German writers of the seventeenth century strove to rival their European colleagues in intellectual significance, cosmopolitan refinement, and beauty of language. Christian Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau's poetry, while it does not enjoy the stature of the dramas of Andreas Gryphius or Daniel Casper von Lohenstein's novel Großmüthiger Feldherr Arminius oder Herrmann (The Magnanimous General Arminius or Herrmann, 1689, 1690), demonstrates this ambition forcefully. Hoffmannswaldau's name was long considered synonymous with a decline in German poetry's moral and artistic temper, especially in the Silesian tradition established by Martin Opitz. Today, however, readers judge his accomplishments with greater historical insight and recognize him as one of the finest poets of his time.

Hoffmannswaldau was born on 25 December 1616 into a prosperous Lutheran family in Breslau (today Wroclaw, Poland), the principal city of Silesia, the Hapsburg Empire's wealthiest province. His father, Johannes, a high imperial official, had been ennobled in 1612. His...