32-503: Johann Michael Friedrich Rückert (16 May 1788 – 31 January 1866) was a German poet , translator , and professor of Oriental languages . Johann Michael Friedrich Rückert was born 16 May 1788 in Schweinfurt and was the eldest son of a lawyer, Johann Adam Rückert, and his wife, Maria Barbara ( née Schwappach). He was educated at the local Gymnasium and at the universities of Würzburg and Heidelberg . From 1816 to 1817, he worked on
64-405: A contralto singer under the stage name Amalie Weiss. Both were friends of Brahms, who composed the song "Geistliches Wiegenlied" for the occasion of their wedding; he withdrew it but sent it again a year later for the baptism of their son, named Johannes after Brahms. Probably in 1884, Brahms revised the song and added the setting of Rückert's poem, beginning "In goldnen Abendschein getauchet". It
96-529: A privy councillor . In 1849 he resigned his professorship at Berlin, and went to live full-time in his Gut (estate) at Neuses (now a part of Coburg). When Rückert began his literary career, Germany was at war with Napoleon ; and in his first volume, Deutsche Gedichte ( German Poems ), published in 1814 under the pseudonym Freimund Raimar , he gave, particularly in the powerful Geharnischte Sonette ( Sonnets in Arms/Harsh Words ), vigorous expression to
128-524: A Story of Heroes ) in 1830, and Hamasa, oder die ältesten arabischen Volkslieder ( Hamasa, or the Oldest Arabian Folk Songs ) in 1846. Among his original writings dealing with Oriental subjects are: The most elaborate of his works is Die Weisheit des Brahmanen ( The Wisdom of the Brahmins ), published in six volumes from 1836 to 1839. The former and Liebesfrühling ( Spring of Love ) (1844),
160-517: A career as a poet, they can be helpful as training, and for giving the student several years of time focused on their writing. Lyrical poets who write sacred poetry (" hymnographers ") differ from the usual image of poets in a number of ways. A hymnographer such as Isaac Watts who wrote 700 poems in his lifetime, may have their lyrics sung by millions of people every Sunday morning, but are not always included in anthologies of poetry . Because hymns are perceived of as " worship " rather than "poetry",
192-592: A continuation of patronage of poets by royalty. Many poets, however, had other sources of income, including Italians like Dante Aligheri , Giovanni Boccaccio and Petrarch 's works in a pharmacist's guild and William Shakespeare 's work in the theater. In the Romantic period and onwards, many poets were independent writers who made their living through their work, often supplemented by income from other occupations or from family. This included poets such as William Wordsworth and Robert Burns . Poets such as Virgil in
224-932: A cycle of love-songs, are the best known of all Rückert's productions. From 1843 to 1845 he issued the dramas Saul und David (1843), Herodes der Große ("Herod the Great") (1844), Kaiser Heinrich IV (1845) and Christofero Colombo (1845), all of which are considered greatly inferior to the work to which he owes his place in German literature. At the time of the Danish war in 1864 he wrote Ein Dutzend Kampflieder für Schleswig-Holstein ( A Dozen Battle Songs for Schleswig-Holstein ), which, although published anonymously, made considerable impression on audiences. Rückert died in 1866, aged 77, in Neuses [ de ] , now part of Coburg . He
256-427: A poem " Die ihr schwebet " ("Ye who float") which Emanuel Geibel paraphrased after a song by Lope de Vega from his Cantarcillo de la Virgen . Geibel's poem appeared first, without a title, in his Spanisches Liederbuch (Spanish song book) in the first section Geistliche Lieder (Sacred songs) as number 4. The poem begins with a woman addressing the holy angels hovering around palms in night and wind, to silence
288-453: A poet is essentially one of communication, expressing ideas either in a literal sense (such as communicating about a specific event or place) or metaphorically . Poets have existed since prehistory , in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary greatly in different cultures and periods. Throughout each civilization and language, poets have used various styles that have changed over time, resulting in countless poets as diverse as
320-499: A selection which has passed through many editions. Rückert was master of thirty languages and made his mark chiefly as a translator of Oriental poetry and as a writer of poems conceived in the spirit of Oriental masters. Much attention was attracted by a translation of the Maqamat of Al-Hariri of Basra ( Hariris Makamen ) in 1826, Nal und Damajanti , an Indian tale, in 1828, Rostem und Suhrab, eine Heldengeschichte ( Rostem and Suhrab,
352-479: A well established poet, was banished from Rome by the first Augustus for one of his poems. During the High Middle Ages , troubadors were an important class of poets. They came from a variety of backgrounds, often living and traveling in many different places and were looked upon as actors or musicians as much as poets. Some were under patronage, but many traveled extensively. The Renaissance period saw
