Poul Martin Møller

Poul Martin Møller (born March 21, 1794, Uldum, near Vejle, Denmark—died March 13, 1838, Copenhagen) was a Danish author whose novel of student life, the first in his country’s literature that dealt with the contemporary scene, marked an important stage in the history of Danish literature. His aphorism, “All poetry that does not come from life is a lie,” sums up his realistic approach in a romantic age. He is also distinguished by his understanding of the psychology of human personality.

After taking a degree in divinity at the University of Copenhagen, Møller began his literary career by translating Homer. To recover from a broken engagement, he went to China as a chaplain on a Danish ship (1819–21). From this period came journals; a number of strøtanker (“aphorisms”), published in 1839–43, along with the rest of Møller’s work, in the three-volume Efterladte skrifter (“Posthumous Writings”); nostalgic poems about Denmark and Copenhagen—for example, “Scener i Rosenborg Have” (“Scenes from the Garden at Rosenborg Castle”); and a witty parody of statistical-topographical descriptions, Statistisk skildring af Lægdsgaarden i Ølsebymagle. After his return he earned a living by teaching classics while studying philosophy.

Møller first read his most famous work, En dansk students eventyr (“The Adventures of a Danish Student”), to the students’ union at Copenhagen in 1824. Originally planned as a historical novel in the manner of Sir Walter Scott, it describes, in its final (though fragmentary) form, student life as experienced by its author. “Blade af dødens dagbog” (“Leaves from Death’s Diary”), a poetic fragment inspired by Lord Byron, and other sketches, such as Møller’s witty essay “Quindelighed” (“Womanliness”), demonstrate both his mastery of style and his tendency to leave works unfinished.

Møller was a lecturer in philosophy at the university in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway, from 1826 to 1828, when he became professor, and from 1831 he held the chair of philosophy at the University of Copenhagen. Among his students was Søren Kierkegaard, who much admired him. Møller, like Kierkegaard, was an outspoken anti-Hegelian philosopher and writer.