[2] He took the opportunity of his proximity to Persia to study Persian literature and translate and publish in 1851 a volume of poetry under the fanciful title Die Lieder des Mirza Schaffy (English trans.

The celebrity is not undeserved, for although Bodenstedt does not attain the poetical elevation of FitzGerald, his translation conveys a view of life which is wider, more cheerful and more sane, while the execution is a model of grace.

On his return from the East, Bodenstedt engaged for a while in journalism, married the daughter of a Hessian officer (Matilde, the Edlitam of his poems), and was in 1854 appointed professor of Slavonic at Munich.

[2] For some time Bodenstedt continued to devote himself to Slavonic subjects, producing translations of Pushkin, Lermontov, Turgenev, and of the poets of Ukraine, and writing a tragedy on the false Demetrius, and an epic, Ada die Lesghierin, on a Circassian theme.

His later works consist of an autobiography (1888),[3] successful translations from Hafiz and Omar Khayyam,[4] and lyrics and dramas which added little to his reputation.