Farewell (Holderlin)

Susette Gontard

Farewell is Friedrich Hölderlin's poem , a nine-strophic ode in asklepiadic meter , in which he made the experience of his separation from Susette Gontard , his “ Diotima ”, most haunting. Initially, in 1798, he wrote only the first stanza and published it under the title Die Liebenden , two years later the remaining eight stanzas.

Origin and tradition

Around January 10, 1796, Hölderlin took up his position as tutor for Henry, the son of the Frankfurt merchant Jakob Friedrich Gontard-Borkenstein (1764–1843). Very soon a deep affection arose between Holderlin and Susette, Gontard's wife and mother of Henry. For Hölderlin, Susette was probably already the image of "eternal beauty", of which he wrote on January 15th in a letter to his friend Christian Ludwig Neuffer . Towards the end of June he confessed his feelings to Neuffer. There were times of carefree, familiar coexistence. Marie Rätzer (1772–1849), the governess of the three daughters of the Gontard couple, wrote to a friend in early May 1797: “The whole morning is Mrs. G <ontard> with H <ölderlin> at the top of the arbor and his cabinet “Of the garden. Hölderlin on February 16, 1797 to Neuffer:

“My dearer!

I've circumnavigated a world of joy since we stopped writing. <...>

And still it is! I am still as happy as in the first moment. It is an eternal, happy, holy friendship with a being who is right into this poor spirit and soul. disorderly century has strayed! My sense of beauty is now safe from interference. He orients himself forever on this Madonna head. My understanding goes to school with her, and my disagreed temperament is soothed and amused daily in her frugal peace. "

But both were aware of the inevitability of an end. On October 31, 1799, in a letter after the separation, Susette Hölderlin recalled “the blissful hours of our first, completely new love, when you once said: O! if only happiness lasts for six months! ”Tensions arose in the Gontard house. Hölderlin found his situation ambivalent, his position among the wealthy “Frankfurt society people” was domesticated and humiliating. On the occasion of Marie Rätzer's marriage to a Baron Rüdt von Collenberg, he wrote to Neuffer on July 10, 1797: “O friend! I keep silent and keep silent, and so a burden piles up on me, which in the end almost overwhelms me, which must at least irresistibly darken my mind. <...> I am torn by love and hate. "

• Paperback for women 1799
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  Title page

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  Title copper

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  Holderlin's The Lovers

The turmoil reflects a circle of 21 one- to three-verse, so-called "epigrammatic odes" by Friedrich Beissner , of which Hölderlin sent eighteen in two collective manuscripts to Neuffer for his pocket book for women of education in June and August 1798 . In some, parting casts its shadow, most clearly in The Lovers .

At the end of September 1798 Gontard spoke aggressively towards Hölderlin, "in response to which Frau Gontard, who was also deeply injured, advised the poet - and immediately regretted it - to 'leave on the spot'". Hölderlin left Frankfurt and, on the advice of his friend Isaak von Sinclair, moved to Homburg vor der Höhe . He and Susette wrote to each other and met secretly several times, the last time on May 8, 1800.

In the summer of 1800, still in Homburg or already in Stuttgart, where he moved in mid-June, Hölderlin expanded several of the “epigrammatic odes” from 1798, such as Die Liebenden, by adding eight more stanzas to Der Abschied .

The Lovers' manuscript , like most of the collective manuscripts sent to Neuffer, has been lost. The farewell is preserved in three manuscript versions, H ¹ , H ² and H ^{3 based} on the historical-critical Stuttgart edition of Hölderlin's works published by Friedrich Beissner, Adolf Beck and Ute Oelmann (* 1949) . The manuscripts are available in digital form from the Württemberg State Library in Stuttgart (see literature). H ¹ is a "very tangled" draft of the eight new stanzas (verses 5–36), which Holderlin then arranged on the same sheet in H ² . In H ² , the heading and a fair copy of the first stanza are followed by the eight new stanzas in two and three columns. H ³ is in a bundle with fair copies of other poems extended from the "epigrammatic odes". Strangely enough, in this ode as the only one, the beginnings of the lines in H ² and H ^{3 are} not indented in a staircase.

• “Farewell”: Holderlin's manuscripts
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  Above the dash verse 25-36 of H ² , below H ¹ (from "Den betraten?)"

