Joseph von Eichendorff

Dennis Mahoney (University of Vermont)
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Joseph von Eichendorff (1788-1857), one of the last born and most eminent writers of literary German Romanticism, is familiar in the English-speaking world through the settings of his poetry by Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms – to name just a few of the many composers who have been attracted by their innate musicality. In German-speaking countries, Eichendorff’s poem “Der frohe Wandersmann” [The Happy Traveller] has attained the status of a folk song independent of its placement and function within his perhaps most famous work, namely

Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts

 [From the Life of a Good-for-Nothing] (1826). Within the German literary canon, Eichendorff’s 

Taugenichts

 has continued to be widely read, although the long tradition of regarding both its…

3897 words

Citation: Mahoney, Dennis. "Joseph von Eichendorff". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 February 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5445, accessed 28 March 2024.]

5445 Joseph von Eichendorff 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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