Thus to dare to speak of Preachers
And of Potentates and Princes.
Friend, you’re lost—so it appears—
For the Princes have long arms,
And the Preachers have long tongues,
—And the masses have long ears!
Stoning the Prophets
(On page 623 appears a sample of the weapons with which Privilege defends itself upon the political field. It seems worth while to include at this place a sample of what the revolutionary poet has to encounter. The following are comments of newspapers and weekly reviews in London at the time of the first productions of the plays of Henrik Ibsen, in 1891. They are taken partly from an article by William Archer, “Ghosts and Gibberings,” Pall Mall Gazette, April 8, 1891; and partly from another article by the same writer, “The Mausoleum of Ibsen,” Fortnightly Review, July, 1893)
London Truth, March 19, 1891, discussing a reading of “Ghosts”:
An obscure Scandinavian dramatist and poet, a crazy fanatic, and determined Socialist, is to be trumpeted into fame for the sake of the estimable gentleman who can translate his works, and the enterprising tradesmen who publish them.... The unwomanly woman, the unsexed female, and the whole army of unprepossessing cranks in petticoats ... sat open-mouthed and without a blush on their faces, whilst a Socialist orator read aloud “Ghosts,” the most loathsome of Ibsen’s plays.... If you have seen one play by Ibsen you have seen them all. A disagreeable and nasty woman; an egotistical and preachy man; a philosophical sensualist; dull and undramatic dialogue. The few independent people who have sat out a play by Ibsen ... have said to themselves, Put this stuff before the play-going public, risk it at the evening theatre, remove your claque, exhaust your attendance of the Socialistic and the sexless, and then see where your Ibsen will be. I have never known an audience yet that cared to pay to be bored.