JOSEPH
FREIHERR VON EICHENDORFF
1788-1857
Eichendorfffs
Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts is
one of the delights of German Literature.
Like The Vicar of Wakefield,
it is an extremely charming text.
There simply is no other adjective with which to describe it. From the lively opening to the
ebourgeois fairy-talef ending, it never ceases to entertain the reader with its
sparkling vigour and infectious joie de vivre. Das
Marmorbild is a darker and a lesser tale, in which the hero, Florio, almost
succumbs to pagan sensuality. Yet
it is not without merit, and if the first work gives us the smile of sunny days
in the springtime of our lives, the second sends us towards the land of dreams,
moonlight reflection, and the pull of past beliefs.
Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts / From
the Life of a Good-for-Nothing
Das Marmorbild / The
Marble Statue
The original of Taugenichts and an old American translation by Mrs. Annis Lee
Wister (Leaves from the Life of a Good-for-Nothing.