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Essay on Heinrich von Ofterdingen by Novalis
Novalis Freiherr von Hardenberg was a German poet, whose works express an intense yearning for perfect love and beauty. Novalis is also considered a founder of the literary movement of romanticism. Born in Oberwiederstedt, Saxony (Sachsen) (now part of Germany), Novalis was educated at the universities of Jena, Leipzig, and Wittenberg. He became a civil servant but devoted most of his energies to writing, becoming noted for his lyric poetry and prose, which are characterized by deep religious mysticism. In 1797 his fiancée, Sophie von Kühn, died of tuberculosis. Novalis expressed his desolation over this loss in Hymnen an die Nacht (1800; Hymns to the Night, 1889), which is probably his best-known work.
The hymns are deeply spiritual, expressing Novalis's desire for the peace and immortality of life after death. Novalis is also known for his unfinished novel Heinrich von Ofterdingen (published posthumously, 1802). The work's dreamy tone and poetic imagery make it a masterpiece of German romanticism. In it, the ideals of perfect love and beauty are symbolized by a blue flower, which is sought by the hero of the novel. The blue flower was subsequently adopted as a symbol of yearning by other romantic writers. Novalis's other works include the verse collection Geistliche Lieder (Religious Songs, 1799); the essay Die Christenheit oder Europa (Christendom or Europe, published posthumously, 1826), which examines with romantic nostalgia what Novalis regarded as the unity of medieval Christian Europe; and the novel Die Lehrlinge zu Sais (The Novices of Sais, published posthumously, 1802).
His knowledge of literature, law, philosophy and history was comprehensive. The death of his fiancee at the age of sixteen inspired him to write Hymns to the Night, a collection of poems and prose pieces extolling death as a beatific life in the presence of God. Heinrich von Ofterdingen, a tale set in a mythical medieval world.................
