Trakl

Georg Trakl, commonly referred to simply as Trakl, was an Austrian poet whose compact, image-rich verse is recognized as a major contribution to early 20th-century German-language poetry. His work is associated with symbolism and early expressionism, and it is defined by melancholic atmospheres, stark landscapes, and spiritual longing.

He was born on February 3, 1887, in Salzburg, then part of Austria-Hungary. Trakl published his debut collection Gedichte in 1908, establishing him as a voice of the new generation. Over the next years his poetry grew darker and more austere, marked by luminous imagery of night, decay, and ruined beauty, and by a sense of existential crisis in the face of modernity.

In 1914, during World War I, Trakl travelled to Kraków, where he died on November 3, 1914, at the age of 27. The precise cause of his death is unclear, though it occurred while he was under hospital care.

Trakl's poetry, especially the later war-era pieces such as the famous Grodek, is noted for its compressed syntax, symbolic imagery, and intense emotion. His influence helped shape Austrian modernism and left a lasting imprint on German-language poetry, and his works have been translated widely.