Soren Kierkegaard

in which there was only room for “anecdotes and caprices” but never for
real exchanges of views.
In these circumstances, Mynster’s acquaintance with Kamma Rahbek
was of inestimable importance. Kamma and her husband were at the center
of the Copenhagen literary and intellectual circles of the day. Steffens had
spoken to her quite favorably of Mynster, and since Kamma was interested
ingettingtoknow ayoungpastorwhohadnot “surrenderedtoanyphysical
or intellectual philistinism,” it was arranged that the Rahbeks would come
to Spjellerup for a couple of days during the summer of 1804. The visit
was a success and was therefore repeated in the summers that followed. A
correspondence soon sprung up between Jakob Peter and Kamma (who
suffered from “unsurpassed partisanship”). The intimate tone and weekly
regularity of these letters can scarcely have been a source of delight to Kam-
ma’s husband, Knud Lyne, but he was an agreeable soul and was also an
older gentleman, so he took it graciously. “Mrs. Rahbek did not write me
little notes, but long epistles, often covering two or three octavo sheets, and
usuallywrittenwitharavenquill,”Mynsterrememberedasheinspectedthe
stack of letters during the writing of his memoirs. Indeed, he felt tempted to
leave the entire correspondence for posthumous publication, but no, “it
would not do; in her letters to her close friends Mrs. Rahbek really let
herselfgo.”Ordinarily,thesubjectoftheircorrespondencewasratherinno-
cent, but certainly not always, and when she began “to write emotionally,
it would develop into a real bombardment.” Furthermore, much that was
in the letters could not be understood today, for they had been written
in a special “language of Bakkehus,” the Rahbeks’ home just outside of
Copenhagen. Even the names employed were curious: Steffens was known
as “Emperor Frederik,” which was actually the nickname that had been
given to a mad eccentric who wandered around the streets of Copenhagen,
gesticulating wildly. Kamma was known as “the niece,” while Jakob Peter
himself had a number of names, but most often “Uncle Job”—a name one
of histutors hadthought up:If oneremoved thesad little“ak” inthe middle
of “Jakob,” what remained was the even sadder “Job.”
Apart from a couple of anonymously published minor poems, Mynster
had not yet published anything, but when Oehlenschla ̈ger’sPoetical Writings
appeared in 1805, Rahbek—and Oehlenschla ̈ger himself—asked the young
curate to write a review of these epoch-making poems. Mynster acceded
to the request, but was unable to do so and instead wrote the poem “To
Adam Oehlenschla ̈ger,” which luckily met with the approval of the cultural
circle up in Copenhagen. Hans Christian Ørsted also spoke in praise of
Mynster’s poem, finding it nice work “for a dilettante.” Only Oehlen-