Stuckenberg was born in Vridsløselille where his father, Frederick Henry Stuckenberg, was a teacher at the state prison. His mother was Johanne Georgine Fog. There were three younger siblings, Borge, a painter, Tyge, and Else. In 1872, his father found employment in central Copenhagen, and the family moved to Nørrebro. Stuckenberg matriculated from the Von Westenske Institute in 1884. At the University of Copenhagen, he first studied theology, then science. In 1887, he married Ingeborg Pamperin. The couple had two sons, Henry and Niels Holger. But the marriage ended with Ingeborg leaving her husband and children in 1903 to emigrate to New Zealand with the gardener Hans Madsen. When the new life quickly became a disappointment, Madsen returned to Denmark, and Pamperin took her own life in 1904. Stuckenberg married Madsen's ex-wife, Clara Holbøll, in 1904 and died in Copenhagen the following year of kidney inflammation. He was buried at Assistens Cemetery.
Career
After leaving the university, Stuckenberg was employed as a teacher at Slomanns School in Frederiksberg, where he remained for the rest of his life. His debut as a poet was in 1886 with the publication of a work titled Digte. Other works included: I Gennembrud in 1887; Messias in 1889; Den vilde Jæger in 1894; Fagre Ord in 1895; Valravn in 1896; Sol in 1897, Flyvende Sommer in 1898; Vejbred and Asmadæus in 1899; Sne in 1901; and Aarsens Tid in 1905. His Sidste Digte were published posthumously in 1906. His own life drama was a lastingsource of inspiration for his poetry, where the main themes were marriage, luck, and accident. His best-known poems, all set to music, are: To som elsker hinanden, Forårsregn and Åliv. After his marriage to Pamperin, he was highly regarded by the circle of poets whom he befriended. Stuckenberg and his wife often hosted artists who published in the literary journalTaarnet. They included Claussen and Jørgensen. Generating new ideas in literary circles, his works were compared with those of Jacobsen and Turgenev. Stuckenberg, who had studied eastern European languages, was particularly attracted by Russian poetry. Indeed, his own work often reflected Russian themes, especially in regard to his characters: men were often depicted as weak and lazy dreamers while women showed will and ability.
Assessment
Stuckenberg's writings, though good, were hardly the most popular of his times, either then or now. It is generally agreed his poetry is his best work though it is not in the same class as Sophus Claussen's. Nor can his prose stand up to Henrik Pontoppidan's. Initially his poetry was bleak and heavy but by the end of the century it had become much lighter. Like his other works, his poems are based on his own life, almost becoming a biography. They describe his many crises, from childhood to marriage. Fagre Ord, written in collaboration with his wife Ingeborg, and Valrovn bring out the difficulties of a stormy marriage from both the husband's and wife's point of view. From a historical perspective, Stuckenberg is rather isolated. While his works build on Romanticism and the Modern Breakthrough, they are not part of these movements, failing to look to the future and seldom invoking symbolism. His work had little influence on other authors.