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  Above, last two stanzas from Your recovery , below heading and verses 1–24 of H ²

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  Above the last two stanzas of the curriculum vitae , below verses 1–12 of H ³

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  Verses 13–32 of H ³

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  Verses 33-36 of H ³

Die Liebenden was published in Neufer's pocket book for women from education to the year 1799 . Like some other poems by Holderlin, the poem is signed “Hillmar” there. The farewell was not printed until 1826 in the selection of Hölderlin's poems organized by Ludwig Uhland and Gustav Schwab and published in the Cotta'schen Verlagsbuchhandlung . Hölderlin, who had been mentally ill for almost twenty years in what is now the Tübingen Hölderlinturm, looked after by the master carpenter Ernst Friedrich Zimmer (1772–1838), “got into deep displeasure when I was told that Uhland and Schwab had 'edited his poems very well' and 'said >, 'He does not need this help, he can edit what he has written' ".

In this article, Hölderlin is quoted from the Stuttgart edition . It brings two versions, the first H ² , the second H ³ accordingly. The texts of the historically critical Frankfurt edition are identical to the Stuttgart edition with the only difference that verse 26 of the first version instead of “Diotima! you here. But bleeding to death ”( Stuttgart edition )“ Diotima! you once. But bleeding to death ”reads. Jochen Schmidt's “reading edition” prints both versions in “modernized” orthography. Michael Knaupp's "Reading Edition" only prints the second version, which is identical to the Stuttgart edition .

Texts and interpretation

In the second version, the changes compared to the first are highlighted in italics. Interpretations were given by Wolfgang Binder , Gabriele von Bassermann-Jordan and Jochen Schmidt.

0000000000000000Farewell First version Did we want to separate? Did you think it was good and wise? As we did it, why did the deed shrink like murder? Oh! we don't know each other because a god rules in us. 5 To betray him? oh him, who first created everything, meaning and life for us, him, the inspiring protection god of our love , this one I cannot. 0000000000000000 0000 00000000 000000000000 0000000000000000 000 00000000 000000000000 0000000000000000

0000000000000000Farewell Second Version We wanted to split up? Did you think it was good and wise? As we did it, why did the deed shrink like murder? Oh! we don't know each other because a god rules in us. 5 To betray him? oh him, who first created everything, meaning and life for us, him, the inspiring protection god of our love , this one I cannot. 0000000000000000 0000 00000000 000000000000 0000000000000000 000 00000000 000000000000 0000000000000000

The first stanza, published independently in the Taschenbuch für Frauenzimmer von Bildung , asks a question and gives an answer in a programmatic brevity for the “epigrammatic odes” of 1798. Why does the separation frighten the lovers "like murder"? Because their love transcends the human sphere, has a religious dimension.

The “God in us”, the “protection god of our love” may be Eros , who, according to Plato, lives in the minds and souls of gods and men, or the genius of lovers. Thinking of him, the lyrical ego protests against the imposition of separation - "I am not capable of this one."

0000But the human mind thinks wrong with others , 010 He does iron service to others and is right in other ways , And the soul demands daily use from us. Well! I knew it before. Since the rooted all-dividing hatred separates gods and men, 15 must, to atone for them with blood, must pass the hearts of lovers. 0000 000000000000 0000000000000000 0000 00000000 000000000 0000000000000000

0000But another failure of And think worldliness itself , 010 others brazen service practices he and other rights, and it lists the soul every day of use from us. Well! I knew it before. Since fear has separated gods and men from the rooted unformity , 15 must atone for them with blood, must pass the heart of the lovers. 0000 000000000000 0000000000000000 0000 00000000 000000000 0000000000000000

The necessity of separating Holderlin and Mrs. Gontard from their civil position may follow - the lyrical self sees the tragedy of love more generally, more deeply based, namely in the state of the world and people. “Hölderlin thought in world-historical dimensions. He couldn't help it. ”The“ human sense ”, the“ world sense ”has become brazen service,“ secret subjugation ”, use for the sake of use, sterility of all activity. It lives as Hölderlin in simultaneous Hexameter Poem The Archipelago wrote, "it dwells as in Orcus, / Without divine our race. To their own goings-on / They are forged alone, and each other in the roaring workshop / Everyone only hears and the savages work a lot / With a mighty arm, restless, but always and always / Barren, like the furies, the toil of the poor remains the intimacy of love stands in sharp contrast to this state, pointedly emphasized by the three times “other”, “different”, “different”. In such an environment with such laws, love cannot flourish.

The fourth stanza interprets the existence of the world and people as a result of the loss of harmony between people and the gods. "Hate" or "fear" separates gods and people. “The cause of the personal tragedy of the lovers lies in this sick constitution of the world.” They become victims; "Atoning sacrificial animal" is in the fourth stanza of draft H ¹ .

