Schack von Staffeldt (28 March 1769 - 28 December 1826) or Adolph Wilhelm Schack von Staffeldt was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

author of two collections of

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

. He is famous for "being late", publishing his collection of poetry intended to introduce

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

a year after his younger rival,

Adam Oehlenschläger Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger (14 November 177920 January 1850) was a Danish poet and playwright. He introduced romanticism into Danish literature. He wrote the lyrics to the song ''Der er et yndigt land'', which is one of the national anthems ...

did it. Staffeldt was not held in high regard in his own time but is acknowledged as one of the most important Romantic Danish poets by later generations.

Life and career

Staffeldt was born in Gartz on

Rügen Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, w ...

in 1769. The son of an immigrant German, he had hoped to be the first to introduce the dawning German Romanticism in Danish literature. Staffeldt underwent a military education at the cadet academy but one of his teachers, W. H. F. Abrahamson stirred the young man's interest in literature. As a lieutenant he studied at the Georg-August Universität in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

in 1791-1793. After a few years back in Denmark, he travelled again, seeking inspiration from prominent philosophers such as

Herder A herder is a pastoral worker responsible for the care and management of a herd or flock of domestic animals, usually on open pasture. It is particularly associated with nomadic or transhumant management of stock, or with common land grazin ...

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...

Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aest ...

, and

Schelling Schelling is a surname. Notable persons with that name include: * Caroline Schelling (1763–1809), German intellectual * Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (1775–1854), German philosopher * Felix Emanuel Schelling (1858–1945), American educa ...

. He was thus well prepared for his literary breakthrough but

, who was ten years younger and had an intuitive talent for literature, published a Romanticist collection before Staffeldt was able to do it. When his collection came out a year later, he was deemed an epigone. Furthermore, Staffeldt was critical of

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern peri ...

which he thought of as a puppet play, a stance which did not help ensure a favourable reception either. Unlike his younger rival, Staffeldt did, however, demonstrate a deeper understanding of Romanticist philosophy and a strong ability to turn the idea of a fundamental split between ideas and phenomena into what is, according to

Brandes Brandes is a German surname and Jewish surname, and may refer to: * Bernd Jürgen Armando Brandes (1961-2001), German cannibalism victim * Bruno Brandes (1910–1985), German lawyer and politician (CDU), MdB, MdL Niedersachsen * Charles Brandes, A ...

, poetry of "imperishable beauty". Staffeldt's German origins were noted in the nationalist atmosphere in the middle of the 19th century but as Brandes noted: "we Danes should not blame Staffeldt for preferring our language to his own". Staffeldt is a philosophical poet but the poems in his second collection, ''Nye Digte'' (1808, literally: New Poems) are also full of observations of the natural surroundings. The book did, however, not receive much attention and Staffeldt gave up poetry to work as a prefect in the duchies. He worked in Cismar from 1810 and was appointed in

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...

in 1813 where he died in 1826. He only published poetry but did also work as a playwright. His plays just needed the "final touch of Donatello's chisel", he noted. Staffeldt was reassessed by J. L. Heiberg and Georg Brandes who despite antipathy towards Romanticism understood and valued Staffeldt's contributions. In 2006, Staffeldt's poem, "Indvielsen" (The Initiation) was included in the

Danish Culture Canon The Danish Culture Canon ( da, Kulturkanonen) consists of 108 works of cultural excellence in eight categories: architecture, visual arts, design and crafts, film, literature, music, performing arts, and children's culture. An initiative of Bri ...

External links

*
Schack von Staffeldt's works at kalliope.org

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Staffeldt, Schack von 1769 births 1826 deaths Danish male poets 19th-century Danish people 19th-century Danish poets 19th-century male writers