Toss it up to the ceiling first,
Then down to the floor, well-battered.
It is the north amused by its own eternal melancholy; it parallels the Slay in those rare moments of formidable relaxation.
And finally there is that massive cerebral imperialist, Johannes Jensen. He is as Danish as Oehlenschlager himself; but he takes his Denmark with him wherever he goes. He is vehemently modern, fiercely adroit, lofty in exaltation, merciless in displeasure. He detests Memphis, Tenn., U. S. A.
I stand and gnash my teeth
At Memphis Station. Tennessee.
It is raining.
Why are we held up hour upon hour?
And he gives us a new vision of Columbus:
Columbus, your withered age, and your hair whitened with frost.
Crown a Viking brow and a broken soul.
Columbus--Viking! An extraordinary conception; but then this is an extraordinary book, this Book of Danish Verse.