Hölderlin’s Hymns “Germania” and “The Rhine”


CONTENTS



Introduction


3

§1. Outline of the Beginning, Manner of Proceeding, and Approach of the Lecture Course

3

a) Concerning the Nature of Our Beginning. Commencement and Beginning

4

b) Concerning Our Manner of Proceeding in General. Poetizing and Thinking

5

c) Concerning Our Particular Approach. The Poetic Dasein of the Poet



9

Part One
“Germania”


Chapter One
Preparatory Reflection: Poetry and Language


17

§2. Provisional Path of Approach to the Poem as a Piece of Text

17

a) The Overarching Resonance of the Telling as Origin for the Choice and Positioning of Words

18

b) ‘Content and Form’ of the Poem, ‘Depiction in Images’

19

c) Hölderlin’s ‘Worldview’


21

§ 3 Entering the Domain in Which Poetry Unfolds Its Power

22

a) The Prevailing of Poetry in the Dasein of the Peoples

23

b) Working Our Way through the Poem as a Struggle with Ourselves

24

c) Two Textual Questions


26

§ 4 Concerning the Essence of Poetry

26

a) The Commonplace Conception of Poetry as an Outward Manifestation of Lived Experiences

28

b) The Provenance of the Word Dichten, to ‘Poetize’

29

c) Poetizing as Telling in the Manner of a Making Manifest That Points

30

d) Poetizing as Receiving the Beckonings of the Gods and Passing Them on to the People

32

e) Everyday Appearance and the Being of Poetry

33

f) Poetry Not as Merit, but Exposure to Beyng

40

g) Poetic and Thoughtful Telling


41

§ 5 The Question Concerning the ‘We’ in the Turbulence of the Dialogue

41

a) The ‘I’ in Refusal of the Gods of Old

42

b) The ‘We,’ the Man, and the Eagle. The Speaking of Language

45

c) The Beginnings of the Strophes

46

d) The Relation of Today’s Human Being to the Greeks and Their Gods

47

e) The Question ‘Who Are We?’


47

§ 6 Determining the ‘We’ from out of the Horizon of the Question of Time

47

a) The Calculable Time of the Individual and the Originary Time of the Peoples

49

b) The Historical Time of the Peoples as the Time of the Creators

51

c) A Textual Question: Different Versions of “Patmos”

52

d) Two Concepts of Eternity

53

e) The Time That Is Essentially Long

53

f) The Creators’ Knowing When It Is Not the Time for the True to Come to Pass

54

g) The Distinction between the Question What We Are and the Question Who We Are

55

h) Partaking in the Poetry


56

§ 7 The Linguistic Character of Poetry

56

a) Language as the Most Dangerous of Goods

58

b) The Decline of Language. The Essence and Corrupted Essence of Language

60

c) Language and the Human Being’s Fundamental Orientations toward Beings as a Whole

61

d) Language as the Human Being’s Protection against the God

61

e) Poetizing and Language as Configuring the Ground of Historical Dasein

62

f) The Being of the Human Being as Dialogue. Being Able to Hear and Speaking

66

g) Being Exposed to Beings, the Individual and the Community

67

h) Summary

68

i) The Absence of Language in the Animal and in ‘Nature’

69

j) Poetizing and Language in Their Originary Belonging to the History of the Human Being



Chapter Two
The Fundamental Attunement of Poetizing and the Historicality of Dasein


71

§ 8 Unfolding the Fundamental Attunement

71

a) The Provenance of Poetic Telling from out of the Fundamental Attunement

74

b) Renouncing Calling the Gods of Old as Sustaining a Conflict. The Fundamental Attunement of Mourning and Its Three Aspects

76

c) The Fundamental Attunement and the Holy. A Threefold Sheer Disinterestedness

79

d) A Holy Mourning ‘with’ the Homeland as the Power of the Earth

80

e) The Transposition of the Human Being Together with Beings into Attunement

81

f) The Fundamental Attunement as a Mourning with the Rivers of the Earth of the Homeland

84

g) The Opening Power of the Fundamental Attunement. Preserving the Divinity of the Old Gods While Mournfully Renouncing Them

88

h) The Essentially Lawful Sequence of Decline Belonging to a Historical Dasein within the Need of the Absence of the Gods

