Songs on the Death of Children

<p> German poet Friedrich Ruckert's (1788-1866) youngest children died of scarlet fever the pandemic of his age. Over a six month period in 1834 he wrote hundreds of laments that were published posthumously in the classic poetry collection <I>Kindertotenlieder</I>. </p><p> Here in English for the first time these evocative modern translations by a fellow bereaved father reveal an honest grappling with grief (<I>The Christian Century</I>). Each poem is accompanied by insights into the bereaved along with personal anecdotes historical and cultural information the latest research on grief and discussions of literary and biblical allusions.</p>