Rückert, Friedrich [key], 1788–1866, German scholar and poet. An editor and professor of Oriental languages, he wrote imitations of Asian and Middle Eastern poetry and made fine translations of Arabic, Persian, and Chinese verse. He also wrote lyric romantic poems in a simple German style. Among these are the patriotic and anti-French Geharnischte Sonette [sonnets in armor] (1814), Liebesfrühling [springtime of love] (1823), and The Wisdom of the Brahmins (6 vol., 1836–39; tr. 1882), a long, contemplative work. Several of Rückert's works were set to music by Schumann and Mahler.
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