Joseph von Eichendorff, German poet and novelist, 1788-1857

Eichendorff is regarded as one of the most important German Romantics and his works have sustained high popularity in Germany from production to the present day. The lyricism of Eichendorff's poetry is much praised, and his poems have been set to music by many composers, including, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Hugo Wolf, Richard Strauss, Friedrich Nietzsche, Hans Pfitzner, Hermann Zilcher, and Alexander Zemlinsky. Eichendorff's best known work, "Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts" ("Of the Life of a Good-For-Nothing") is typical romantic novella, whose main themes are voyage and love.