1832
Poetry
Gedichte
His first collection, published in Stuttgart and dedicated to Gustav Schwab.
II · Works
Epics that sing
Lenau's reputation rests mostly on his shorter poems, but he also wrote ambitious long works on Faust, Savonarola, the Albigensians and Don Juan. Even these are lyric in spirit — driven by mood and inner struggle rather than plot.
Major publications
1836
Dramatic poem
Faust
Lenau's take on the Faust legend, in which he exposed his own inner conflicts.
1837
Epic
Savonarola
Built around the Florentine preacher; a plea for spiritual and political freedom.
1838
Poetry
Neuere Gedichte
Later lyrics, including love poems shaped by his feelings for Sophie von Löwenthal.
1842
Epic
Die Albigenser
A cycle of scenes on the crusade against the Cathars of southern France.
1844
Dramatic fragment
Don Juan
Unfinished, published posthumously — and the spark for Richard Strauss's tone poem.
Poems to know
Schilflieder
Reed Songs
His best-known lyric cycle, born of long walks through the Danube floodplain forests near Stockerau.
Herbst
Autumn
Written after the American journey; it mourns lost youth and the passing of time, ending in a longing for death as escape — Lenau's style in miniature.
Am Grabe eines Ministers
By the Grave of a Minister
One of his political poems, attacking the repressive system of Metternich.
Der traurige Mönch
The Sad Monk
A dark ballad later set by Franz Liszt as a melodrama for reciter and piano.
Weltschmerz
A deep, inherited melancholy — grief at the gap between the world as it is and as it should be.
Nature
Reeds, ponds, autumn woods and dark skies serve as mirrors for the poet's moods.
Freedom
A liberal voice against Metternich's repressive order and against corruption in the Church.
His collected works were first edited in four volumes by Anastasius Grün in 1855.