Georg Brandes
A Silhouette
An old ballad sings of Denmark as a swan's nest, thrown on the blue sea.
Her sons are the swans.
Of these many have kept close to the nest, patiently strengthening and guarding it, till they sank in death and their saga ended.
But there were other swans with mightier wills and more arduous desires. These spread out their strong wings and flew over the world, bringing to foreign lands tidings of their humble homestead. Their names are shining in gold on the silver tablets of fame: Thorvaldsen, Orsted, Hans Christian Andersen, Gade, and there, forcibly writ—the youngest of them all—Georg Brandes.
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The youngest, yes, but not the least illustrious. For, indeed, in every city throughout Europe where literature holds a place of honour, his name is known as that of the finest of living critics.
He is a special favourite in Berlin and Vienna, and is treated as a prince in St. Petersburg. His very name is a banner of libertyto
