Trakl, Georg

Related Category: German Literature: Biographies

(gāôrk träk´əl), 1887–1914, Austrian expressionist poet. Trakl's work, influenced by French impressionist poetry, reveals his disgust with imperialistic society. An absorption with sorrow and decay permeates his Gedichte [poems] (1913), the only collection published during his lifetime. A pharmacist in the German army, Trakl died from an overdose of drugs. Posthumous publications of his work include Der Herbst des Einsamen [the autumn of the lonely] (1920) and Gesang des Abgeschiedenen [song of the departed] (1933).

See selection of his poems ed. by C. Middleton (1968); biography by H. S. Lindenberger (1971); study by T. J. Casey (1964).