Voss, Johann Heinrich

Voss, Johann Heinrich

▪ German poet
born February 20, 1751, Sommersdorf, Mecklenburg [Germany]
died March 29, 1826, Heidelberg, Baden

      German poet remembered chiefly for his translations of Homer.

      Voss was the son of a farmer. In 1772 he went to Göttingen, where he studied theology (briefly) and philology and became one of the leading spirits of the Göttinger Hain, a group of young poets. He also became editor of the Göttinger Musenalmanach. From 1778 to 1802 Voss was headmaster of schools, first at Otterndorf, Hanover, where he began to translate the Odyssey, then at Eutin; but he found the work uncongenial and became a private scholar in Jena. In 1805 he went to Heidelberg as professor of Classical philology, devoting himself to his translations. An ardent rationalist, he waged an embittered struggle against the younger Romantics and became increasingly lonely before his death.

      Voss published his collected poems in 1802. As a lyricist he wrote mainly songs, odes, elegies, and pastoral idylls in the style of the ancients and of the German Neoclassical poet Friedrich Klopstock (Klopstock, Friedrich Gottlieb). Voss's idyll Luise (1795), which portrays with naturalistic ease the life of a country pastor's family, inspired Goethe (Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von) to write Hermann und Dorothea.

      Voss's fame, however, rests on his translations. The Odyssey (1781) and Iliad (1793), particularly, achieved permanent importance. Voss was regarded by Goethe and other German poets as an authority on Classical metres, but his pedantic regard for the niceties of form and language made his later translations of Classical authors—such as Virgil (1789 ff.), Ovid (1798), and Horace (1806)—seem strained. He also translated The Thousand and One Nights (1781–85) and, with his sons Heinrich and Abraham, Shakespeare's plays (1818–29).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Voss, Johann Heinrich — Voss, Johann Heinrich. Er ist es wohl werth, und wäre es auch nur wegen seiner Luise, daß wir ihm einen Augenblick der Erinnerung gönnen, dem biederen deutschen Dichter, dessen Lieder fröhlicher klängen in dem Munde unserer jungen Generation,… …   Damen Conversations Lexikon

  • VOSS, JOHANN HEINRICH —    German poet and scholar, born in Mecklenburg; spent most of his life in Heidelberg; his fame rests chiefly on his idyllic poem Luise and his translations, particularly of Homer (1751 1826) …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Johann Heinrich Voss — Johann Heinrich Voss, 1797. Johann Heinrich Voss (en alemán, Johann Heinrich Voß, pronunciado AFI: [ˈfɔs]; Sommersdorf, 20 de febrero de 1751 – Heidelberg, 29 d …   Wikipedia Español

  • Johann-Heinrich Voss — Johann Heinrich Voß, Sepiazeichnung von Joseph Nicolaus Peroux Johann Heinrich Voß (* 20. Februar 1751 in Sommerstorf bei Waren (Müritz), † 29. März 1826 in Heidelberg) war Dichter und …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Johann Heinrich Voss — Johann Heinrich Voß, Sepiazeichnung von Joseph Nicolaus Peroux Johann Heinrich Voß (* 20. Februar 1751 in Sommerstorf bei Waren (Müritz), † 29. März 1826 in Heidelberg) war Dichter und …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Johann Heinrich Voss — ( de. Johann Heinrich Voß IPA2|ˈfɔs; 20 February, 1751 ndash; 29 March, 1826) was a German Obotrite poet and translator. He liked to identify himself as an Obotrite to emphasize his Slavic heritage.LifeVoss was born at Sommersdorf in Mecklenburg… …   Wikipedia

  • Johann-Heinrich-Voß-Gymnasium — Johann Heinrich Voß Schule Schulform Gymnasium Gründung 1566 Ort …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Johann Heinrich Voß — Johann Heinrich Voß, Ölporträt von Georg Friedrich Adolph Schöner, 1797 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Johann Heinrich Voß — Activités Critique, poète Naissance 1751 Sommersdorf Décès …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Johann-Heinrich-Voss-Preis für Übersetzung — Johann Heinrich Vọss Preis für Übersetzung,   von der Deutschen Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung mit 15 000 dotierter Preis, der seit 1958 jährlich in Darmstadt für meisterhafte Übersetzungen in fremde und aus fremden Sprachen verliehen wird.… …   Universal-Lexikon

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”