90

i) The Enduring of Abandonment by Those Who Doubt

94

j) The Completion of the Prevailing Fundamental Attunement into Its Full Essence: The Distress of Holy Mourning as Readiness


95

§ 9 Historical Time and Fundamental Attunement

95

a) The Experience of the Earth of the Homeland in the Lucidity of a Questioning Knowing Concerning the Historical Mission of a People

96

b) Provenance of the Pivotal Times of the Peoples from out of the Abyss

98

c) Primordial Movedness of Fundamental Attunement. Having-Been and Past

99

d) Temporalizing of Originary Time as the Fundamental Occurrence of the Fundamental Attunement

100

e) The Decision in Favor of the Authentic Time of Poetizing as a Decision to Enter into the Fundamental Attunement


103

§ 10 The Locale of Dasein Founded in “Germania” within the Horizon of the Heraclitean Thought

103

a) The Poetic Telling of the Fundamental Attunement from a Standing within and Sustaining of Essential Conflicts

103

α) The Nexus of Occurrence of the Images and the Attuning Power of the Fundamental Attunement

105

β) Fundamental Attunement and “Intimacy.” The Preserving Veiling of the Fundamental Attunement through the Nexus of Images of the Poetizing

108

b) The Locale of Dasein Founded in “Germania”

108

α) The “Fatherland” as the Historical Beyng of a People

110

β) The Decline of the Fatherland as the Emergence of a New Unity of Nature and Humans

111

c) On Hölderlin’s Understanding of Being. The Power of the Heraclitean Thought

111

α) Hölderlin and Heraclitus

115

β) Hölderlin and Hegel

119

d) Founding of the Need Pertaining to a New Commencement of Our Historical Dasein within the Metaphysical Need of the Western World


122

§ 11 Transitional Overview and Summary: Revisiting the Domains Opened Up Thus Far as a Way of Determining More Precisely the Intent of the Lecture Course

123

a) The Four Essential Components of the Fundamental Attunement

124

b) Fundamental Attunement as Exposure in the Midst of Beings That Are Manifest as a Whole

126

c) Fundamental Attunement as Truth of a People. The Three Creative Forces of Historical Dasein

127

d) Historical and Historiographical Truth

128

e) Awakening the Fundamental Attunement as a Founding of Futural Historical Beyng

129

f) The Conflict of Mourning and Joy within the Fundamental Attunement

130

g) Entering into the Sphere of the River Poems. Transition from “Germania” to “The Rhine”



133

Part Two
“The Rhine”


147

Transitional Remark: The Question Concerning What Is ‘Innermost’ in a Poetic Work as a Question of the Opening Up and Founding of Beyng in the Each Time New Prevailing of Its Fundamental Attunement


Chapter One
The Demigods as Mediating Middle between Gods and Humans. The Fundamental Attunement of the Poem. The Beyng of the Demigods and the Calling of the Poet


148

§ 12 Thinking the Essence of the Demigods in the Founding Projection of the Poet

150

a) The Distinction between Humans and Gods Opened Up in the Question Concerning the Essence of the Demigods as Founding a Realm of Beyng in General

151

b) The Poet’s Being Compelled to Think the Demigods at the Threshold of the Homeland as a Being Enjoined Back into Historical Dasein

157

c) Destiny as the Fundamental Word of the Poem. A Preparatory Discussion of Destiny as the Beyng of the Demigods

165

d) The Founding and Grounding of Beyng out of the Fundamental Attunement of Suffering-with the Suffering of the Demigods


169

§ 13 Strophe I: The Point of Departure for the Telling, and the Composure through Which It Is Experienced. The Apprehending of a Destiny

171

a) Dionysos as Witness of Divine and Human Beyng

174

b) The Nearness of the Alpine Range as Nearness of the Origin

177

§ 14 Strophes II and III: The River Rhine as Destiny. Hearing Its Origin and Assuming Its Vocation

178

a) On the Distinction between a Poetic Understanding of Nature and the Scientific Representation of Nature

179

b) Strophe II: Hearing the Origin

180

α) Customary Ways of Hearing. The Gods’ Hearing with Pity and Mortals’ Not Wanting to Hear

