Selected Poems

…one of the most notable features of all Spitteler's work is the pervasive sense of humour. By this is meant nothing boisterous or rollicking or intrusive. It is rather an obbligato reminder that the poet does not take himself too seriously, that has nothing about him of the prig or the pedant. It is seldom that this gift is so evident in epic poetry, though it is not without significance that Spitteler was a zealous student of Ariosto. And his humour is not inconsistent with the fact that no modern poet strikes a more profoundly tragic note when tragedy is called for.