Geibel

Geibel, Franz Emmanuel, was born in 1815 in the quaint old Hanseatic town of Liibeck, where he seems in his boyhood to have acquired a poetic bent. He began the study of theology at Bonn, but gave it up for the cult of the Muse. In 1838 Bettina von Arnim got him a tutorship in Greece, where he spent two years travelling, and returned in 1840 to bring out his first volume of poetry.

He next resided at Cassel, and studied Spanish romance, his Kbnig Roderick being the fruit of this labour. The King of Prussia granted him a small pension, and in 1852 he was appointed Professor of AEsthetics in the university of Munich. He married, and lost his wife, an episode that has left an impress on his works. His Prussian sympathies led to his quitting Bavaria in 1868, and the rest of his life was passed at Liibeck, where he died in 1884, the victories of 1870 and the unification of Germany providing him with patriotic themes.

Geibel's strength lay in lyrics, and some of his songs are almost national, such as Ber Anne Taugenichts, Ber Zigeunerbube, Ber Antwort, Der Mai ist Gekommen, Wenn Sieh Zwei Herzen Scheiden.