THE LEAGUE OF YOUTH
A monologue from the
play by Henrik
Ibsen
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NOTE: This monologue is reprinted
from The Collected Works of Henrik Ibsen, vol. vi: The League
of Youth/Pillars of Society. Ed. William Archer. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1912. |
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STENSGARD: What a lovely night! Listen to the music
and merriment floating out over the meadows. And how still it
is in the valley! I tell you the man whose life is not reconsecrated
in such an hour does not deserve to live on God's earth! To build
up, you know, we have to tear down first. I had a dream once--or
did I see it? No; it was a dream, but such a vivid one! I thought
the Day of Judgment was come upon the world. I could see the
whole curve of the hemisphere. There was no sun, only a livid
storm-light. A tempest arose; it came rushing from the west and
swept everything before it: first withered leaves, then men;
but they kept on their feet all the time, and their garments
clung fast to them, so that they seemed to be hurried along sitting.
At first they looked like townspeople running after their hats
in a wind; but when they came nearer they were emperors and kings;
and it was their crowns and orbs they were chasing and catching
at, and seemed always on the point of grasping, but never grasped.
Oh, there were hundreds and hundreds of them, and none of them
understood in the least what was happening; but many bewailed
themselves, and asked: "Whence can it come, this terrible
storm?" Then there came the answer: "One Voice spoke,
and the storm is the echo of that one Voice." I don't remember
when I had this dream; several years ago. But the same shiver,
the same thrill, that then ran down my back, I felt again tonight.
Yes, I will give my whole soul utterance. I will be the Voice.
And who knows how far the storm may sweep?
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MONOLOGUES BY HENRIK IBSEN |
