German poet (1597?1639)
Martin Opitz von Boberfeld
(23 December 1597 – 20 August 1639) was a German
poet
, regarded as the greatest of that nation during his lifetime.
Biography
[
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]
Opitz was born in
Bunzlau (Bolesławiec)
in
Lower Silesia
, in the
Principality of Schweidnitz-Jauer
, the son of a prosperous citizen. He received his early education at the gymnasium of his native town, of which his uncle was rector, and in 1617 attended the high school?"Schonaichianum"?at
Beuthen an der Oder
(Bytom Odrza?ski), where he made a special study of
French
,
Dutch
and
Italian
poetry
. In 1618 he entered the
University of Frankfurt-on-Oder
as a student of
literae humaniores
, and in the same year published his first essay,
Aristarchus
, sive De contemptu linguae Teutonicae
,
[1]
which presented the
German language
as suitable for poetry.
In 1619 Opitz went to
Heidelberg
, where he became the leader of the school of young poets which at that time made that
university town
remarkable. Visiting
Leiden
in the following year he sat at the feet of the famous
Dutch
lyric poet
Daniel Heinsius
(1580?1655), whose
Lobgesang Jesu Christi
and
Lobgesang Bacchi
he had already translated into
alexandrines
. At the invitation of
Gabriel Bethlen
, the lord of
Transylvania
, he spent a year (1622) as professor of
philosophy
at the gymnasium of
Weißenburg (Alba Iulia)
. After this he led a wandering life in the service of various territorial nobles.
[1]
In 1624 Opitz was appointed councilor to Duke George Rudolf of
Liegnitz (Legnica)
and
Brieg (Brzeg)
in
Silesia
, and in 1625, as reward for a requiem poem composed on the death of Archduke Charles of Austria, was crowned
poet laureate
by Emperor
Ferdinand II
, who a few years later ennobled him under the title "von Boberfeld." He was elected a member of the
Fruitbearing Society
in 1629, and in 1630 he went to
Paris
, where he made the acquaintance of
Hugo Grotius
. He settled in 1635 in the
Hanseatic
city of
Danzig (Gda?sk)
in the
Polish?Lithuanian Commonwealth
, where King
Władysław IV Vasa
of
Poland
made him his historiographer and secretary. There he died of the
plague
on 20 August 1639 in Danzig.
[1]
Opitz was the head of the so-called First Silesian School of poets, and was during his life regarded as the greatest German poet. Although he would not today be considered a poetical genius, he may justly claim to have been the "father of German poetry" in respect at least of its form; his
Buch von der deutschen Poeterey
(1624) put an end to the hybridism that had until then prevailed, and established rules for the "purity" of language, style, verse and
rhyme
.
[1]
Opitz's own poems are in accordance with the rigorous rules which he laid down. They are mostly a formal and sober elaboration of carefully considered themes, and contain little beauty and less feeling. To this didactic and descriptive category belong his best poems,
Trost-Gedichte in Widerwartigkeit des Krieges
(written 1621, but not published until 1633);
Zlatna
,
oder von der Ruhe des Gemuths
(1622);
Lob des Feldlebens
(1623);
Vielgut, oder vom wahren Gluck
(1629), and
Vesuvius
(1633). These contain some vivid poetical descriptions, but are in the main treatises in poetical form.
[1]
In 1624 Opitz published a collected edition of his poetry under the title
Acht Bucher deutscher Poematum
(though, owing to a mistake on the part of the printer, there are only five books); his
Dafne
(1627), to which
Heinrich Schutz
composed the music, is the earliest German
opera
.
[1]
In 1637 (printed at Danzig in 1638) he dedicated the
Geistliche Poemata
(Religious Poems) to the Duchess of Silesia
Der Durchlauchtigen Hochgebornen Furstin und Frawen/ Frawen Sibyllen Margarethen, gebornen Hertzogin in Schlesien/ zur Lignitz und Briegk: Vermahleten deß Heiligen Rom. Reichs Graffin von Donhoff... Dantzig/den6.Tag deß intermonats/im 1637. Jahr.
Sibylle Margarethe was the daughter of
Dorothea of Brandenburg
and the wife of
Gerhard Donhoff
, brother of
Ernst Magnus Donhoff
and
Kasper Donhoff
.
In 1625 he lived in
Wittenberg
in
Saxony
.
[2]
Besides numerous translations, Opitz edited (1639)
Das Annolied
, a
Middle High German
poem of the end of the 11th century, and thus preserved it from oblivion
[1]
since the original manuscript is now lost. Opitz also wrote a pastoral novel,
Schaferei der Nymphe Hercinie
(The Idyll of the Nymph Hercinie, 1630).
Opitz died in Danzig on 20 August 1639.
References
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]
- Martin Opitz,
An den Durchlauchten, Hochgebornen Fursten und Herren, Herren Uldrichen, Postulirten Administratorn desz Stiffts Schwerin, Erben zu Norwegen, Hertzog zu Schleswig, Holstein, Stormarn undt der Ditmarschen, ... Lobgetichte
(praising poems in honour of
Duke Ulrik
), Brieg: Grunder, 1633.
- Martin Opitz, "Geistliche Poemata 1638", in: Erich Trunz
Barock
, Max Niemeyer Verlag
Tubingen
1966
External links
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