LVI. Friedrich Spe

1591-1635. Spe was a Jesuit father who won distinction as a poet and also as an opponent of the witch-burning mania. His collection of lyric poems called Trutz-Nachtigall, or Match-Nightingale, is interesting for its singular blend of 274 erotic imagery with sincere religious feeling. The poems indicate a genuine delight in certain aspects of nature. The selections follow Wolff’s edition, in Kürschner’s Nationalliteratur, Vol. 31.