Nature in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Times

Imitation vs. Allegorization: Martin Opitz’s Influential Proposal Concerning Poetic Reflections on Nature

John Pizer

Abstract

Martin Opitz (1597−1639) is widely regarded as the “father of German poetry” based on his treatise Book of German Poetry (Buch von der Deutschen Poeterey, 1624), as this was the first book written in the German language to elucidate a prescriptive poetics to be used for guidance by the nation’s contemporary writers. His recommendations on the appropriate use of prosody, rhyme, alliteration, and genre-driven themes were highly influential for German-language poets in the early modern period. He also proposed in this work, in a rather cursory manner, that poetry should be based on the ideal imitation of nature, not ...