Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

WINTHER, CHRISTIAN (1796–1876)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 736 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

WINTHER, See also:CHRISTIAN (1796–1876) , Danish lyrical poet, was See also:born on the 29th of See also:July 1796 at Fensmark, in the See also:province of Praesto, where his See also:father was See also:priest. He went to the university of See also:Copenhagen in 1815, and studied See also:theology, taking his degree in 1824. He began to publish verses in 1819, but no collected See also:volume appeared until 1828. Meanwhile, from 1824 to 1830, Winther was supporting himself as a See also:tutor, and with so much success that in the latter See also:year he was able to go to See also:Italy on his savings. In 1835 a second volume of lyrics appeared, and in 1838 a third. In 1841 See also:King Christian VIII. appointed Winther to travel to See also:Mecklenburg to instruct the princess See also:Caroline, on the occasion of her See also:betrothal to the See also:Crown See also:Prince of See also:Denmark, in the Danish See also:language. Further collections of lyrics appeared in 1842, 1848, 1850, 1853, 1865 and 1872. When he was past his fiftieth year Winther married. In 1851 he received a See also:pension from the See also:state as a poet, and for the next See also:quarter of a See also:century he resided mainly in See also:Paris. Besides the nine or ten volumes of lyrical See also:verse mentioned above, Winther published The See also:Stag's See also:Flight, an epical See also:romance in verse (1855) ; In the Year of See also:Grace, a novel (1874); and other See also:works in See also:prose. He died in Paris on the 3oth of See also:December 1876, but the See also:body was brought to Den-See also:mark, and was buried in the See also:heart of the See also:woods. In the verse of Christian Winther the scenery of Denmark, its beechwoods, lakes and meadows, its See also:violet-scented dingles, its hollows perfumed by See also:wild strawberries, found such a loving and masterly painter as they are never likely to find again.

He is the most spontaneous of lyrists; his little poems are steeped in the See also:

dew and See also:light and odour of a cool, sunshiny See also:morning in May. His melodies are See also:art-less, but full of variety and delicate See also:harmony. When he was See also:forty-seven he See also:fell in love, and at that mature See also:age startled his admirers by See also:publishing for the first See also:time a See also:cycle of love-songs. They were what were to be expected from a spirit so unfaded; they still stand alone for See also:tender See also:homage and See also:simple sweetness of See also:passion. The technical perfection of Winther's verse, in its extreme simplicity, makes him the first See also:song-writer of Denmark. (E.

End of Article: WINTHER, CHRISTIAN (1796–1876)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
WINTERTHUR 		[next]
WINTHROP

Site © 2006 - Net Industries