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    Brand by Henrik Ibsen - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)
    Brand by Henrik Ibsen - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)
    Brand by Henrik Ibsen - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)
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    Brand by Henrik Ibsen - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)

    By Henrik Ibsen

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    This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘Brand by Henrik Ibsen - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of Henrik Ibsen’.

    Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Ibsen includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

    eBook features:
    * The complete unabridged text of ‘Brand by Henrik Ibsen - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’
    * Beautifully illustrated with images related to Ibsen’s works
    * Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook
    * Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPublishdrive
    Release dateJul 17, 2017
    ISBN9781788775793
    Brand by Henrik Ibsen - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)
    Author

    Henrik Ibsen

    Born in 1828, Henrik Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright and poet, often associated with the early Modernist movement in theatre. Determined to become a playwright from a young age, Ibsen began writing while working as an apprentice pharmacist to help support his family. Though his early plays were largely unsuccessful, Ibsen was able to take employment at a theatre where he worked as a writer, director, and producer. Ibsen’s first success came with Brand and Peter Gynt, and with later plays like A Doll’s House, Ghosts, and The Master Builder he became one of the most performed playwrights in the world, second only to William Shakespeare. Ibsen died in his home in Norway in 1906 at the age of 78.

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      Book preview

      Brand by Henrik Ibsen - Delphi Classics (Illustrated) - Henrik Ibsen

      The Complete Works of

      HENRIK IBSEN

      VOLUME 9 OF 29

      Brand

      Parts Edition

      By Delphi Classics, 2013

      Version 1

      COPYRIGHT

      ‘Brand’

      Henrik Ibsen: Parts Edition (in 29 parts)

      First published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by Delphi Classics.

      © Delphi Classics, 2017.

      All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

      ISBN: 978 1 78877 579 3

      Delphi Classics

      is an imprint of

      Delphi Publishing Ltd

      Hastings, East Sussex

      United Kingdom

      Contact: sales@delphiclassics.com

      www.delphiclassics.com

      Henrik Ibsen: Parts Edition

      This eBook is Part 9 of the Delphi Classics edition of Henrik Ibsen in 29 Parts. It features the unabridged text of Brand from the bestselling edition of the author’s Complete Works. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. Our Parts Editions feature original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of Henrik Ibsen, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

      Visit here to buy the entire Parts Edition of Henrik Ibsen or the Complete Works of Henrik Ibsen in a single eBook.

      Learn more about our Parts Edition, with free downloads, via this link or browse our most popular Parts here.

      HENRIK IBSEN

      IN 29 VOLUMES

      Parts Edition Contents

      The Plays

      1, Catiline

      2, The Burial Mound

      3, Lady Inger of Oestraat

      4, The Feast at Solhaug

      5, Olaf Liljekrans

      6, The Vikings at Helgeland

      7, Love’s Comedy

      8, The Pretenders

      9, Brand

      10, Peer Gynt

      11, The League of Youth

      12, Emperor and Galilean

      13, Pillars of Society

      14, A Doll’s House

      15, Ghosts

      16, An Enemy of the People

      17, The Wild Duck

      18, Rosmersholm

      19, The Lady from the Sea

      20, Hedda Gabler

      21, The Master Builder

      22, Little Eyolf

      23, John Gabriel Borkman

      24, When We Dead Awaken

      The Poems

      25, The Poetry

      The Norwegian Texts (De norske tekster)

      26, The Original Texts

      The Non-Fiction

      27, Speeches and New Letters

      The Criticism

      28, The Criticism

      The Biography

      29, The Life of Henrik Ibsen by Edmund Gosse

      www.delphiclassics.com

      Brand

      Translated by William Archer

      In 1864 the war between Denmark and Germany over Slesvig-Holstein and the defeat of the Danish army at Dybbøl frustrated Ibsen, who felt Norway and Sweden should have helped the Danes. It was this conflict that later inspired Ibsen to write Brand.  At first it was composed in the form of an epic poem and the protagonist was not called Brand, but Koll. Ibsen worked on this poem until the summer of 1865, but was not satisfied and so put the manuscript aside. It would not leave his mind, however, and it eventually turned into a drama. The political satire was toned down in favour of motives drawn from the religious sphere and Koll became the clergyman Brand. The play was written in less than three months, with the last act being completed in the middle of October 1865. Ibsen sent the rest of the fair copy to his new publisher, Frederik Hegel in Copenhagen, in the middle of November.

