B. S. Ingemann | Biography

Four poets have left an indelible mark on the Danish hymn: Thomas Kingo, Hans Adolph Brorson, N. F. S. Grundtvig, and, despite protest from certain theologians, B. S. Ingemann. Many religious scholars deride Ingemann's hymns as characterized more by a naive natural religion than by a strictly Lutheran Christianity. Despite theologians' distrust, Ingemann's work is loved by laypeople. His fourteen short morning and evening songs, especially, are so well known that many have no idea of their authorship. Even Ingemann never thought of these simple and idyllic texts as anything special, particularly when one considers the range of his literary output: suspenseful novels, fairy tales, lachrymose tragedies, versified travel books, contemporary satire, emotionally sophisticated love poems, religious allegories, hair-raising thrillers, and heretical statements concerning the soul's continued development following bodily death. The prolific Ingemann even found time to pursue studies in astrology and natural philosophy. In fact, his collected works...
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