Des Tüfels Segi (original) (raw)

Des Tüfels Segi (des tuiffels segin "The Devil's Net", conventional Standard German title Des Teufels Netz) is an Alemannic German satirical didactic poem of the early 15th century, most likely written during the years 1414–1420. The contents involve a long treatise on the estates (Stände) of traditional feudalism; the "devil's net" is an allegory for the various forms of vice affecting the various classes. The poem takes the form of a dialogue between a hermit and the devil.The theme of enumerating the various classes of society as all subject to sin and damnation is related to the Danse Macabre theme (enumerating them, somewhat less pessimistic, as all subject to death) which first developed at about the time of the poem's composition.