successful. Stjernhjelm employed several poetic metres that had hitherto been unknown in Sweden, but which soon became generally adopted, as for instance the Alexandrines.[1]
The results of Stjernhjelm's poetical activity may be summed up by stating that the language, which up to that time had been hard and unmanageable, by his pen received a form more adapted to poetry, and received certain impulses that led to a still richer development; that new forms of versification were introduced and that poetry in general received a definite direction. It scarcely needs to be mentioned that Stjernhjelm adopted foreign models, for his great classical learning naturally led him into this course, which was at that time common throughout Europe, but his marked originality made him far more independent than were the most of his contemporaries. Among his successors none were his equals. They were for the, most part imitators and insipid rhymesters, though it must be admitted that they aided in giving the language more scope and harmony. The most notable among his followers were Samuel Columbus (1642-79), who on account of his odes was surnamed the "Swedish Flaccus," and Peter Lägerlöf (died 1699), whose erotic song, "Elisandra," continued for a long time to be the object of admiration and imitation.
By the side of this tendency of which Stjernhjelm and his pupils were the representatives, and which was based on the classical literature, there sprang up another, which may be called the romantic school, and which assumed the role of combating the formality of the other. The latter took its models from Italy, and was also greatly influenced by the Lohenstein school of Germany. One of the most distinguished representatives of this tendency was Gustav Rosenhane (1619-84), who, however, scarcely rose above mere formality. His chief merit consisted in a skilful adaptation of foreign poetry to the Swedish language, as an example of which we
- ↑ Stjernhjelm's poetical works were edited by P. Hanselli in Samlede vitterhetsarbeten af sveska Författare från Stjernhjelm till Dalin. Upsala, 1856.
