cultural resources in henrik ibsen's early environment - Ibsen.net

AWAKE, SCANDINAVIANS!
An Appeal to Norwegian and Swedish Brotherhood
1849
Hush, do you hear yon thunderclap from the south? Hollowly the boom rolls over
Kattegat; there are two hostile powers wrestling, which spreads a night over Denmark!
A night, so frightful and so teeming with blood, just now when the young shoots of the
freedom-tree display tender springlike flower buds, but the peace is lacking to open them.
Yonder stand German bullies in order to steal a part of Denmark's soil with armed hand; a
soil, so sacred for the Northmen's race!
Up, brothers, up--we dare no longer hesitate,--thus Norden's brother-spirit commands us,
that unites Norwegian and Swede and Dane together!
Already a long time lay a yearning in our breast,--the Danish brothers flew towards our
soul, when they resolved with warm enthusiasm to bleed for Norden's great common
cause.
But if we stand silent, if we seize no sword, if we put up no brave front against the
German mob, then we are not worthy of our ancestors, nor of our brothers on the Danish
beaches.
If we entrench ourselves among our mountains, if we believe ourselves secure in the
shelter of the cliff, O, would that the belief might not all too soon give way.
But do not forget, Northmen, the eagle who with might extends his talons,--remember it
is not far away:--what if it had sighted the quarry already?
Is not Schleswig then a sacred realm, a common possession for the whole of Norden, a
barrier against Germanism's penetration, but what if now this barricade is being lost?
What if the Eider stream moistens German banks, while Nordic spirit and language are
driven out, what if the people then in the German's power mourn their Denmark, their
dear lost mother?
What if Denmark's lament carries hither on the wind and forces its way to our hearts'
depth while the stormcloud threatens from the distance:
Do you stand then with shame's dim glow on your cheek, you, who were given the power
and who did not seize the sword in order to defend Norden's right!
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