Selected Poems of Friedrich Holderlin [Paperback]

Friedrich Holderlin (Author), Maxine Chernoff (Translator), Paul Hoover (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2008

Further solidifying Hölderlin’s place in history, this thorough collection of poetry ranges from the odes of his developmental period to the majestic hymns and strangely prophetic modern compositions created in his later years. Considered one of the founders of European romanticism, Hölderlin had a mere 10 years to develop his distinctive style before falling prey to a debilitating mental illness, whose resultant works are the heartbreakingly sweet and melancholy pieces of the Späteste Gedichte (Last Poems). Each poem is presented in both its original German and a new English translation, while an illuminating introduction explores Hölderlin’s significance in the realm of literature as well as the tumultuous world in which he lived.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sublime visionary, great religious poet attracted to pagan myth and German poet of world-historical importance, Hölderlin (1770–1843) at the turn of the 19th century made his mark with Greek-inspired odes, intensely heterodox (and often never completed) hymns to imagined gods and real European places, and elegies on love. All these great works came about before 1807, when the tormented writer suffered a mental breakdown. Despite his importance to subsequent German poets (Rilke) and philosophers (Heidegger), and despite careful translations, Hölderlin has never enjoyed the U.S. following attracted by (for example) the author of The Duino Elegies. That may change with this ample yet sensitive facing-page version. Husband and wife team Chernoff and Hoover—both are experimental poets, fiction writers and editors—do best with the strangest (most clearly modern) stanzas and pieces of unfinished hymns, but also give fine attention to the earlier, more elegant works and to the naïve rhyming poetry of Hölderlin's last years. Here is the Hölderlin who praised The Poet's Courage, asking, Isn't everything alive already in your blood? Here too is the poet for whom modern life is at once opportunity and abyss: I approached to see the gods, he wrote, [a]nd they themselves threw me down beneath the living. (Sept.)
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Review

Winner of The Pen USA Award for translation

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Omnidawn Publishing (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890650358
• ISBN-13: 978-1890650353
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,220,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Holderlin Translations!, June 12, 2009

By 

Ryan Kouroukis "In 1882 Richard Wagner said: ... - See all my reviews

This review is from: Selected Poems of Friedrich Holderlin (Paperback)

Out of all the collections of Holderlin's poetry I've looked at, this is the one that gives me the greatest of pleasure.

Although there is no "complete" collection on the market in English, I find that these are the most poetic, dramatic and sensitive versions of the great Master poet Holderlin.

The collection presented here are 10 times better that the word-for-word translations of say...Michael Hamburger's versions.

The original German of each poem and fragment is on the facing page, and the translators give a great introduction in the forward of the poet and his life.

As a side note, the book is quite big and is also quite heavy, but is the best way to introduce yourself to the great precursor to Goethe and Schiller!