Mörike, Eduard Friedrich

Born Sept. 8, 1804, in Ludwigsburg; died June 4, 1875, in Stuttgart. German writer.

Mörike studied theology in Tübingen (1822–26) and was a pastor for many years. In his novel Painter Nolten (1832), a work influenced by Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister, Mörike muses about the fate of art in recounting the story of a painter’s wanderings and unhappy love. Another important prose work was the short story, “Mozart on His Journey to Prague” (1856; Russian translation, 1965); the story, filled with a radiant mood, describes one day in the composer’s life. Mörike’s lyric poetry—the most significant part of his literary legacy—deals with love, nature, and rural life; several of his poems express a profound sympathy for human suffering. A number of Morike’s poems have been set to music.