Gryphius was a man of morbid disposition, and his melancholy temperament, fostered by the misfortunes of his childhood, is largely reflected in his lyrics, of which the most famous are the _Kirchhofsgedanken_ (1656). His best works are his comedies, one of which, _Absurda Comica, oder Herr Peter Squentz_ (1663), is evidently based on the comic episode of Pyramus and Thisbe in _The Midsummer Night's Dream_. _Die geliebte Dornrose_ (1660), which is written in a Silesian dialect, contains many touches of natural simplicity and grace, and ranks high among the comparatively small number of German dramas of the 17th century. _Horribilicribrifax_ (1663), founded on the _Miles gloriosus_ of Plautus, is a rather laboured attack on pedantry. Besides these three comedies, Gryphius wrote five tragedies. In all of them his tendency is to become wild and bombastic, but he had the merit of at least attempting to work out artistically conceived plans, and there are occasional flashes both of passion and of imagination. His models seem to have been Seneca and Vondel. He had the courage, in _Carolus Stuardus_ (1649) to deal with events of his own day; his other tragedies are _Leo Armenius_ (1646); _Katharina von Georgien_ (1657), _Cardenio und Celinde_ (1657) and _Papinianus_ (1663). No German dramatic writer before him had risen to so high a level, nor had he worthy successors until about the middle of the 18th century. A complete edition of Gryphius's dramas and lyric poetry has been published by H. Palm in the series of the Stuttgart Literarische Verein (3 vols., 1878, 1882, 1884). Volumes of selected works will be found in W. Muller's _Bibliothek der deutschen Dichter des 17ten Jahrhunderts_ (1822) and in J. Tittmann's _Deutsche Dichter des 17ten Jahrhunderts_ (1870). There is also a good selection by H. Palm in Kurschner's _Deutsche Nationalliteratur_. See O. Klopp, _Andreas Gryphius als Dramatiker_ (1851); J. Hermann, _Uber Andreas Gryphius_ (1851); T. Wissowa, _Beitrage zur Kenntnis von Andreas Gryphius' Leben und Schriften_ (1876); J. Wysocki, _Andreas Gryphius et la tragedie allemande au XVII^e siecle_; and V. Mannheimer, _Die Lyrik des Andreas Gryphius_ (1904).