Thomas Kingo

Thomas Kingo (born December 15, 1634, Slangerup, Denmark—died October 14, 1703, Odense) was a clergyman and poet whose works are considered the high point of Danish Baroque poetry.

Kingo’s grandfather had come from Scotland, and his father was a weaver. In his youth, Kingo wrote a series of poems picturing humorous scenes in village life and a pastoral love poem, “Chrysillis.” After graduating in theology, he taught briefly. In 1677 Christian V made Kingo bishop of Fyn. Thereafter, he wrote only occasional poetry in honour of the royal family, together with the hymns and religious poems that are the most enduring of his works. The latter were collected in two volumes, Aandelig sjunge-kor (1674 and 1681; “Spiritual Chorus”). In addition to the morning and evening songs, the best-known are “Far, Verden, Farvel” (“Fare, World, Farewell”) and “Sorrig og Glæde de vandre til Hobe” (“Sorrow and Joy They Wander Together”). He is remembered today mainly for what is popularly known as Kingo’s hymnbook, a collection that appeared in 1699 and contained 86 of his own poems. The first half of Kingo’s original hymnal was published in 1689 as Vinter-Parten (“The Winter Part”) but was later rejected by the king. Kingo’s hymns contrast this world with heaven and are deeply personal in their graphic and suggestive use of language. Underneath their Christian orthodoxy, they are both subjective and antithetical, showing the individual as immersed in the world he rejects and whose darkness he anxiously desires to overcome.