Essays and Letters. Friedrich Holderlin

by Friedrich Hölderlin

One of Germany's greatest poets, Johann Christian Friedrich Holderlin (1770-1843) was also a prose writer of intense feeling, intelligence and perception. This new translation of selected letters and essays traces the life and thoughts of this extraordinary writer. Holderlin's letters to friends and fellow writers such as Hegel, Schiller and Goethe describe his development as a poet, while those written to his family speak with great passion of his beliefs and aspirations, as well as revealing money worries and, finally, the tragic unravelling of his sanity. These works examine Holderlin's great preoccupations - the unity of existence, the relationship between art and nature and, above all, the spirit of the writer.

Genres: Philosophy, Essays, Nonfiction, Poetry, Romanticism, German Literature, Classics

480 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2009

About the author

Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin was a major German lyric poet, commonly associated with the artistic movement known as Romanticism. Hölderlin was also an important thinker in the development of German Idealism, particularly his early association with and philosophical influence on his seminary roommates and fellow Swabians Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling.

Reviews

[E. G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Acknowledgements
Chronology
Introduction & Notes
Further Reading

Part 1: Letters

--Letters

Part 2: Essays

--'I was slumbering, my Callias ...'
--'There is a natural state ...'
--On the Concept of Punishment
--Being Judgement Possibility
--Hermocrates to Cephalus
--Fragment of Philosophical Letters
--Seven Maxims
--'The wise, however ...'
--From a Draft of the Journal Plan
--The Standpoint from which we should consider Antiquity
--Note on Homer
--'I am pleased ...' (On Achilles)
--A Word on the Iliad
--On the Different Modes of Poetic Composition
--The Ground of the Empedocles
--'The declining fatherland ...'
--'When the poet is once in command of the spirit ...'
--'Feeling speaks in a poem ...'
--'The expression, the characteristic ...'
--'The lyric, in appearance idealic poem ...'
--'Does the idealic catastrophe ...'
--Poetological Tables
--'The tragic poet ...'
--Review of Siegfried Schmid's play The Heroine
--'The meaning of tragedies ...'
--Notes on the Oedipus
--Notes on the Antigone
--On the Fable of the Ancients
--Pindar Fragments

Appendix: The Oldest Programme for a System of German Idealism
Notes
List of Hölderlin's Letters Included in this Edition
List of Correspondents: Biographical Notes
Index

[Andrew Noselli · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the reader who engages with this text, it's important to understand, when taking in this somewhat less than remarkable collection of letters and essays and fragments of poetic and philosophical outcroppings as they appeared in Holderlin's correspondence around the time of the French revolution, that this period of history time was significant because then, for the first time, the principles of reason were newly discovered and they would come to assume a primary position in the establishment of revolutionary governments, first in the United States under the Declaration of Independence and later the U.S. Constitution and still later, in a somewhat aborted form, under the aspects of the Declaration of the Rights of Man in French; and I use the word 'aborted' because the cult of reason that was worshiped under the French revolution was basically a perversion of the basic thrust of the philosophers who conceived of a rational state operating on the lines of right-aligned reason. My perusing of these somewhat scanty missives filled with a generous proportion of quotidian personal griefs, for instance, Holderlin frequently besieges his correspondents for trifles like expenditures of coffee and tobacco papers, nevertheless it reveals the backstory relating to the philosophical underpinnings of a strong personality that attempted to weigh whether the relationship between the finite and the infinite was a paradox that must be rejected by the community of man or can be incorporated into the rational makeup of civil society. It is well noted the Holderlin eventually succumbed to a madness which left in the care of a provincial family of shopkeepers who kept him as an invalid and that he essentially became a ward of the state; but this volume, a companion to the more important book featuring his poetic output, is a somewhat slender resource for scholars who see an entrance to the thinking which was available to the spirits of Goethe, Hegel and Schiller as they attempted to set the progressive tone of the Enlightenment in works which, by and large, were substantially of more importance than Holderlin's slim contributions. Two stars.

[Xiiz Iikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Friedrich Hölderlin's anthology is comprised of essays and correspondences. The material explores a breadth of themes, from artwork and verse to religion and philosophy. Additionally, the letters shared with close friends or family members feature his insights on life as well as imparting personal emotions.

I found great pleasure in reading the essays and letters included within this book. They were thought-provoking, providing me with a better understanding of Hölderlin's philosophical and spiritual values. The correspondence offered an even more personal view into his character; his emotions are strongly expressed throughout them all which could be felt while I read it out loud therapeutically to my latest anguishments. Though the essays were challenging, they afforded those interested in delving deeper into Hölderin’s philosophy or spirituality rewarding benefits that made studying these papers worth every page turn for sure! All together I enjoyed this volume immensely being provided insight especially when engaging with the letters specifically.

[Chris Rohlev · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't read everything in this book, at least I don't think I did. I jumped around and read letters and essays in no particular order.

That being said, I wanted to review this so hopefully, the algorithm of Goodreads can add this to a list somewhere.

Holderlin significantly influenced Heidegger, and you can immediately see the depth of thought that would attract someone like him to his poetry and prose. You can also see the influence on Heidegger's thought. Holderlin escapes the banality of modern life by escapism to a philosophy of nature that prefigured even the ancient Greeks. In this respect, I would go as far as saying he is the real precursor to Emerson.

However, Holderlin separates his comparison to Heidegger in a manner of heart and compassion.

The case of Heidegger is, I think, the most important lesson we can take from the 20th century. This is where thought and art trumps human decency (a position not too uncommon today). Heidegger's philosophy of Being and Time may be the pinnacle of philosophy today, but unfortunately, he was sporting a red armband while he wrote it.

Holderlin, for all of is depth, shows a compassion for human nature that is only rivaled by Chekhov. So, for this reason, it is clear why I respect Holderlin as a person and a poet.

I recommend these letters to anyone who wants to read the thoughts of a deeply troubled yet compassionate young man.