Friedrich Leopold Freiherr von Hardenberg (Novalis) (1772-1801)
Germany

"We are near awakening when we dream that we dream." (1798)

Novalis was born into nobility and educated in law at Jena. However, his heart lay elsewhere. He became friends with Schlegel, Tieck, and other early Romantics in 1797. He was often published in the Athenaeum, and became involved in the Fruhromantiker circle. An outpouring of his romantic ideas surged through his lyric poetry upon the death of his fiancée, Sophie von Kühn. Hymnen die Nacht (Hymns to the Night) published in 1800, which was dedicated to Sophie, became his best-known work. Novalis constantly had visions of a "blue flower," which served as the bulk of the imagery in his unfinished work, Heinrich von Ofterdingen (1802). Heinrich's search for the elusive blue flower, a symbol of futility, as well as Novalis' other work greatly influenced the budding German Romantic movement. His Romantic ideas of human spirituality, love, and beauty, prospered to nourish Romanticism in its infancy.

Works
Hymnen die Nacht (1800)
Heinrich von Ofterdingen (1802)
Glaube und Liebe (1798)
Christendom or Europe (1826)

Sources

"Novalis." Pegasos- Literature Related Resources. Kuusankosken Kaupunginkirjasto, Finland. 1999 < http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/>

"Novalis.," The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2001 Columbia University Press.