Epigrammatic Odes (Hölderlin)

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"Epigrammatic odes" is a term introduced in 1969 by the historical-critical Stuttgart edition for 22 short odes written in mid-1798 by Friedrich Hölderlin . Andreas Thomasberger calculates it in the Hölderlin manual for "Phase 2" of Hölderlin's Odendichtung. They include only one stanza (six odes), two stanzas (twelve odes), three stanzas (three odes) or four stanzas (one ode).

Origin and tradition

Since January 1796, Hölderlin taught the son of the Frankfurt merchant Jakob Friedrich Gontard-Borkenstein (1764–1843) as a private tutor . The atmosphere in the Gontard house was now tense, probably because the owner of the house did not miss the affection between Hölderlin and his wife Susette , who Hölderlin called “ Diotima ”. At the end of September 1798 there was a scandal. Hölderlin left Frankfurt and, on the advice of his friend Isaak von Sinclair, moved to Homburg vor der Höhe . In June 1800 he returned to his Swabian homeland, first to Nürtingen , where his mother and sister lived, then to Stuttgart .

During the time he was attending the higher monastery school in Maulbronn from 1786 to 1788 and the Tübingen monastery from 1788 to 1793, Hölderlin had already composed Oden - “Phase 1” of his Odendichtung. This was followed by the great hymns , which continued into the beginning of his time in Frankfurt, such as the hymn Diotima , which has been handed down in several versions . But then he turned to other forms, especially odes in ancient meters. At first they were short, with one to four stanzas, laconically concise, epigram-like , just the "epigrammatic odes", eleven in asklepiadic , ten in alkaean , one, To their genius , in the meter of the epigram, in distiches . In June and August 1798 Hölderlin sent 18 of the poems in two collective manuscripts to his friend Christian Ludwig Neuffer for his pocket book for women of education . Neuffer published them in the years 1799 and 1800, some signed with "Hölderlin", others with "Hillmar"; the pseudonym comes from Hölderlin himself. Hölderlin sent the four other odes (the last four in the table) to Friedrich Schiller on June 30, 1798 . Schiller included two in his Muses Almanac for 1799 ; The sun god and Vanini were only printed after Holderlin's death.

From autumn 1798, still in Homburg or already in Stuttgart, Hölderlin composed more extensive odes, "Phase 3" of the Odendichtung after Thomasberger. These included such important ones as Des Morgen , Abendphantasie and Der Main . During this time, Holderlin also expanded nine of the epigrammatic odes.

The manuscripts are lost except for then and now , Curriculum Vitae , The Brief , Socrates and Alcibiades , To our great poets and Vanini .

The "epigrammatic odes" include:

poem Verse number meter signature First printing page Later extension under the title
The unforgivable 1 asklepiadic Hillmar Neuffer's paperback 1799 5 Love
Then and now 1 alkaline Holderlin Neuffer's paperback 1799 17th
The loving ones 1 asklepiadic Hillmar Neuffer's paperback 1799 67 The good bye
To the Germans 2 asklepiadic Holderlin Neuffer's paperback 1799 68 To the Germans
Your recovery 3 asklepiadic Hillmar Neuffer's paperback 1799 89 Your recovery
To the young poets 2 asklepiadic Holderlin Neuffer's paperback 1799 112
resume 1 asklepiadic Holderlin Neuffer's paperback 1799 158 resume
Of their genius 1 Distiches Holderlin Neuffer's paperback 1799 161
The brevity 2 asklepiadic Holderlin Neuffer's paperback 1799 163
To the Fates 3 alkaline Holderlin Neuffer's paperback 1799 166
Apology 2 asklepiadic Hillmar Neuffer's paperback 1799 168
The good faith 1 asklepiadic Hillmar Neuffer's paperback 1799 175
Diotima 2 alkaline Holderlin Neuffer's paperback 1799 274 Diotima
The home 2 alkaline Hillmar Neuffer's paperback 1799 304 The home
Applause 2 asklepiadic Hillmar Neuffer's paperback 1800 131
Voice of the people 2 alkaline Holderlin Neuffer's paperback 1800 205 Voice of the people
sunset 2 alkaline Holderlin Neuffer's paperback 1800 245
The sanctimonious poets 2 alkaline Holderlin Neuffer's paperback 1800 280
Socrates and Alcibiades 2 asklepiadic Holderlin Schiller's Musenalmanach 1799 47
To our great poets 2 alkaline Holderlin Schiller's Musenalmanach 1799 209 Poet profession
The sun god 4th alkaline Christoph Schwab: Friedrich Hölderlin's Complete Works 1846 27
Vanini 3 alkaline Quarterly for the history of literature 1891 608

The odes in Neuffer's paperback brought Hölderlin the first significant recognition by a notable critic, August Wilhelm Schlegel in the Allgemeine Literaturzeitung : “But Holderlin's few articles are full of spirit and soul, and we like to send a few here as evidence.” Schlegel prints then To the Germans and To the Parzen and continues: “These lines lead to the conclusion that the author is carrying a poem of larger volume with him, for which we sincerely wish him every external favor, since the previous samples of his poetic talents and even that The uplifting feeling here gives hope for a great success. "

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stuttgart edition, Volume 1, 2, p. 556.
  2. ↑ Knaupp Volume 3, 1993, p. 202.
  3. ^ Stuttgart edition, Volume 1, 2, pp. 558–559.