View source for Jens Baggesen

{{Short description|Danish poet (1764–1826)}}
{{expand Danish|date=June 2023|topic=bio}}
{{Infobox writer
| name         = Jens Baggesen
| image        = Jens Baggesen pastel.jpg
| imagesize    = 200px
| alt          =
| caption      = Jens Baggesen, pastel by [[Christian Horneman]] made during a visit to [[Copenhagen]] in 1806 from [[Paris]] where Baggesen lived at the time
| pseudonym    =
| birth_name    = Jens Immanuel Baggesen
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1764|2|15|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Korsør]], [[Denmark]]
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1826|10|3|1764|2|15|df=y}}
| death_place   = [[Hamburg]], [[German Confederation]]
| occupation   = Poet
| nationality  = Danish
| citizenship  =
| education    =
| alma_mater   =
| period       =
| genre        =
| subject      =
| movement     = [[Romanticism]]
| notableworks = ''[[Labyrinten]]''<br/>"[[Da Jeg Var Lille]]"
| spouse       =
| partner      =
| children     = 
| relatives    =
| influences   = 
| influenced   = 
| awards       =
| signature    = Jens Baggesen signature.jpg
| website      =
| portaldisp   =
}}
'''Jens Immanuel Baggesen'''<ref>Also formerly written as '''Jens Emmanuel Baggesen'''.{{harv|Gosse |1911|p=200}}</ref> (15 February 1764&nbsp;– 3 October 1826) was a major [[Denmark|Danish]] [[poet]], [[librettist]], [[literary criticism|critic]], and comic writer.

{{anchor|Biography|History}}

==Life==
[[Image:Baggesenseg.jpg|right|thumb|200px|"Baggesen's Oak" (''{{lang|da|Baggesens Eg}}'') at [[Christianssæde]] manor on [[Lolland]] in Denmark, which inspired the poet's ''{{lang|da|Landforvandlingen}}'']]
[[File:Gravesite Jens Immanuel Baggesen Kiel Germany.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Baggesen's grave at Eichhof Cemetery in [[Kiel]], [[Germany]].]]
Baggesen was born at [[Korsør]] on the [[Kingdom of Denmark|Danish]] [[list of Danish islands|island]] of [[Zealand]] on February 15, 1764. His parents were very poor, and he was sent to [[copyist|copy documents]] at the office of the clerk of [[Hornsherred]]{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} [[Traditional districts of Denmark|District]] before he was twelve. He was a melancholy, feeble child, and he attempted [[suicide]] more than once. By dint of indomitable perseverance, he managed to gain an education; in 1782, he entered the [[University of Copenhagen]].<ref name="Gosse 1911">{{EB1911 |inline=1 |last=Gosse |first=Edmund William |author-link=Edmund William Gosse |wstitle=Baggesen, Jens Immanuel |volume=3 |page=200 }}</ref>

His first work—a verse ''Comical Tales'' broadly similar to the later ''Broad Grins'' of [[George Colman the Younger|Colman the Younger]]—took the capital by storm and the struggling poet found himself a popular favorite at age 21.<ref name="Gosse 1911"/> He then tried more serious [[lyric poetry]] and his [[wikt:tact|tact]], elegant manners, and versatility gained him a place in the best society.<ref name="Gosse 1911"/> In March 1789,{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} his success collapsed when his [[Danish opera|opera]] ''[[Holger Danske (opera)|Holger Danske]]'' was received with mockery of its many faults<ref name="Gosse 1911"/> and a heated [[Danish nationalism|nationalist]] controversy over Baggesen's association with [[German people|Germans]].{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} He left Denmark in a rage and spent the next years in [[Holy Roman Empire|Germany]], [[First French Republic|France]], and [[Switzerland]].<ref name="Gosse 1911"/>

