Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1939, Page 228

2 I 8
LE NORD
but it did not take root in his mind. On the contrary, he was
in his earlier years influenced by the philosophy of romanticism.
Ling was no philosopher in the strict sense of the word, but he
had certainly formed for himself a system of ideas which, al-
though it did not belong either to the higher or to the lower
speculations, is nevertheless important. It had grown under the
pressure and influence of the vast fluctuations that marked the
beginning of the nineteenth century. His system of ideas was
thus coloured by the epoch and formed in accordance with its
demands. There are issures of the day that repeat themselves, as
well as events that re-appear.
Before speaking of P. H. Ling’s system of ideas in which
gymnastics formed a part, something should be said about his life
and personality, as they appear in the historical documents.
His childhood was darkened by the death of his mother when
he was only thirteen years old. The memory of his mother appears
in Ling’s earliest poetry. The young poet pictures himself, storm-
driven, on the verge of destruction. In his agony he wishes to
embrace what he imagines to be his mother’s shadow. Ling’s
father had died when the boy was a few years old; his mother
married her husband’s successor, the new rector of the parish. As
regards the relation between Ling and his step-father, the boy
was not, as some biographers relate, made unhappy by a too strict
home discipline. Ling himself has emphasized the great kindness
that his step-father showed him.
Otherwise it is very little he has told us about the home at-
mosphere. In his poetry — for Ling was, as we know, a poet as
well — we encounter a few reminiscences from that time, and
we get an idea of the rectory customs of long ago, many of which
belong to history. ¥e, now and then, see glimpses of his home,
untouched by the culture of later times. In his poetry there are
obviously memories of these experiences. Here we are given
pictures of smiling fields and landscapes, where “the horns of the
shepherds sound.” ¥e see the still lakes, sometimes surrounded
by spruce- and fir-trees, sometimes by soft green meadows with
birches and willows. He gives us typical Swedish impressions e. g.
the Swedish spring, the late winter when “the spring gale whistles,
while the new-moon’s crescent is shining.” Ling had a mind open
to receive the poetry of the Swedish nature.
From a poet’s style one can often see reflection of the sur-
roundings in which he was educated. It is evident that the soli-