      The first edition consisted of 1275 copies. Hegel doubted the sales potential of the book, but his doubts proved to be unfounded. By the end of the year the book had been re-printed three times and its publication fused intellectual interest in Denmark and Norway. Therefore, Brand is now considered to be Ibsen’s breakthrough work, establishing his first call to fame as one of the greatest writers in Scandinavia literature.

      As was the case with Ibsen’s next play, Peer Gynt, Brand was not written for the stage, but as a closet drama. Nevertheless, the fourth act of the play was performed as a part of Laura Gundersen’s Evening Entertainment at the Student Union Theatre in Christiania on 14 May 1867, just one year after the publication of the book. Laura Gundersen herself played the part of Agnes, while Brand was played by her husband, Sigvard Gundersen. On 26 June, 1867 the same production was included in the repertoire of the Christiania Theatre. Nineteen years would pass, however, before the play was staged in its entirety.

      Brand is a verse tragedy, about the eponymous priest, who wants to take the consequence of his choices and is therefore deeply bound to doing the right thing. He believes primarily in the will of man, and lives by the device all or nothing. To make compromises is therefore difficult, or by his moral standards questionable at best. His picture of God is clearly derived from the Old Testament. His beliefs render him lonely in the end, as people around him, when put to the test, as a rule can not or will not follow his example. Brand is arguably a young idealist with a main purpose: to save the world, or at least Man’s soul. His visions are great, but his judgement of others may seem harsh and unfair.

      Frederik Vilhelm Hegel (1817–1887) was a Danish bookseller and publisher. . Under his leadership Gyldendal published many of the most important Norwegian writers, including Bjørnson, Ibsen, Kielland, Lie and Asbjørnsen.

      CONTENTS

      PERSONS REPRESENTED.

      ACT FIRST.

      ACT SECOND.

      ACT THIRD.

      ACT FOURTH.

      ACT FIFTH.

      PERSONS REPRESENTED.

      BRAND.

      HIS MOTHER.

      EINAR, a painter.

      AGNES.

      THE MAYOR.

      THE DOCTOR.

      THE DEAN.

      THE SEXTON.

      THE SCHOOLMASTER.

      GERD.

      A PEASANT.

      HIS YOUNG SON.

      ANOTHER PEASANT.

      A WOMAN.

      ANOTHER WOMAN.

      A CLERK.

      PRIESTS AND OFFICIALS.

      CROWD: MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

      THE TEMPTER IN THE DESERT.

      THE INVISIBLE CHOIR.

      A VOICE.

      ACT FIRST.

      High up in the mountain snowfields. The mist lies thick and close; it is raining, and nearly dark.

      BRAND in black, with stick and wallet, is struggling on westward. A PEASANT AND HIS YOUNG SON, who have joined him, are a little way behind.

      THE PEASANT.

      [Calling after BRAND.]

      Hullo, you stranger fellow, stay!

      Where are you?

      BRAND.

      Here!

      THE PEASANT.

      You’ve got astray!

      The fog’s so thick, my sight it passes

      To see a staff’s-length ‘fore or back —

      THE SON.

      Father, here’s clefts!

      THE PEASANT.

      And here crevasses!

      BRAND.

      And not a vestige of the track.

      THE PEASANT.

      [Crying out.]

      Hold, man! God’s death — ! The very ground

      Is but a shell! Don’t stamp the snow!

      BRAND.

      [Listening.]

      I hear the roaring of a fall.

      THE PEASANT.

      A beck has gnawed its way below;

      Here’s an abyss that none can sound;

      ‘Twill open and engulf us all!

      BRAND.

      As I have said, I must go on.

      THE PEASANT.

      That’s past the power of any one.

      I tell you-the ground’s a rotten crust —

      Hold, hold, man! Death is where it’s trod!

      BRAND.

      A great one gave me charge; I m u s t.

      THE PEASANT.

      What is his name?

      BRAND.

      His name is God.

      THE PEASANT.

      And what might you be, pray?

      BRAND.

      A priest.

      THE PEASANT.

      Maybe; but one thing’s clear at least;

      Though you were dean and bishop too,

      Death will haves laid his grip on you

      Ere daybreak, if you dare to breast

      The glacier’s cavern-cloven crest.

      [Approaching warily and insinuatingly.]

      Hark, priest; the wisest, learned’st man

      Cannot do more than what he can.

      Turn back; don’t be so stiff and stout!

      A man has but a single life; —

      What has he left if t h a t goes out?

      The nearest farm is two leagues off,

      And for the fog, it’s thick enough

      To hack at with a hunting-knife.

      BRAND.

      If the fog’s thick, no glimmering ray

      Of marsh-light lures our feet astray.

      THE PEASANT.

      All round lie ice-tarns in a ring,

      And an ice-tarn’s an ugly thing.

