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>