In 1790, he married at [[Bern]] and began to write in [[German language|German]]. He published his next poem ''{{lang|de|Alpenlied}}'' ("Alpine Song") in that language, but brought the [[Danish language|Danish]] ''{{lang|da|Labyrinten}}'' ("[[Labyrinth]]") as a peace offering upon his return to [[Denmark]] in the winter. It was received with unbounded homage. Over the next twenty years, he published volumes alternately in Danish and German and wandered across northern Europe before settling principally in [[Paris]]. His most important German work during this period was the 1803 idyllic [[hexameter]] [[epic poetry|epic]] called ''Parthenais''.<ref name="Gosse 1911"/>

Upon his 1806 visit to [[Copenhagen]], he found the young [[Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger|Oehlenschläger]] hailed as the great poet of the day and his own popularity on the wane. He then stayed, engaging in one abusive [[literary feud]] after another, most with the underlying issue that Baggesen was determined not to allow Oehlenschläger to be considered a greater poet than himself. He finally left for Paris in 1820, where he lost his second wife and youngest child in 1822. Suffering a period of [[debtors' prison|imprisonment for his debts]], he fell at last into a hopeless melancholy madness. Having slightly recovered, he determined to see Denmark once more, but died en route at the [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]]' hospital in [[Hamburg]] on October 3, 1826. He was buried at [[Kiel]].<ref name="Gosse 1911"/>

==Legacy==
Baggesen's many-sided talents achieved success in all forms of writing, but his [[Danish politics|political]], [[Danish philosophy|philosophical]], and [[literary criticism|critical]] works fell out of favor by the mid-19th century. His [[satire]] is marred by his egotism and passions, but his comic poems are deathless. His finished and elegant style was very influential on later [[Danish literature]], in which he is regarded as the major figure between [[Ludvig Holberg|Holberg]] and [[Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger|Oehlenschläger]]. His greatest success, however, has proven to be the simple song ''{{lang|da|Da Jeg Var Lille}}''<ref>{{citation |last=Baggesen |first=Jens |contribution=Da jeg var lille |contribution-url=http://www.kalliope.org/en/digt.pl?longdid=baggesen2001082701 |title=Samtlige Værker, ''Vol. I'' |date=1801 |url=http://www.kalliope.org/en/vaerktoc.pl?fhandle=baggesen&vhandle=1801 |language=da |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091254/http://www.kalliope.org/en/vaerktoc.pl?fhandle=baggesen&vhandle=1801 |archive-date=2016-03-04 }}</ref> ("There Was a Time when I Was Very Little")<ref>{{citation |contribution=There Was a Time when I Was Very Little |contribution-url=http://www.bartleby.com/library/poem/512.html |title=Library of the World's Best Literature |url=http://www.bartleby.com/library/ <!--|location=New York |publisher=Warner Library Co. |date=1917 |editor-last=Warner |editor-first=Charles Dudley -->}}</ref> which was known by heart among Danes a century after his death. It outlived all of his epics.<ref name="Gosse 1911"/>

There is a statue of Baggesen on Havnepladsen in [[Korsør]], unveiled on 6 May 1906 by Professor [[Vilhelm Andersen]]. The local [[Best Western]] hotel is also named after him.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite EB9 |last=Gosse |first=Edmund William |author-link=Edmund William Gosse  |wstitle=Jens Emmanuel Baggesen |volume=3 |pages=230–231 }}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Jens Immanuel Baggesen}}
* {{Librivox author |id=9366}}
{{Commons category}}
{{Danish Golden Age}}
{{Illuminati}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baggesen, Jens}}
[[Category:1764 births]]
[[Category:1826 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Korsør]]
[[Category:Danish male poets]]
[[Category:People imprisoned for debt]]
[[Category:18th-century Danish poets]]
[[Category:19th-century Danish poets]]
[[Category:19th-century Danish male writers]]
[[Category:German-language poets]]
[[Category:Danish Freemasons]]
[[Category:18th-century Danish male writers]]