SOURCE: "The Major Motifs: Religion: Self-imposed Separation," in Matthias Claudius, Twayne Publishers, 1983, pp. 33-55.

In the following excerpt, Rowland explores the major themes that recur in Claudius ' writings, including his treatment of man's self-imposed separation from God, the relationship of man and God through nature, his ambivalent feelings toward death, the centrality of love, his political views, and his comments on the artistic process.

In an introductory study such as the present one there is no room for an exhaustive treatment of any of Claudius's motifs, least of all religion.¹ A brief summary of the religious substance of many complete pieces, not to mention countless passages and allusions in other texts, would itself fill a volume. On the whole, Claudius's beliefs coincide with those of all Christianity and may thus be assumed to be familiar. However, his emphasis of certain of them lends his faith a quite...