181

β) The Poet’s Hearing That Stands Firm (Suffering) as Apprehending the Originary Origin in Its Springing Forth

185

c) Strophe III: Origin, Self-Will, Destiny. Assuming One’s Vocation

186

α) The Appropriation of Its Authentic Beyng in the Turning of the River’s Direction

188

β) The Blindness of the Demigods as Excess of Vocation

191

γ) The Demigods’ Lack from out of Abundance



Chapter Two
A More Incisive Review. Poetizing and Historical Dasein


194

§ 15 The Task of the Lecture Course: Entering the Domain in Which Poetry Unfolds Its Power, and the Opening Up of Its Actuality

195

a) Founding the Essence of Poetizing and Grounding Dasein upon It. Poetizing as the Primordial Language of a People

201

b) Hölderlin as the Poet of Future German Beyng

203

§ 16 The Fundamental Approach in Which Our Interpretation Moves, Taking “Germania” as Our Point of Departure

203

a) The Essence of Fundamental Attunement. The Thinking and Pondering of the Man in “Germania” as Configured in the Poetic Work “The Rhine”

206

b) The Thinking of the Demigods


208

§ 17 The Interpretation in Detail. The River Rhine as Demigod

208

a) Strophe I: Reference to Dionysos. The Alps. Strophe II: The River Rhine in Its Origin

209

b) Strophe III: The Demigods as the Blindest. The Lack of the Demigods

213

c) A Sustaining Suffering of Beyng through the Irruption of a Counter-Will

215

§ 18 Interim Reflection on the Metaphysics of Poetizing



Chapter Three
That Which Has Purely Sprung Forth as Strife in the Middle of Beyng


217

§ 19 Strophe IV: The Enigma of What Has Purely Sprung Forth and the Origin of Poetizing

218

a) The Determinative Powers of Origin and Having Sprung Forth and Their Enmity within the Essence of What Has Purely Sprung Forth

219

α) Conflict of the Powers of Pure Origin: Birth and Ray of Light

222

β) The Counter-Striving of Need and Discipline in Having Sprung Forth. Outline of the Essential Structure of What Has Purely Sprung Forth

225

b) “Intimacy” as the Originary Unity of the Powers of What Has Purely Sprung Forth, and as the Mystery of Such Beyng

227

c) Poetizing as Founding Beyng in the Grounding Opening Up of Intimacy

234

d) River and Poet in Their Original Belonging to the Essence of Beyng. Poetizing as Scarcely Being Allowed to Unveil the Mystery


235

§ 20 Strophes V to IX: Unfolding the Essence of What Has Purely Sprung Forth in the Conflict between Springing Forth and Having Sprung Forth

235

a) Strophe V: The Having Sprung Forth of What Has Purely Sprung Forth. The Coming to Be of the Original Landscape out of the Spirit of the River

237

b) Strophe VI: The Harnessing of the Demigods and Creators by the God. The River as Grounder of the Dwellings of Humans

239

c) Strophe VII: Inherence of Beyng in the Origin as Condition for Creative Self-Restriction. The Counter-Turning within the Beyng of the Demigods

242

d) Strophe VIII: The Blessedness of the Gods as Concealed Ground for the Enmity within the Beyng of the Demigods

247

e) Strophe IX: Delimitation as Remaining within the Unharnessed Character of the Origin


249

§ 21

250

a) Strophe X: The Question Concerning the Stranger Who Remains within the Divine Origin

252

b) Strophe XI: The Beyng of the Demigods in Its Relation to the Care-freeness of Humans

255

c) Strophes XII and XIII: The Bridal Festival of Humans and Gods and the Inevitability of Night


258

§ 22 Strophe XIV: Retaining the Mystery. The Thinking of the Poet Grounded in the Poetizing of the Thinker


260

§ 23 Strophe XV: The Poet as the Other


261

§ 24 The Metaphysical Locale of Hölderlin’s Poetizing

a) The Historical Vocation of Germania

263

b) The Opposition in Essence of Greek and German Dasein. The Conflictual Intimacy of What Is Given as Endowment and What Is Allotted as Task



268

Editor's Epilogue


271

Translator's Notes


273

German–English Glossary


281

English–German Glossary



Hölderlin’s Hymns “Germania” and “The Rhine” (GA 39) [GA App]

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