When Rückert began his literary career, Germany was engaged in her life-and-death struggle with Napoleon; and in his first volume, "Deutsche Gedichte" ("German Poems"), published in 1814 under the pseudonym Freimund Raimar, he gave, particularly in the powerful "Geharnischte Sonette" ("Sonnets in Arms/Harsh Words"), vigorous expression to the prevailing sentiment of his countrymen. During 1815 to 1818 appeared "Napoleon, eine politische Komödie in drei Stücken" ("Napoleon, a Political Comedy in Three Parts") of which only two parts were published; and in 1817 "Der Kranz der Zeit" ("The Wreath of Time").