FINNISH LITERATURE

several of the writers in finnish mentioned in the earlier article have since died. p. cajander died in 1913, after having completed his translation of shakespeare’s plays in the previous year. karl bergbom, who made the finnish national theatre and was its first manager, died in 1906. of lyric poets, j. h. erkko died in 1906 and arvi jannes in rors. the old peasant writer, p. paivarinta, died in 1913, and his younger colleagues, kauppis heikki, in 1920 and j. reijonen, in 1924. s. ingman later took the name of “ ivalo ” and abandoned the realistic description of present-day life for the historical novel. s. alkio became a politician and leader of the agrarian party, being several times a cabinet minister. arvid jarnfelt, in his works published during this period, man- aged to shake off the preponderating influence of tolstoy. prose.—the greatest writer of finnish prose literature, ju- hani aho, died in 1921. amongst his later works mention may be made of rauhan erakke (1916), in which the writer protests against militarism, afwistatko (1920), an autobiographical study of childhood, and lastuja viit., a collection of essays on salmon and salmon fishing, dating from the year 1921. the most notable of the younger writers were johannes lin- nankoski (1869-1913) and f. e. sillanpa& (b. 1888). linnan- koski achieved european renown by his novel lazu tulipunai- sesta kukasta (1905)—‘‘ the song of the blood-red flower ”’— which has been translated into a number of languages. his best work from an artistic point of view is pakolaiset (1908). sillanpaia has written several collections of short stories dealing with peas- ant life, and one great novel dealing with the time of the red insurrection, which is an important document of social history. hig strength lies in psychological descriptions of subconscious states. no other finnish writer has been so successful in depict- 33 ing the atmosphere in which the peasant lives his everyday life. teuvo pakkala (1862-1925) made his name by realistic studies of proletarian life, short stories and plays about the peasantry, and studies of children, which show great psychological insight. joel lehtonen (b. 1881), like sillanpea, wrote novels inspired by the red insurrection. the novels of imari kianto (b. 1874) on the peasantry are flavoured with satire. kydesti vilkuna (1879-1922) produced novels, short stories and plays. among other things, he described the part which he himself played in the legal struggle against russia and in the events leading up to the war of independence. , of the numerous women writers, the following deserve men- tion: aino kallas (b. 1878), short story writer, one of her volumes, the white skip, being published in english in 1924. the wife of an estonian scientist and diplomat, she obtained an intimate knowledge of estonian life, which forms the subject of many of her stories. mailo talvio (b. 1871) wrote numerous novels con- cerning life among the peasants and higher ranks of society. maria jotuni (b. 1880) possesses a realistic power and a robust humour which inform all her stories, novels and comedies. l. onerva (b. 1882) is best known for her lyric poetry, but also wrote fiction and plays. poetry.—among the poets writing in finnish, eino leino (1878-1925) was unusually productive. he published dramas in prose and verse, novels, short stories, literary studies and numerous volumes of lyric poetry. his most successful works are his helkavirsid, historic poems in ballad form of a strongly national colour. leino has also translated dante’s divine comedy into finnish blank verse. larin kyesti (b. 1873) was another prolific writer, who achieved a well-deserved popularity by his popular poetry. the lyrical poetry of otto manninen (b. 1872) is highly esteemed by connoisseurs. manninen did invaluable work as translator of the diad, odyssey, moliere’s metric comedies and other works. v. a. koskenniemi (b. 1885), professor of literature at the finnish university of turku (abo) published numerous volumes of poetry. he lacks the sponta- neity of leino and larin kyesti, but is unsurpassed in finnish literature as the creator of a lofty style, his favourite verse forms being the sonnet and the elegy. literature in swedish—the swedish literature of finland includes a number of poets who have gained reputations both in their own country and in scandinavia. mikael lybeck (1864~ 1925) achieved his first successes with lyric poetry, but aban- doned verse for prose during the last 20 years of his life. his short stories, novels and dramas are highly esteemed by literary critics, though they have not achieved any widespread popu- larity. bertel gripenberg (b. 1878) is the chief master of form among the poets writing in swedish. he has handled many different kinds of verse with great skill, but specially favours the sonnet. the characteristics of his first volumes were dark passion, sensualism, pessimism and an aristocratic romanticism, but he has also found words to sing of the finnish wildernesses, and has written patriotic lyrics, inspired by the red insurrection and the war of independence, in which an echo of runeberg’s heroism may be heard. jakob tegengren (b. 1875) writes in an elegiac key, and descriptions of nature occupy a large part of his works. in his later volumes a religious tendency is visible. hjalmar procope (b. 1868) has written a few dramas, but is best known as a lyric poet. arvid merne (b. 1878) sings of the archi- pelago, peasant life and the scenery of the swedish-speaking districts in the south of finland. he is the poet of the sea, more than any other of the writers in swedish. but merne’s writings also reflect his deep, radical opinions. he was ardently interested in social reform and the movement for popular education. in his later works, however, this spirit has given place to a subdued resignation. mdrne also achieved success as a dramatist and novelist. emil zilliacus (b. 1878) published some highly appreciated collections of lyrical poetry. jarl hemmer (b. 1893) is the most lyrical and spontaneous of the swedish poets of finland. his poetry still preserves something of the melodiousness character- istic of topelius’s lyrics. hemmer’s verse has a winning, youth- 34 ful charm which yet does not preclude the expression of loftiness of thought. he also wrote a play, short stories and a novel deal- ing with the time of the war of independence. runar schildt (1888-1925) was the most eminent writer of swedish prose in finland. his short stories are characterised by a highly developed style, penetrating psychological insight and a humane, tolerant view of life. the subjects of some of them were taken from the war of independence and the red insur- rection. schildt was also a very successful dramatist. vers libres and expressionist prose also found enthusiastic, and in some cases, gifted champions among the writers of finland, both swedish and finnish. biibliography.—werner sdderhjelm, karl august tavaststjerna, and ed. (1913); idem, johannes linnankoski (1918); gunnar cas- tren, juhani aho, 1-2 (1922). (all these are in swedish.) anders donner and others, finland, land, folk, rike (1923-5). (english edition in preparation.) (¥5/ 3) fire control: see gunnery, naval.