of the two countries gives them an additional element of power in the north.

In 1858 Vinge published a weekly periodical, the “Dolen,” which, with occasional interruptions, he continued for eight years, contributing articles on various subjects, almost entirely written in the ancient Norsk. In this periodical most of his poetry was first published.

As a poet, he is said to excel more particularly in idylls; and as a prose author, by his genial humour. During a residence in Scotland and England in 1862 and 1863, he wrote in English “A Norseman’s View of Britain and the British,” published 1863. With much originality of thought, it is encumbered with false conclusions and extreme views. The work consists of a series of sixteen letters, and is most interesting as an analysis of the poet’s mind, who might have cast his fate on more peaceful waters. They are in striking contrast with “De l’Avenir politique de l’Angleterre (England’s political future) par le Comte de Montalembert,” published 1856. Yet, withal, there is a freshness in the northern poet’s views. They are the real emanations of real and earnest thought, and so command respect, attention, and consideration. Of the society of England, we are sorry to say, Vinge took a desponding view, forgetting, as the lofty mind of Milton speaks—

In his letters on England, Vinge, in order to give a melancholy illustration of the state of society, alludes to the true but romantic marriage of the Lord Burghley, who, staying at a country village in Shropshire as a landscape painter, under the assumed name of Jones, married, in 1791, being then about the age of 37, a country maiden named Sarah Hoggins. After their marriage, Lord Burghley becomes Marquess of Exeter in 1793, and takes his wife, to her surprise, to his magnificent mansion of Burghley House, near Stamford Town, where she afterwards dies in 1797. The incident is described in one of the most beautiful poems Tennyson has ever written. Vinge, whilst he admires the poem, sees much to deplore in the fact that such a state of society should exist, in which a village maid, when she married a nobleman, should feel oppressed, to use the words of Tennyson, “With the burthen of an honour Unto which she was not born.” Vinge forgets that the village maiden may have done worse in her own position of life. It was quite within the range of possibility for her to have a husband, who, when occasionally inebriated, might sometimes give her a good beating, or indulge in language not suited to the poetry of Vinge. The poet also overlooks the fact that Lord Burghley gave an honourable love to the village maid. He did not deceive her, but, as Tennyson beautifully describes—

Nor did the Lord Burghley forget the maiden’s relatives and friends; but made a most ample provision for them. One feels some pride that in England a respectable village girl, whose countenance is said to have expressed sensibility, purity, and happiness, should have had that respect due to her change of rank, and be received at court, where her quiet, unassuming manners are said to have been much admired by her Majesty Queen Charlotte. “But,” says Vinge, “she was not born to honour. There is the deep cause of all the mischief, and it is no burlesque; on the contrary, it is very pathetic.”

Still we do not see any reason for the poet’s complaint; and though the Lady of Burghley died early, the Marquess did not long survive her, for he died in 1804, and society could not have had anything to do with his death. The present Marquess and Earl of Exeter is their grandson. In allusion to the death of the Lady of Burghley, the poet laureate concludes:—

Vinge has also published a collection of poems, sketches of travels, scraps of poetry and prose, and a long epic poem called “Store Gut” (the big boy). Lastly he published “Vaar Politik” and “Om Professor Schweigaard.” The last named work he had just published when he died, 30 July, 1870. Vinge was one of those visionary poets who would take society up by the roots and plant it branches downwards, expecting it to thrive and flourish. It seldom answers in nature; but then poets cannot be judged by the standard of ordinary men. Shelley and Vinge were of such. His life was an unbroken struggle. He was a highly intellectual and most interesting man. In Gran churchyard, Hadeland, rest the remains of Aasmund Olafsen Vinge.