Matthias Claudius (1740-1815)
Claudius was the son of a protestant pastor. Like many otherwise reputable individuals, he studied law, but had the good sense to give it up before graduation. He then became private secretary to an earl, where he met Klopstock (a contemporary poet) who in turn introduced him to literary circles. He became a journalist, married and had twelve children. Unfortunately, almost all of them survived infancy, so to avoid bankruptcy he had to find a better paying job.
This isn’t his best-known poem – that one would probably be
Death and the Maiden (made into a song by Schubert) – nor the cheeriest (for that, look at
his ode to the wine grown in the Rhine valley). But it is representative of the era.
(Text found
here)
ETA:
Here's a short audio clip found by Scribens.
( Evening Song )