0000Let me be silent! Oh, never from now on let me see this deadly thing, so that in peace I will go into solitude, 20 And our farewell is still ours! Hand the bowl to myself that I have enough of the saving holy poison, that I can drink the lethane potion with you, that all hatred and love be forgotten! 00000000 000000000000 00000} 0000 {0 0000 00000000 000000000000 0000000000000000

0000Let me be silent! Oh, never from now on let me see this deadly thing, so that in peace I will go into solitude, 20 And our farewell is still ours! Hand the bowl to myself that I have enough of the saving holy poison, that I can drink the lethane potion with you, that all hatred and love be forgotten! 00000000 000000000000 00000} 0000 {0 0000 00000000 000000000000 0000000000000000

The farewell is performed in the fifth and sixth stanzas. In desperation, the lyric self no longer wants to speak and close its eyes. But in parting love should be realized again: “And let the parting be ours!” The intensity of the feeling is reflected in the linguistic structure. "In repeated <...> attempts, the sentence surges upwards and mostly floods over the incisions" - so in the threefold anaphora "that I" (verses 18, 21, 22), which is expressed in "that" (verse 24 ), and in the enjambements from verses 17, 18, 22 and 23 to the respective following verses.

The farewell is taken by means of the forget- making Lethe potion , which the beloved should give the self. The lovers remain in this world, but the core of their life, the common love, is lost - "forgotten". As for their love, they feel in a shadowy world, with desires bleeding to death (verses 26-27), dispassionately peaceful and strange (verses 27-28).

025 0I want to go. Maybe I'll see Diotima in a long time ! you here. But then the wishing is bled to death and peaceful Like the souls, we are strangers, And a quiet conversation leads us up and down, 30 Thoughtful, hesitant, but the forgotten ones now take hold of the place of parting, A heart warms up in us, amazement I look at you, voices and sweet singing, As from the old days I hear and strings 35 And set free, in the air the spirit flies up to us in flames. 00000000 000000000000 0000000000000000 0000 00000 000000000000 0000000000000000 0000 00000000 000000000 0000000000000000

025 0I want to go. Maybe I'll see Diotima in a long time ! you here. But then the wishing is bleeding to death and peacefully Like the souls, strangers We walk around, a conversation leads us up and down, 30 Pensive, hesitant, but izt admonishes the forgotten Here is the place to say goodbye, A heart warms up in us, astonished to see 'I look at you, voices and sweet singing, As from the past I hear and string playing 35 And the lily smells golden over the brook. 00000000 000000000000 0000000000000000 0000 00000 000000000000 0000000000000000 0000 00000000 000000000 0000000000000000

But awakening and finding again seems possible. In the seventh stanza, in which the name of the beloved is mentioned for the only time at the “turning point of the poem”, “Diotima” (verse 26), hope germinates. In the “place of parting” (v. 31) it happens. For the “forgotten”, “the part of the farewell releases the spell of the Lethetrank.” They recognize each other in amazement, voices and music sound like “from a bygone era”.

The two final verses were in the draft, at the bottom left of H ¹ : “And it shimmers once more / The youth in our eyes”, as if there could be a return of love in reality. In the first version, corresponding to H ² , in which the part of the farewell “catches” the forgotten, “freed, in the air / <...> in flames the spirit flies us up” - a rediscovery beyond the earthly. In the second version, corresponding to H ³ , in which the part of the farewell “admonishes” the forgotten, the verses read “And the lily smells / golden over the brook.” Similarly, it says in Hölderlin's novel Hyperion : “O”. ..> you lilies by the brooks of the valley! <...> there you will find it again, and all the joy you have lost. ”Beissner comments that the lily smelling over the brook is the image of the fulfillment granted by the epiphany of the only, holy, faithful. According to Bassermann-Jordan, Lily and Bach mean nature, “golden” brings a quality of permanence into the picture, the prefix “on” denotes a beginning, the transition into a new state. Love is situated in space and time, but at the same time it bears witness to something eternal, indestructible. Binder thinks one shouldn't ask what is actually happening to the lovers. The movement that has progressed from the first attempt at separation to saying goodbye to finding again stops and, as it were, goes within itself. The poem does not end with a final process, but rather a blossoming of meaning.

