Lenau, Nikolaus

Lenau, Nikolaus (nē'kōlous lā'nou) [key], pseud. of Nikolaus Niembsch Edler von Strehlenau (nēmpsh ād'lur fun shtrā'lunou) [key], 1802–50, Austrian romantic poet, b. Hungary. He is considered Austria's chief lyric poet. Pessimism and melancholy dominate his work, which includes three volumes of vivid poems of peasant life (1832, 1838, 1840); the epics Savonarola (1837) and Die Albigenser (1842); and the long lyric poem Faust (1836). Lenau's mind failed in 1844, and he spent his last years in an asylum.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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