      BRAND.

      We’ll walk across.

      THE PEASANT.

      On waves you’ll walk?

      Your deeds will hardly match your talk.

      BRAND.

      Yet one has proved,-whose faith is sound

      May walk dry-footed on the sea.

      THE PEASANT.

      Yes, men of olden time, maybe.

      But nowadays he’d just be drowned.

      BRAND.

      [Going.]

      Farewell!

      THE PEASANT.

      You throw your life away!

      BRAND.

      If God should haply need its loss, —

      Then welcome chasm, and flood, and foss.

      THE PEASANT.

      [To himself.]

      Nay, but his wits are gone astray!

      THE SON.

      [Half-crying.]

      Come away, Father! see how black

      With coming tempest is the wrack!

      BRAND.

      [Stopping and approaching again.]

      Hear, peasant; you at first profess’d,

      Your daughter by the fjordside lying,

      Had sent you word that she was dying,

      But could not with a gladsome breast,

      Until she saw you, go to lest?

      THE PEASANT.

      That’s certain, as I hope for bliss!

      BRAND.

      And as her last day mentioned — t h i s?

      THE PEASANT.

      Yes.

      BRAND.

      Not a later?

      THE PEASANT.

      No.

      BRAND.

      Then come!

      THE PEASANT.

      The thing’s impossible -turn home

      BRAND.

      [Looking fixedly at him.]

      Listen! Would you give twenty pound

      If she might have a blest release?

      THE PEASANT.

      Yes, parson!

      BRAND.

      Forty?

      TILE PEASANT.

      House and ground

      I’d very gladly sign away

      If so she might expire in peace!

      BRAND.

      But would you also give your l i f e?

      THE PEASANT.

      What? life? My good friend — !

      BRAND.

      Well?

      THE PEASANT.

      [Scratching his head.]

      Nay, nay,

      I draw the line somewhere or other — !

      In Jesus’ name, remember, pray,

      At home I’ve children and a wife.

      BRAND.

      He whom you mention had a mother.

      THE PEASANT.

      Ay, that was in the times of yore; —

      Then marvels were of every day;

      Such things don’t happen any more.

      BRAND.

      Go home. You travel in death’s track.

      You know not God, God knows not you.

      THE PEASANT.

      Hoo, you are stern!

      THE SON.

      [Pulling him away.]

      Come back! come back!

      THE PEASANT.

      Ay, ay; but he must follow too!

      BRAND.

      Must I?

      THE PEASANT.

      Ay, if I let you bide

      Up here in this accursed weather,

      And rumour told, what we can’t hide,

      That you and we set out together,

      I’m haul’d some morning to the dock, —

      And if you’re drown’d in flood and fen,

      I’m sentenced to the bolt and lock —

      BRAND.

      You suffer in God’s service, then

      THE PEASANT.

      Nor his nor yours is my affair;

      My own is hard enough to bear.

      Come then!

      BRAND.

      Farewell!

      [A hollow roar is heard in the distance.]

      THE SON.

      [Shrieking.]

      An avalanche roar!

      BRAND.

      [To the PEASANT who has seized his collar.]

      Off!

      THE PEASANT.

      Nay!

      BRAND.

      This instant!

      THE SON.

      Stay no more!

      THE PEASANT.

      [Struggling with BRAND.]

      Nay, devil take me — !

      BRAND.

      [Shakes him of and throws him down in the snow.]

      That, depend

      On it, he will do in the end!

      [Goes.]

      THE PEASANT.

      [Sitting and rubbing his arm.]

      Ow, ow; his arm’s an iron rod;

      And that’s what he calls serving God!

      [Calling as he gets up.]

      Ho, priest!

      THE SON.

      He’s gone athwart the hill.

      THE PEASANT.

      Ay, but I see him glimmer still.

      [Calling again.]

      Hear me,-if you remember, say,

      Where was it that we lost the way?

      BRAND.

      [In the mist.]

      You need no cross to point you right; —

      The broad and beaten track you tread.

      THE PEASANT.

      God grant it were but as he said,

      And I’d sit snug at home to-night.

      [He and his Son retire eastwards.]

      BRAND.

      [Reappears higher up, and listens in the direction in which the PEASANT went.]

      Homeward they grovel! Thou dull thrall,

      If but thy feeble flesh were all,

      If any spark of living will

      Sprang in thee, I had help’d thee still.

      With breaking back, and feet way-worn,

      Lightly and swift I had thee borne; —

      But help is idle for the man

      Who nothing wills but what he can.

      [Goes further on.]

      Ah life! ah life! Why art

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