Von Eichendorff, Joseph Freiherr

Born in Silesia, Eichendorff studied in Breslau, Halle, Heidelberg, and Vienna. A devout Roman Catholic, he expresses a serene attitude toward life in all his writings. His poems are beautifully balanced lyrics that embody the romantic and transcendental fashions of his time. Among his novellas, Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing (1821) is especially delightful in its lightheartedspontaneity.