Йоханес

During the last decade of his life, the great German poet Johannes R. Becher published several books in which - in the form of personal and sometimes even intimate reflection - he expressed his observations, conclusions and convictions on a number of unclear or controversial issues of artistic creativity. The great theoretical and practical interest that these books represent lies both in the diversity of the problems addressed and in the sharpness, sometimes even innovative courage, with which the author expresses his views. Preceded by the published diary of the poet from 1950-1951, entitled with a verse from Shakespeare's "The Tempest" ("And yet - what great hopes!"), these volumes (published in the years 1952-1957 and united under the general title "Endeavors") are: The Defense of Poetry, The Poetic Credo, The Power of Poetry and The Poetic Principle.