Carl Ludwig Emil Aarestrup (December 4, 1800 – July 21, 1856) was a Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 erotic

Erotica

Erotica are works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing descriptions...

 poet

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

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Life

Aarestrup was born in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

, and died in Odense

Odense

The city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark.Odense City has a population of 167,615 and is the main city of the island of Funen...

. He graduated in 1827 majoring in medicine. That same year, he married Caroline Aagard and they settled down in Nysted, on the Danish island of Lolland

Lolland

Lolland is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of 1,243 square kilometers . Located in the Baltic sea, it is part of Region Sjælland...

 where he lived for most of his life but from 1849 he was a doctor on Funen

Funen

Funen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 454,358 inhabitants . The main city is Odense, connected to the...

. He was a close friend of the poet Christian Winther

Christian Winther

Rasmus Villads Christian Ferdinand Winther , was a Danish lyric poet.He was born at Fensmark near Næstved, where his father was the vicar. He went to the University of Copenhagen in 1815, and studied theology, taking his degree in 1824. He began to publish verse in 1819, but no collected volume...

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Works

Working as a doctor, he wrote poetry in his spare time. Only one book was published while he was alive, in 1838: "Digte" ("Poems"). It was generally ignored by critics as well as the public at the time of its release. Another was published after his death in 1863: "Efterladte Digte" ("Posthumous poems").

Among Danish lyricists, Aarestrup is considered one of the most genuine amorists. Especially in his ritornelles and short and emphasized verses he reaches mastery. As a verse technician he is influenced by the German poet Friedrich Rückert

Friedrich Rückert

Friedrich Rückert was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages.-Biography:Rückert was born at Schweinfurt and was the eldest son of a lawyer. He was educated at the local Gymnasium and at the universities of Würzburg and Heidelberg. From 1816-1817, he worked on the editorial...

 but finds his own form. Compared to most contemporary Danish love poets he is much more sensual, material and audacious though still respecting decorum

Decorum

Decorum was a principle of classical rhetoric, poetry and theatrical theory that was about the fitness or otherwise of a style to a theatrical subject...

. His tune is teasing, ironic, witty and elegant but sometimes with a hidden fear of death and vanity. Among his most famous poems must be mentioned Paa Sneen (“At the Snow”), Angst (“Fear”), Til Nanna (“For Nanna”), Tidlig Skilsmisse (“Early Divorce”) and Var det Synd? (“Was It a Sin?”). Less known today are his few political poems that reveal his liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 sympathies.

Legacy

Although not recognized in his own time, he is now widely considered one of the most influential Danish poets and is still read in Denmark today. Normally his poetry is regarded an important precondition of the great symbolist lyric Sophus Claussen

Sophus Claussen

Sophus Claussen was a Danish writer. He is best remembered for his neo-romanticism poems.-Works:* Naturbørn 1887* Pilefløjter1899* Ungt Folk 1894* Djævlerier 1904...

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