Christian Morgenstern

Christian Morgenstern (May 6, 1871–March 31, 1914) was a German author and poet.

Morgenstern's poetry, much of which was inspired by English literary nonsense, is immensely popular, even though he enjoyed very little success during his lifetime. He made fun of scholasticism, e.g. literary criticism in "Drei Hasen", grammar in "Der Werwolf", narrow-mindedness in "Der Gaul", and symbolism in "Der Wasseresel". In "Scholastikerprobleme" he discussed how many angels could sit on a needle. Still many Germans know some of his poems and quotations by heart, e.g. the following line from "The Impossible Fact" ("Die unmögliche Tatsache", 1910):

For, he reasons pointedly / That which must not, can not be. (German: "Weil, so schließt er messerscharf / Nicht sein kann, was nicht sein darf.")