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#1733092536138384-543: Is buried in the cemetery there. Rückert's poetry was commonly set to music and there are about 121 settings of his work – making him the fourth most-set German poet, behind Goethe , Heine and Rilke . Among the composers who set his poetry to music are Schubert , Robert and Clara Schumann , Brahms (including Two Songs for Voice, Viola and Piano , among others), Josef Rheinberger , Mahler ( song cycles Kindertotenlieder and Rückert-Lieder ), Max Bruch , Max Reger , and Elise Schmezer . A monument to Rückert
416-409: Is situated at Marktplatz in Schweinfurt . The monument of Rückert, whose birth house stands at the southeast corner of the town hall, has stood in the central square of Schweinfurt since 1890. It was created by architect Friedrich Ritter von Thiersch and sculptor Wilhelm von Rühmann. Allegorical figures from his works – Geharnischte Sonette ("Withering Sonnets") and Weisheit des Brahmanen ("Wisdom of
448-564: The Aeneid and John Milton in Paradise Lost invoked the aid of a Muse . Poets held an important position in pre-Islamic Arabic society with the poet or sha'ir filling the role of historian, soothsayer and propagandist. Words in praise of the tribe ( qit'ah ) and lampoons denigrating other tribes ( hija' ) seem to have been some of the most popular forms of early poetry. The sha'ir represented an individual tribe's prestige and importance in
480-1035: The Arabian Peninsula , and mock battles in poetry or zajal would stand in lieu of real wars. 'Ukaz, a market town not far from Mecca , would play host to a regular poetry festival where the craft of the sha'irs would be exhibited. Poets of earlier times were often well read and highly educated people while others were to a large extent self-educated. A few poets such as John Gower and John Milton were able to write poetry in more than one language. Some Portuguese poets, as Francisco de Sá de Miranda , wrote not only in Portuguese but also in Spanish. Jan Kochanowski wrote in Polish and in Latin, France Prešeren and Karel Hynek Mácha wrote some poems in German, although they were poets of Slovenian and Czech respectively. Adam Mickiewicz ,
512-458: The Tirukkural , an ancient Tamil classic, into German. Poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry . Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker , songwriter , writer , or author ) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or written ), or they may also perform their art to an audience . The work of
544-462: The literature that (since the advent of writing systems) they have produced. The civilization of Sumer figures prominently in the history of early poetry, and The Epic of Gilgamesh , a widely read epic poem, was written in the Third Dynasty of Ur c. 2100 BC; copies of the poem continued to be published and written until c. 600 to 150 BC. However, as it arises from an oral tradition ,
576-1049: The Brahmans") – are situated at the feet of the bronze Rückert. Rückert is also commemorated by a small museum in his home at Neuses (now in Friedrich-Rückert-Strasse) and a park, Rückertpark which also features a memorial bust. A comprehensive but by no means complete edition of Rückert's poetical works appeared in 12 volumes in 1868–1869. Subsequent editions have been edited by L. Laistner (1896), C. Beyer (1896), G. Ellinger (1897). See B. Fortlage, F. Rückert und seine Werke (1867); C. Beyer, Friedrich Rückert, ein biographisches Denkmal (1868), Neue Mitteilungen über Rückert (1873), and Nachgelassene Gedichte Rückerts und neue Beiträge zu dessen Leben und Schriften (1877); R. Boxberger, Rückert-Studien (1878); P. de Lagarde, Erinnerungen an F. Rückert (1886); F. Muncker , Friedrich Rückert (1890); G. Voigt, Rückerts Gedankenlyrik (1891). In 1847, Rückert also translated select verses of
608-605: The editorial staff of the Morgenblatt at Stuttgart . Nearly the whole of the year 1818 he spent in Rome , and afterwards he lived for several years at Coburg (1820–1826), where he married Luise Wiethaus-Fischer in 1821. He was appointed a professor of Oriental languages at the University of Erlangen in 1826, and, in 1841, he was called to a similar position in Berlin , where he was also made
640-405: The first song, "Gestillte Sehnsucht" (Longing at rest), is a poem by Friedrich Rückert , composed in 1884. The text of the second, "Geistliches Wiegenlied" (Sacred lullaby) was written by Emanuel Geibel after Lope de Vega , and set to music in 1863. They were published together in 1884. The celebrated violinist Joachim, who also played viola, married Amalie Schneeweiss in 1863. She appeared as
672-495: The greatest poet of Polish language, wrote a Latin ode for emperor Napoleon III . Another example is Jerzy Pietrkiewicz , a Polish poet. When he moved to Great Britain, he ceased to write poetry in Polish, but started writing a novel in English. He also translated poetry into English. Many universities offer degrees in creative writing though these only came into existence in the 20th century. While these courses are not necessary for
