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Johann Heinrich Voss (German: Voß,pronounced[fɔs]; 20 February 1751 – 29 March 1826) was a Germanclassicist and poet, known mostly for his translation ofHomer'sOdyssey (1781) andIliad (1793) into German.
Voss was born atSommersdorf inMecklenburg-Strelitz as the son of a farmer. After attending theGymnasium atNeubrandenburg from 1766 to 1769, he was obliged to accept a private tutorship in order to earn money to enable him to study at a university.[1]
At the invitation ofHeinrich Christian Boie, whose attention he had attracted by poems contributed to theGöttinger Musenalmanach, he went to theUniversity of Göttingen in 1772. Here he studiedphilology, his studies encompassing bothclassical andmodern languages, and became one of the leading spirits in theGöttinger Hainbund. In 1775 Boie made over to him the editorship of theMusenalmanach, which he continued to issue for several years. He married Boie's sister Ernestine in 1777.[1]
In 1778 Voss was appointed rector of the school atOtterndorf.[1] In 1781, after the publication of several treatises, he produced a German-language text forHomer'sOdyssey. This work made the poem national with the Germans (new ed. by Bernays, 1881).
In 1782, Voss accepted the rectorship of the gymnasium atEutin.[1] There, in 1789, he published translations ofVirgil'sEclogues andGeorgics. In 1793, his translation of Homer'sIliad appeared, along with theOdyssey in a new form. He also produced two volumes of controversial letters addressed toChristian Gottlob Heyne (Mythologische Briefe, 1794).
He retired from Eutin in 1802 with a pension of 600thalers, and settled atJena. In 1805, althoughJohann Wolfgang von Goethe used his utmost endeavours to persuade him to stay, Voss accepted a call to a professorship of classical literature at theUniversity of Heidelberg. Here, in the enjoyment of a considerable salary, he devoted himself entirely to his literary labours, translations and antiquarian research until his death.[1]
Voss was a man of a remarkably independent and vigorous character. From 1785 to 1795 he published in two volumes a collection of original poems, to which he afterwards made many additions.[1] An edition of his poems in four volumes was issued in 1825. Of these original works, the idyllic poem "Luise" is uniformly singled out as his most successful. It was first printed in 1783, and reissued with changes in 1795. In this work, he sought to apply the style and methods of classical poetry to the expression of modern German thought and sentiment. The later worksWie ward Fritz Stolberg ein Unfreier (1819) andAntisymbolik (2 volumes, 1824–1826), the latter written in opposition toGeorg Friedrich Creuzer, have been characterized as painstaking and dignified, but dreary.
His poems were often set by contemporary composers such asC. P. E. Bach,Johann Friedrich Reichardt, andJohann Abraham Peter Schulz, and also later composers such asFelix Mendelssohn,Carl Maria von Weber, andJohannes Brahms. Many of his poems and settings of them were published in theMusenalmanach. Based on his correspondence with Schulz, he favored a folklike style ofLied composition.[2]
Voss'sMythologische Briefe, hisAntisymbolik, and other writings made important contributions to the study ofmythology. He was also prominent as an advocate of the right of free judgment in religion, and at the time when some members of the Romantic school were being converted to theRoman Catholic Church, he produced a strong impression by a powerful article, inHeinrich Paulus's journalSophronizon, on his friendFriedrich von Stolberg's repudiation ofProtestantism (1819).[1]
It is, however, as a translator that Voss chiefly owes his place in German literature. His translations indicate not only sound scholarship but a thorough mastery of the laws of German diction and rhythm. The most famous of his translations are those of Homer. The translation of theOdyssey, as originally issued in 1781, is singled out as the most successful. He also translatedHesiod (1806),Theocritus,Bion andMoschus (1808), the whole ofVirgil (1799, rev. ed. 1821),Horace (1806),Tibullus (1810),Propertius (1830) and selections fromOvid (1798). He prepared a critical edition of Tibullus. From 1818 to 1829, a translation ofWilliam Shakespeare's plays in 9 volumes was published. This work Voss completed with the help of his sonsHeinrich [de] andAbraham [de], both of whom were scholars and writers of considerable ability,[1] though the result has been characterized as less successful thanSchlegel's work.[3]
Voss'sSämtliche poetische Werke were published by his son Abraham in 1835; new ed. 1850. A selection is in A. Sauer,Der Göttinger Dichterbund, volume i. (Joseph Kürschner'sDeutsche National-literatur, vol. 49, 1887). HisLetters were published by his son in 3 or 4 volumes (Halberstadt, 1829–1833). Voss left a short autobiography,Abriß meines Lebens (1818).[1] See alsoWilhelm Herbst [de],Johann Heinrich Voß (3 volumes, Leipzig, 1872–1876); Friedrich Heussner,Johann Heinrich Voß als Schulmann in Eutin. Festschrift zum hundertjährigen Gedenktage seiner Ankunft daselbst (1882); and another life by Paulus[clarification needed] (Heidelberg, 1826); alsoRobert Prutz,Der Göttinger Dichterbund (Leipzig, 1841).
According toBartlett's Familiar Quotations, Voss is the most likely source for the phraseWein, Weib und Gesang, or, in English, "wine, women and song". Voss's full phrase isWer nicht liebt Wein, Weib und Gesang / Der bleibt ein Narr sein Lebelang ("He who loves not wine, woman and song / Remains a fool his whole life long").
