Martin Opitz | |
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| Born | 23 December 1597  |
| Died | 20 August 1639 (aged 41) |
| Other names | Der Gekrönte |
| Occupation | Poet, literary theorist,writer |
| Movement | Baroque |
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Martin Opitz von Boberfeld (23 December 1597 – 20 August 1639) was a Germanpoet, regarded as the greatest of that nation during his lifetime.
Opitz was born inBunzlau (Bolesławiec) inLower Silesia, in thePrincipality 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—"Schönaichianum"—atBeuthen an der Oder (Bytom Odrzański), where he made a special study ofFrench,Dutch andItalianpoetry. In 1618 he entered theUniversity of Frankfurt-on-Oder as a student ofliterae humaniores, and in the same year published his first essay,Aristarchus, sive De contemptu linguae Teutonicae,[1] which presented theGerman language as suitable for poetry.
In 1619 Opitz went toHeidelberg, where he became the leader of the school of young poets which at that time made thatuniversity town remarkable. VisitingLeiden in the following year he sat at the feet of the famousDutch lyric poetDaniel Heinsius (1580–1655), whoseLobgesang Jesu Christi andLobgesang Bacchi he had already translated intoalexandrines. At the invitation ofGabriel Bethlen, the lord ofTransylvania, he spent a year (1622) as professor ofphilosophy at the gymnasium ofWeißenburg (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 ofLiegnitz (Legnica) andBrieg (Brzeg) inSilesia, and in 1625, as reward for a requiem poem composed on the death of Archduke Charles of Austria, was crownedpoet laureate by EmperorFerdinand II, who a few years later ennobled him under the title "von Boberfeld." He was elected a member of theFruitbearing Society in 1629, and in 1630 he went toParis, where he made the acquaintance ofHugo Grotius. He settled in 1635 inGdańsk, where KingWładysław IV Vasa ofPoland made him his historiographer and secretary. There he died of theplague on 20 August 1639.[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; hisBuch 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 andrhyme.[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 Widerwärtigkeit des Krieges (written 1621, but not published until 1633);Zlatna,oder von der Ruhe des Gemüths (1622);Lob des Feldlebens (1623);Vielgut, oder vom wahren Glück (1629), andVesuvius (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 titleAcht Bücher deutscher Poematum (though, owing to a mistake on the part of the printer, there are only five books); hisDafne (1627), to whichHeinrich Schütz composed the music, is the earliest Germanopera.[1] In 1637 (printed at Danzig in 1638) he dedicated theGeistliche Poemata (Religious Poems) to the Duchess of SilesiaDer Durchlauchtigen Hochgebornen Fürstin und Frawen/ Frawen Sibyllen Margarethen, gebornen Hertzogin in Schlesien/ zur Lignitz und Briegk: Vermähleten deß Heiligen Röm. Reichs Gräffin von Dönhoff... Dantzig/den6.Tag deß intermonats/im 1637. Jahr. Sibylle Margarethe was the daughter ofDorothea of Brandenburg and the wife ofGerhard Dönhoff, brother ofErnst Magnus Dönhoff andKasper Dönhoff.
In 1625 he lived inWittenberg inSaxony.[2]
Besides numerous translations, Opitz edited (1639)Das Annolied, aMiddle 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,Schäferei der Nymphe Hercinie (The Idyll of the Nymph Hercinie, 1630).
Opitz died in Danzig on 20 August 1639.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Opitz von Boberfeld, Martin".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 129.
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