Wake, my soul, with all things living

Author: Friedrich R. L. von Canitz, 1654-1699

Friedrich Rudolph Ludwig von Canitz, German poet and diplomant, was born at Berlin, November 27, 1654. He studied at the universities of Leyden and of Leipzig. After extensive travels in Europe, he was appointed groom of the bedchamber to the elector Frederick William of Brandenburg. In 1680, he became councilor of legation, then privy councilor, and was finally created a baron of the empire. He died in Berlin on August 11, 1699. His poems, which did not appear until after his death, are for the most part dry and stilted, based upon Latin and Greek models, but they were, nevertheless, a healthy influence and counterbalance to the coarseness of contemporary poetry. The spiritual poems, 24 in number, are his best work. They were first… Go to person page >

Translator: Madeleine Forell Marshall

(no biographical information available about Madeleine Forell Marshall.) Go to person page >