ADAM HOMO, a poem by Frederik Palu dan-Mfiller, and his most important work, ap peared during the years 1841-48. It is of par ticular significance in Danish literature, as it marks the end of Romanticism in Denmark. In Oehlenschlaeger's 'Aladdin' which introduces the period of Romanticism, imagination is given full •play; in Homo' cool reason prevails. Oehlenschlaeger points to Aladdin, the favorite of fortune; Paludan-Mfiller shows us Adam Homo, man as he really is. (The name of the poem suggests that the hero represents the average man, as we find him in every-day life. Human life as it is, contrasted with the ideal, is the theme of the book). For 'Adam Homo' is realistic, and presents modern life with all its ugliness and wickedness. With shocking truthfulness the author shows how one may lose sight of ideals and squander a spiritual heritage. Adam is the son of a min ister in Jutland, who over-emphasizes the ma terial things of this world. His mother, a
spiritual woman, tries to interest her boy in the higher life. While Adam studies at Copen hagen, his nobler impulses are kept alive by the loving letters of his mother and by his asso ciation with a pure-minded young woman. Un fortunately Adam succumbs to the temptations of new conditions, and almost without being aware of the fact he gradually loses sight of his ideals, and makes material gain and social recognition the goal of his efforts. Though he becomes a man of distinction in society, he leads a sordid life, for his enthusiasm for truth, beauty and goodness is gone. Consult V. An dersen,
; Georg Brandes,
Hansen, (Illustreret Dansk Litteratur His torie (pp. 295-303) ; Karl Mortensen, 'Litter atur Historie' (pp. 248-261) ; Torvald Strom, (Dansk Literaturhistorie' (pp. 286-291).