Matthias Claudius. Source: Wikipedia Commons

Matthias Claudius (b. 15 August 1740, d. 21 January 1815) ) was a major lyric poet of Germany.  Much of his verse is moralizing or religious in character, even strongly pietistic in his later life, and is marked by simplicity and humor. He published many of his poems in the Wandsbecker Bote (Wandsbeck Messenger), of which he was the editor. One of these is a poem of seven lines, titled "Hinz und Menno," Hinz boasting in the first six lines of his extensive knowledge of morals, and Menno (Simons) replying in a single line in Dutch, "But do you act accordingly?" (Maar doet gy ook daarna?) The Church Hymnal (Mennonite Church) and the Mennonite Hymnary (General Conference Mennonite Church) both contain a poem written by Claudius, which was later set to music, viz., "We Plow the Fields and Scatter."

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, pp. 619-620. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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