literature

• Gabriele von Bassermann-Jordan: “Nice life! you live like the tender flowers in winter ... ”. The figure of Diotima in Hölderlin's poetry and in the “Hyperion” project: theory and poetic practice. Königshausen & Neumann , Würzburg 2004, ISBN 3-8260-2550-4 .
• Adolf Beck, Paul Raabe : Hölderlin. A chronicle in text and pictures. Insel Verlag , Frankfurt am Main 1970.
• Wolfgang Binder: Farewell and find again. Holderlin's poetic design of his parting with Diotima. In: Hölderlin essays. Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1970, pp. 263-293.
• Friedrich Hölderlin: Manuscript digitized from the Württemberg State Library, Stuttgart. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
• Friedrich Hölderlin: Complete Works. Big Stuttgart edition . Edited by Friedrich Beissner, Adolf Beck and Ute Oelmann. Kohlhammer Verlag , Stuttgart 1946 to 1985.
• Friedrich Hölderlin: Complete Works . Historical-critical edition in 20 volumes and 3 supplements. Edited by Dietrich Sattler. Frankfurt edition. Stroemfeld / Roter Stern publishing house , Frankfurt am Main and Basel 1975–2008.
• Friedrich Hölderlin: Poems. Edited by Jochen Schmidt. Deutscher Klassiker Verlag , Frankfurt am Main 1992, ISBN 3-618-60810-1 .
• Friedrich Hölderlin: All works and letters. Edited by Michael Knaupp. Carl Hanser Verlag , Munich 1992 to 1993.

References and comments

1. ↑ Beck and Raabe 1970 (see literature, p. 372) write about the picture: “In the original, the miniature <...> reveals something of the 'pure, beautiful Titian complexion' that Heinse praises in her. The hair is auburn, the white dress, which encloses strong shapes, has a bluish edge at the neckline. "
2. ↑ Beck and Raabe 1970, p. 47 and Stuttgarter Ausgabe Volume 7, 2, p. 89.
3. ↑ Stuttgart edition, Volume 6, 1, p. 235.
4. ↑ Stuttgart edition, Volume 8, p. 90.
5. ↑ Stuttgart edition, Volume 6, 1, p. 220.
6. ↑ Stuttgart edition, Volume 6, 1, p. 243.
7. ↑ Stuttgart edition, Volume 1, 2, p. 556.
8. ↑ Beck and Raabe 1970, p. 50.
9. ↑ Beck and Raabe 1970, p. 57.
10. ↑ Stuttgart edition, Volume 2, 2, p. 431.
11. ↑ The bundle contains Die Heimath (6 stanzas, expanded from a two-stanza poem of the same name), Die Liebe (7 stanzas, expanded from the one-stanza poem The Unforgivable ), Curriculum Vitae (4 stanzas, expanded from a one-stanza poem of the same name), Farewell (9 Stanzas, expanded from the single-verse poem Die Liebenden ), Diotima (6 stanzas, expanded from a two-stanza poem of the same name), An die Parzen (3 stanzas, no preliminary stage known), The good faith (single- verse ) and Return to Home (6 stanzas , no preliminary stage known). Stuttgart edition Volume 1, 2, pp. 559-560.
12. ↑ Beck and Raabe 1970, p. 90.
13. ↑ Frankfurt edition, Volume 5, p. 493.
14. ↑ Hölderlin's contributions to the 1799 “Taschenbuch” earned him the first significant recognition by a notable critic, August Wilhelm Schlegel in the Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung . Schmidt 1992, p. 609.
15. ↑ Bassermann-Jordan 2004, p. 191.
16. ↑ Binder 1970, p. 265.
17. ↑ Peter von Matt : World history in two beautiful eyes. In: Marcel Reich-Ranicki (Ed.): Frankfurter Anthologie Volume 33, 2010, ISBN 978-3-458-17467-7 , pp. 41–44.
18. ↑ Hölderlin to his half-brother Karl Gok on November 2, 1797. Stuttgart edition Volume 6, 1, p. 253.
19. ↑ Bassermann-Jordan 2004, p. 192.
20. ↑ Schmidt 1992, p. 678 understands “separates” as “differentiates”; It distinguishes "gods and men, that some are free from fear and worry, but others have fear and worry".
21. ↑ Bassermann-Jordan 2004, pp. 193–194.
22. ↑ Binder 1970, p. 285.
23. ↑ Bassermann-Jordan 2004, p. 96.
24. ↑ "Forgetting" as a deposit ; the "forgotten" are those who have forgotten. Schmidt 1992, p. 678.
25. ↑ Binder 1970, p. 286.
26. ↑ Stuttgart edition, Vol. 2, 2, p. 435 and Binder 1970, p. 286.
27. ↑ Stuttgart edition, Volume 3, p. 68.
28. ↑ Stuttgart edition, Volume 3, p. 448.
29. ^ Bassermann-Jordan 2004, p. 198.
30. ↑ Binder 1970, p. 287.