First published 2015
This collection presents the mystical poetry of Novalis, the pen name of Friedrich von Hardenberg, who died at age 29 in 1801. The volume contains his most celebrated work, Hymns To the Night, published in 1800, alongside his Spiritual Songs. These poems emerge from a mind of visionary intensity, reaching toward invisible realms and ecstatic experiences beyond ordinary perception. Novalis writes with supreme idealism, creating what one critic calls "a perpetual idyll" free from conflict. His verses seek to represent the unrepresentable and glimpse ideal reality through momentary epiphanies. The translation comes from George MacDonald, the Scottish fantasist who influenced both Tolkien and Lewis. This edition includes the original German text, an introduction and notes by Carol Appleby, and 26 European Romantic paintings from the late 1700s and early 1800s by masters including Turner, Friedrich, and David. The poems capture the essence of German Romanticism through their mystical vision and utopian sensibility.
Genres: poetry, spirituality, 19th-century, mysticism
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, lyrical
Tropes: idealism, visionary-experience
Period: 1800s, 1801
176 pages · Paperback · Crescent Moon Publishing