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#1733092536138704-565: The occasion of the Stiftungsfeier (foundation celebration) of the Singverein. The singer was contralto Auguste Hohenschild , the violist Alwin von Beckerath, and the composer played the piano. The first song, composed much later than the second, is a setting of three stanzas from Rückert's poem of the same name in four stanzas, published first in 1816 in Jugendlieder ( Youth Songs ) in
736-520: The poet is unknown. The Story of Sinuhe was a popular narrative poem from the Middle Kingdom of Egypt , written c. 1750 BC, about an ancient Egyptian man named Sinuhe , who flees his country and lives in a foreign land until his return, shortly before his death. The Story of Sinuhe was one of several popular narrative poems in Ancient Egyptian . Scholars have conjectured that Story of Sinuhe
768-514: The prevailing sentiment of his countrymen. From 1815 to 1818, appeared Napoleon, eine politische Komödie in drei Stücken ( Napoleon, a Political Comedy in Three Parts ), of which only two parts were published. In 1817, Der Kranz der Zeit ( The Wreath of Time ), was published. He issued a collection of poems, Östliche Rosen ( Eastern Roses ), in 1822; and from 1834 to 1838 his Gesammelte Gedichte ( Collected Poems ) were published in six volumes,
800-469: The second volume of his works. The poem begins In gold'nen Abendschein getauchet, wie feierlich die Wälder stehn! ("Immersed in golden evening glow, how solemnly the woods stand!") Each stanza is in six lines, with rhyme scheme ABABCC. The first stanza remains a description of a peaceful evening, asking what the winds and the birds whisper, and giving the answer: they whisper the world into slumber. The second stanza mentions wishes and longing, and asks
832-416: The setting alone with the tune of the medieval Christmas carol " Joseph, lieber Joseph mein ", a song in which Mary asks Joseph to help her to rock her baby. In the music, Brahms added the text to the tune, thus mentioning Joachim's given name. The voice enters with a different melody. The middle stanzas are set in a different metre and in minor, portraying restlessness and pain. In the end, the viola returns to
864-547: The term "artistic kenosis" is sometimes used to describe the hymnographer's success in "emptying out" the instinct to succeed as a poet. A singer in the pew might have several of Watts's stanzas memorized, without ever knowing his name or thinking of him as a poet. Two Songs for Voice, Viola and Piano Two Songs for Voice, Viola and Piano ( German : Zwei Gesänge für eine Altstimme mit Bratsche und Klavier ), Op. 91, were composed by Johannes Brahms for his friends Joseph Joachim and his wife Amalie . The text of
896-525: The trees because her child is sleeping. It becomes evident that the speaker is Mary, the mother of Jesus . The first stanza has six lines, while three following stanzas have eight lines each. The second stanza describes the angry wind and palms, the third the burden of the suffering of the world, tiring the child, and the fourth threatening cold, but all four are resolved in the same last line, Es schlummert mein Kind. ("There slumbers my child.") The viola begins
928-582: The wind and the birds to make them slumber as well. The third stanza, omitted by Brahms, alludes in more images from nature to the longing. In the final stanza, the speaker admits that it is his (or her) personal longing ( mein Geist , my spirit) which will end only when life ends: Dann lispeln die Winde, die Vögelein mit meinem Sehnen mein Leben ein. ("Then the winds, the birds will whisper to an end, with my longing, my life.") Rückert's poem about nature and yearning
960-487: Was actually written by an Ancient Egyptian man named Sinuhe, describing his life in the poem; therefore, Sinuhe is conjectured to be a real person. In Ancient Rome , professional poets were generally sponsored by patrons , including nobility and military officials. For instance, Gaius Cilnius Maecenas , friend to Caesar Augustus , was an important patron for the Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil . Ovid ,
992-453: Was again intended for the couple, but this time to help their troubled marriage. Brahms announced to his publisher Simrock in a letter from August 1884 that he would send einige Kleinigkeiten für Gesang (a few small pieces to be sung) to be published, Opp. 91–95. The first public performance was on 30 January 1885 in a Kammermusiksoirée (evening of chamber music) in Krefeld on
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1024-421: Was appealing to Brahms, who returned to Baroque practices for the setting, not only the obbligato instrument, but also a da capo form , with a contrasting middle section. It illustrates the restless desires ( sonder Rast und Ruh , "without rest or silence") in an excited minor section. The third stanza is a recapitulation of the first. The second song, composed first, is a cradle song or lullaby , setting
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