Empfindungen aus meinem Leben by Amand Berghofer is a collection of lyrical and philosophical reflections—interweaving poems and prose meditations—written in the late 18th century. In the sentimental, nature-centered vein, it explores the inner life of a reflective narrator who turns from urban vanity to the healing presence of nature, the claims of love and virtue, and the consolations of faith, with a persistent attention to melancholy, mortality, and the hope of immortality.The book opens with a preface defending true poetry as the dignity of humankind, then follows a first-person retreat from the city to a secluded, sacred landscape where the speaker seeks reconciliation with fate. Alternating pieces trace tender melancholy, self-exhortation, and rapturous communion with nature while denouncing courtly pride and celebrating rural simplicity, compassion, and moderate pleasure (wine, song, humane feeling). The narrator yearns for an ideal beloved, includes a translated lay of willing love-suffering, and wrestles to align passion with virtue. Midway the mood deepens into meditations on the sources of dejection, memories of innocent youth, and a long graveyard scene confronting death and the limits of worldly glory. Nocturnal and “midnight” hymns elevate thought toward divine grandeur and the soul’s eternity; the soul addresses its sleeping body, preparing for both a new day and the beyond. The work closes by locating true rest not in this life but beyond the grave, sealed wi…
These books are free to read. Each is in the public domain in the United States; check your own country's rules before you copy or share one.
