A warm admirer of
Klopstock, Denis was one of the leading members of the group of so-called
bards; and his original
poetry, published under the title
Die Lieder Sineds des Barden (1772), shows all the extravagances of the bardic movement. He is best remembered as the translator of
Ossian (1768–1769; also published together with his own poems in 5 volumes as
Ossians und Sineds Lieder, 1784). More important than either Denis' original poetry or his translations were his efforts to familiarise the Austrians with the literature of
Northern Germany; his
Sammlung kürzerer Gedichte aus den neuern Dichtern Deutschlandes, 3 volumes (1762–1766), was in this respect invaluable. He has also left a number of bibliographical compilations,
Grundriss der Bibliographie und Bücherkunde (1774),
Grundriss der Literaturgeschichte (1776),
Einleitung in die Bücherkunde (1777), and
Wiens Buchdruckergeschichte bis 1560 (1782).
Ossians und Sineds Lieder have not been reprinted since 1791; but a selection of Denis' poetry, edited by Richard Hamel, is to found in volume 48 (1884) of
Kürschners Deutsche Nationalliteratur. His
Literarischer Nachlass was published by
Joseph Friedrich Freiherr von Retzer in 1802 (2 volumes), two years after Denis had died in Vienna, aged 71. ==Scientist==