Studia Islandica - 01.06.1957, Blaðsíða 61

59
tion.1) Þorláksson’s translations are, therefore, far from
being as incongruous as they may appear at first sight.
Considering the extent and the number of his transla-
tions, one might expect that Þorláksson could hardly
have escaped being deeply influenced by the poets whose
works he translated. This, however, is not the case. The
explanation is, possibly, to be found in the fact that he
was already beyond the most formative period in his life
when he entered seriously upon his career as a translator.
He was already thirty when he began translating Tullin’s
poetry.
In Þorláksson’s commemorative poem on his great
friend and benefactor, Halldór Hjálmarsson, are thoughts
akin to the Essay on Man.2 3) The character of Lucifer in
one of Þorláksson’s satirical poems may have been sug-
gested by his illustrious namesake in Paradise Lost.s)
In his survey of Icelandic literature of the nineteenth
century, the Reverend Jónas Jónasson comments as fol-
lows on Þorláksson’s satirical poems: “In these poems
it is easy to detect the spirit of Gellert and the satirists
from that period, for instance, Baggesen.” 4) I believe
this observation can be substantiated. “Bardaginn við
Ijósið” (The Battle Against the Light), referred to in an
earlier chapter, recalls Gellert’s “Der Reisende”, which
Þorláksson translated, and the poem is written in the
same verse form as the latter. All in all, however, the
foreign influences traceable in Þorláksson’s original
poetry are very slight. He was too independent in his
thinking and too Icelandic to become an imitator of any
writer.
On the other hand, it stands to reason that the difficult
task of rendering successfully into his native tongue many
1) G. Jenny, Miltons verlorenes Paradies in der deutschen Lit-
teratur des 18. Jahrhunderts, St. Gallen, 1890.
2) Ljóöabók, II, pp. 213-219.
3) Ibid., II, “Villuvitran”, pp. 563-572.
4) Tímarit Hins íslenzka bókmenntafélags, II, 1881, p. 179.