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Secular or Eclectic : Romantic

Christian : Protestant

19th Century

Germany
(Europe)

Friedrich Holderlin

Timeline (1770 - 1843)

Poems by Friedrich Holderlin
Books - Links

Friedrich Holderlin, Friedrich Holderlin poetry, Secular or Eclectic, Secular or Eclectic poetry, Romantic poetry, poetry, Christian poetry

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Friedrich Holderlin is considered to be one of the great lyric poets of the German Romantic period. Though he is not always grouped with the Romantic poets, elements of Romantic sensibility -- a yearning for simplicity, the confrontation of death and shadow, a mystical love of the natural world -- appear in his poems.

He was born in the region of Swabia in southwestern Germany. His father died when he was still a small boy, but his mother soon remarried.

As a young man, Holderlin attended the Theological Seminary in Tubingen, where he became friends with the philosopher Hegel and the poet/dramatist Friedrich von Schiller.

For a while Holderlin worked as a private tutor in wealthy homes in Germany, Switzerland, and France. During the 1790s he went through a period of inspired creativity, crafting many great poems and his novel Hyperion.

In the early 1800s, he suffered a nervous collapse, triggered in part by the stresses of a platonic love affair he had with a married woman who died. He returned to his childhood home of Swabia to recuperate. During his recovery, he came to live with the family of a local carpenter -- and he chose to live with them for the rest of his life, more than 35 additional years.

Holderlin began writing poetry as a teenager and he eventually had many of his poems published in small periodicals. His work was not widely recognized during his lifetime, however.

Poems by Friedrich Holderlin

	Conviction
	Remembrance
	Hyperion's Song of Destiny
	All the Fruit...
	Bread and Wine, Part 7

Recommended Books

	Elucidations of Holderlin's Poetry: (Contemporary Studies in Philosophy and the Human Sciences), by Martin Heidegger Amazon.com
	Holderlin: Selected Poems and Fragments, by Friedrich Holderlin / Translated by Michael Hamburger Amazon.com
	Hymns and Fragments, by Friedrich Holderlin / Translated by Richard Sieburth Amazon.com
	Hyperion and Selected Poems: (German Library), by Friedrich Holderlin Amazon.com
	Music of the Sky: An Anthology of Spiritual Poetry, Edited by Patrick Laude / Edited by Barry McDonald Amazon.com
	News of the Universe: Poems of Twofold Consciousness, Edited by Robert Bly Amazon.com
	Poems of Friedrich Holderlin, by Friedrich Holderlin / Translated by James Mitchell Amazon.com

Related Links:

	Friedrich Holderlin - Selected Poems http://home.att.net/~holderlin/ A good site with many poems by Holderlin online, a biographical sketch, portraits.
	Friedrich Holderlin http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/holderli.htm A good online biography of Holderlin.

Please support the Poetry Chaikhana, as well as the authors and publishers of sacred poetry, by purchasing some of the recommended books through the links on this site. Thank you!

Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Friedrich Holderlin

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Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

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the Poetry Chaikhana