SOURCE: “Poetry and Prose,” in Franz Grillparzer, Twayne Publishers, 1981, pp. 80-94.

In the following excerpt, Thompson presents an overview of Grillparzer's lyrical poetry, written mostly in his youth and influenced by the eighteenth-century neoclassical poets. Thompson also discusses Das Kloster bei Sendomir and Der Arme Spielmann, both of which broach the theme of the role of the artist.

I Poetry

It is ostensibly one of the more puzzling facts of literary history that whereas Grillparzer enjoys considerable stature as a dramatist, as a lyric poet he ranks only as a minor figure. Not that he is entirely unknown as a poet, for individual lines have become immortalized, such as “In your camp is Austria,” which offered encouragement to Fieldmarshal Radetzky in whose imperial army Grillparzer saw the salvation of his fatherland during the troubles of 1848, and his description of Vienna as “a Capua of minds,” referring to its...