Ulrike Almut Sandig’s poetic output engages with the traditions of Romanticism, but it is apparent from her performance techniques and the visual qualities of her work, as well as some of its central thematic concerns, that her relationship to this tradition is complex. This essay illuminates Sandig’s relationship to German literary history, and particularly to the work of Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, by arguing that both Sandig and Droste negotiate between Romanticism and Realism — and, in doing so, emphasize the primacy of sensory engagement as a means of social engagement and resistance.