Holst, is one of those unhappy beings who seem doomed to a more than
ordinary share of the ills of life. He has inherited from his mother at
least a tendency to insanity, and he lives in fear of being involved in
a terrible catastrophe, from which he only saves himself by strong
efforts of will and by the recollection of the lost love of his youth.
The awful calamity which overtook him at the very moment his betrothal
to Susanna was sanctioned by her father proved, in fact, his salvation,
and delivered him from madness, but its effects were never eradicated.
Like Hamlet he found the times out of joint; but, instead of contending
with them, he patiently submitted to Fate and won for himself, if not
absolute peace, at least a certain amount of tranquillity. Throughout
his life he was subject to visions. In his earliest days the appearance
of a lady carrying a white rose marked the near approach of calamity. In
later life a vision of his beloved Susanna was sometimes vouchsafed to
him, and as he lay on his death-bed she came, after a long interval, as
if beckoning him to join her.

The other characters of the story are naturally drawn. David's stern,
yet not unkind father; the minister and his wife; the old clerk, and
Susanna herself, will soon make themselves known to the reader. The
refusal of Susanna to give up David when she learns that his doctor
fears he may become insane, and her victory over her father's objections
to her engagement, are proofs of Lie's insight into the depth and
steadfastness of the love of a good woman. The story of her death, of
the bringing home her body in the boat, and of the scene in the
death-chamber, are full of pathos, and are told with the simplicity of a
great artist.

"The Visionary" is written in the spirit of a true Nordlander, who is
ever contrasting life and nature in the south of Norway with life "up