Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687) was one of the Dutch nation's principal contributions to the transformation of European culture in the early-modern period. As a poet, diplomat, scholar and statesman, he had far-reaching influence on the cultural, scholarly and political life of his time. This collection introduces Huygens' poetry to English-speaking readers and presents a literary counterpart to the much better-known visual arts of the Dutch Golden Age.

The poems have been selected to demonstrate the breadth of his interests, his pivotal role in European culture and his mastery of a variety of literary genres and styles. As a poet, Huygens wrote not only in his native Dutch, but also in Latin, French, Italian, German and English, and he made translations from these and other languages.

1. All poems are presented in both Dutch (or Latin) and English, the translations facing the original, and are provided with headnotes. The concise biographical and cultural introduction, the three extensive appendices and the bibliography and index will present ample suggestions for further investigation of the many areas of possible interest presented in the book, such as architecture, garden design, painting, music, science and politics.