At this time, and within the same year, his
father and mother died, and seeking among his friends the social
stimulus which his nature craved, he became a frequent guest at the inns
in the company of Hallman and Krexel, who were making their mark by
their poetic and dramatic writings. It was then that his peculiar talent
came to its own; he threw away all foreign influence and began to sing
his songs, born of the impression of the moment and full of the charm of
spontaneity. Some of them he jotted down quickly, most of them he sang
to the sound of his zither, often fashioning them to suit well-known
melodies, and again creating the melody with the words, for the greater
part set in a form of verse not previously used. And so inseparably
linked are words and melody, that it has not occurred to any one to set
any other music to Bellman's songs than what he originally chose. He
took all his characters out of the life he saw around him; and with the
appreciation of the man to whom the present is everything, he seized the
charm of the fleeting moment and expressed it with such simplicity and
truth, and deep feeling withal, that it stands forth immortally fresh
and young. A number of these songs have probably been lost; he had no
thirst for fame, and took no pains to circulate them, but they found
their way to the public in written copies and cheap prints, and his name
was soon known throughout the country.

This way of living and singing like the birds of the air was, however,
not very conducive to the satisfaction of material wants. He had made
two attempts to go into business, but the more he was seen at the inns,
the less he was seen at his business.

Fortunately for him, Gustavus III., who was himself a poet, became at
this time king of Sweden. He was an adherent of the French school of
poetry, and Bellman's muse could hardly be said to belong to this: but
with considerable talent as a dramatic writer, Gustavus appreciated the
dramatic quality in Bellman's songs; and when Bellman sent him a rhymed
petition, still kept, in which he wrote that "if his Majesty would not
most graciously give him an office, he would most obediently be obliged
to starve to death before Christmas," the king made him secretary of the
lottery, with the title of court secretary, and a yearly income of three
thousand dollars. Bellman promptly gave half of this to an assistant,
who did the work, and continued his troubadour life on the other half