Hymns and Fragments - (Lockert Library of Poetry in Translation) Annotated by Friedrich Hölderlin (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

An annotated bilingual edition of Hölderlin's radical and influential late poetry

Despite his influence on such figures as Nietzsche, Rilke, Heidegger, and Celan, Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843) is only now being fully appreciated as perhaps the first great modern of European poetry. Drawing on the most recent scholarship, this annotated translation conveys the radical idiom and vision that continue to make him a contemporary. Richard Sieburth includes almost all Hölderlin's late poems in free rhythms from the years between 1801 and 1806, the period just prior to his hospitalization for insanity.

Sieburth's critical introduction discusses the poet's career, assesses his role as the link between classicism and romanticism, and explores Hölderlin's ongoing importance to modern poetics and philosophy. Annotations explicate the individual poems, a number of which are translated into English for the first time.

From the Back Cover

Drawing on the most recent scholarship, this annotated translation conveys the radical idiom and vision that continue to make Friedrich Holderlin a contemporary. Including his late poems in free rhythms from the years between 1801 and 1806, the period just prior to his hospitalization for insanity.

Review Quotes

"Richard Sieburth, Winner of a 2017 Arts and Letters Award in Literature, American Academy of Arts and Letters"

"Sieburth . . . has set out to represent the movement, the rush and swirl of Hölderlein's verse, his fast-spilling lines, and he seems to me to have succeeded remarkably well."-- "New York Times Book Review"

About the Author

Richard Sieburth teaches French and comparative literature at New York University.