(1804-1874) was of twelve children by a doctor and a pastor's daughter. His father died when he was young and his uncle paid for his studies until he was admitted to seminary. He was not stupid, but not very bright either - he failed the Landexamen and his end of seminary assessment was all but enthusiastic. That period of his life was marked by lots of reading in Greek and Latin, and by falling in love with a beautiful and Very Unsuitable girl, from which his family and especially his older sisters separated him. He nevertheless, and in spite of his objections to mainstream theology, became a pastor, a profession he assumed until he was 39, at which point he retired, married a younger, very unsuitable Catholic girl and started teaching at the university of Tübingen. The marriage lasted while their two daughters grew up and then came to a divorce. He died soon after that.

Today's poem comes with a handy translation, and even notes! I probably should have googled more for English translations at the beginning of the month.

And after this long winter of German Romanticism, tomorrow we'll be moving to fresh new grounds with what the French think is the second most famous German poem (after Goethe's Erlkönig). Can you guess what it is?