Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Freiligrath, Ferdinand

FREILIGRATH, FERDINAND (frī'lig-rät), a German poet; born in Detmold, Germany, June 17, 1810. His first volume of “Poems” (1838), won a royal pension, which he renounced as discrediting his liberalism, publishing a “Confession of Faith” in verse (1844). Banished as a sower of sedition, he took refuge in London till the Revolution of 1848. Returning, he was tried for high treason for his poem “The Dead to the Living,” but acquitted; then threatened with prosecution for “Political and Social Poems”; he returned to London and lived there till 1868. Many of his songs are widely popular. He was an admirable translator, notably from Scott, Shakespeare, and Longfellow. He died in Cannstatt, Germany, March 18, 1876.