Renaissance Text Series (RTS), Vol. 20

The Poetic Works of Helius Eobanus Hessus, Volume 2: Journeyman Years, 1509-1514

Edited and translated by Harry Vredeveld (Ohio State University)
2008 | 704 pp. | Cloth | 6 x 9 in | 978-0-86698-381-5 | MRTS 333
$95 | £67

Eobanus Hessus (1488-1540) was the most celebrated poet of the German Renaissance and Reformation. Mutianus Rufus hailed him as “a modern Pindar.” Reuchlin crowned him “the king” of poets. To Erasmus he was a Beatus Rhenanus, Melanchthon, Reuchlin, and Hutten all rolled into one: a “Christian Ovid.” His star blazed resplendent for as long as Latin was read as a living language. Besides a brilliant style and a humanist’s learning he brought to his work an uncommonly wide range of themes, a warm and engaging tone, and a refreshing boldness in pioneering new genres on German soil. This second volume includes A Nuptial Encomium for the Godlike Sigismund King of Poland, Letters of Christian Heroines, and two impromptus or Sylvae, "Prussia" and "Love". All of these are presented in a critical edition, with idiomatic translations and informative introductions and notes.