Christian Morgenstern
Christian Otto Josef Wolfgang Morgenstern (6 May 1871 – 31 March 1914) was a German author and poet from Munich. Morgenstern married Margareta Gosebruch von Liechtenstern on 7 March 1910. He worked for a while as a journalist in Berlin, but spent much of his life traveling through Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, primarily in a vain attempt to recover his health. His travels, though they failed to restore him to health, allowed him to meet many of the foremost literary and philosophical figures of his time in central Europe. Morgenstern's poetry, much of which was inspired by English  literary nonsense, is immensely popular, even though he enjoyed very little success during his lifetime. He made fun of scholasticism, e.g. literary criticism in "Drei Hasen", grammar in "Der Werwolf", narrow-mindedness in "Der Gaul", and symbolism in "Der Wasseresel". In "Scholastikerprobleme" he discussed how many angels could sit on a needle. Still many Germans know some of his poems and quotations by heart, e.g. the following line from "The Impossible Fact" ("Die unmögliche Tatsache", 1910): Embedded in his humorous poetry is a subtle metaphysical streak, as e.g. in "Vice Versa", (1905): "Ein Hase sitzt auf einer Wiese," "des Glaubens , niemand sähe diese." "Doch im Besitze eines Zeißes" "betrachtet voll gehaltnen Fleißes" "vom vis-à-vis gelegnen Berg" "ein Mensch den kleinen Löffelzwerg." "Ihn aber blickt hinwiederum" "ein Gott von fern an, mild und stumm." "A rabbit in his meadow lair Imagines none to see him there. But aided by a looking lens A man with eager diligence Inspects the tiny long-eared gnome From a convenient near-by dome. Yet him surveys, or so we learn A god from far off, mild and stern." Gerolf Steiner's mock-scientific book about the fictitious animal order Rhinogradentia (1961), inspired  by Morgenstern's nonsense poem "Das Nasobēm", is testament to his enduring popularity. Morgenstern was a member of the General Anthroposophical Society. Dr. Rudolf Steiner called him 'a true representative of Anthroposophy'. Morgenstern died in 1914 of tuberculosis, which he had contracted from his mother, who died in 1881. Gallows Songs. Morgenstern's best known works are the "Galgenlieder" (Gallows Songs, 1905). This volume of humorous verses was followed by "Palmström" in 1910. Published posthumously were the important companion volumes "Palma Kunkel" in 1916, "Der Gingganz" in 1919, and "Alle Galgenlieder" in 1932. In German these works have gone through  dozens of different editions and reprints and sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Morgenstern as translator. Christian Morgenstern was also an acclaimed translator, rendering into German various prominent works from Norwegian and French, including the dramas and poems of Henrik Ibsen, Knut Hamsun, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and August Strindberg. Musical settings. Morgenstern's poems have been set to music by composers such as Erik Bergman (four Galgenlieder, "Das große Lalula", "Tapetenblume", "Igel und Agel", "Unter Zeiten"), Hanns Eisler, Sofia Gubaidulina, Paul Graener, Friedrich Gulda, Paul Hindemith, Robert Kahn, Yrjö Kilpinen, Margarete Schweikert, Matyas Seiber ("Two Madrigals" and "Three Morgenstern Lieder" for  soprano and clarinet), Rudi Spring ("Galgenliederbuch nach Gedichten von Christian Morgenstern" op. 19), Siegfried Strohbach ("5 Galgenlieder"), Graham Waterhouse ("Gruselett, Der Werwolf"), Timothy Hoekman ("Der Werwolf" in Drei Legenden) and Alexander von Zemlinsky ("Es waren zwei Kinder", "Vöglein Schwermut", "Der Abend", "Abendkelch voll Sonnenlicht", "Du gabst mir deine Kette" and "Auf dem Meere meiner Seele"). Essays, reviews and aphorisms. In his early years Christian Morgenstern wrote a considerable number of essays and reviews for various German periodicals. They have been collected together and published in Volume 6 (Kritische Schriften, 1987) of the German collected works of Morgenstern. His philosophical and  mythical works were largely influenced by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, the Austrian educationalist Rudolf Steiner (the originator of anthroposophy and the Waldorf school movement), and the Russian writers Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy. Perhaps Morgenstern's most philosophical volume is a collection of aphorisms published posthumously in 1918 entitled "Stufen: Eine Entwickelung in Aphorismen und Tagebuch-Notizen" (Stages: A Development in Aphorisms and Diary Notes). It has given rise to a number of celebrated quotations. These include: Collected works. A complete edition of the works of Christian Morgenstern in German in nine volumes is currently being prepared by Verlag Urachhaus  (Stuttgart) under the direction of Professor Reinhardt Habel. Volumes 1 and 2 comprise Morgenstern's lyrical writings and poems; volume 3: humoristic writings, including the complete Gallows Songs; volume 4: epic and theatrical writings; volume 5: collected aphorisms; volume 6: critical essays and reviews; volumes 7-9: complete correspondence. The volume titles in German are: