Joseph Eichendorff

Joseph Eichendorff (1788-1857), German poet, born in Lubowitz (now Lubowice Raciborski, Poland), and educated at the universities of Halle and Heidelberg. He became a member of the religious romantic circle of the German critic and philosopher Friedrich von Schlegel and his wife. From 1813 until 1844 Eichendorff served the Prussian government as councillor on Roman Catholic cultural affairs. Many of his lyrical poems were set to music by such composers as Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn. A number of his poems were translated into English in the collection The Happy Wanderer and Other Poems (1925).