A Reading of Love in Höderlin's Andenken

7/30/2019 A Reading of Love in Hderlin's Andenken

1/16

A Reading of Love in Hderlin's "Andenken"

Author(s): Katrin PahlReviewed work(s):Source: The German Quarterly, Vol. 78, No. 2 (Spring, 2005), pp. 192-206Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Association of Teachers of GermanStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30039383 .Accessed: 28/05/2012 11:42

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Blackwell Publishing andAmerican Association of Teachers of German are collaborating with JSTOR to

digitize, preserve and extend access to The German Quarterly.

http://www.jstor.org
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=blackhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=aatghttp://www.jstor.org/stable/30039383?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/30039383?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=aatghttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=black


2/16

KATRINPAHLUniversityof SouthernCalifornia

A Readingof Love in H61derlin's"Andenken"

At the heart of my readingof H6lderlin'spoem"Andenken"iestheques-tion of mutuality:how best to understandmutualityand how to realize t.Drawingon my unconventional enditionof Hegel's heoryof recognition,will read heblowingof the wind presentedby "Andenken"s aconversationbetween lovers-indeed as the intersectionof two conversations,one be-tween Friedrich 6lderlin ndSusetteGontard, ndone betweenthepoetandthe reader.Workingwith the lines "Doch ut/ Ist einGesprich"nd"Mancher/ TriigtScheue" s themaincoordinates f thisinterpretation,willdevelopatheoryofreadinghatcallson the reader o contribute o thepoem'sefforts ofacilitatea love that is mutual.In a furthermultiplication f crossedcouples,the human oversare nterlacedwith thepoem'sseveralpairsof treesuntil fi-nallya Gesprdchot so muchin, but among,wordsemerges n the form ofasymmetrical hiasms-that is, of unfinished,non-reciprocalut neverthe-less mutualexchanges.

AndenkenDerNordostwehet,Der iebsteunterdenWinden

Mir,weil erfeurigenGeistUndguteFahrt erheiflet enSchiffern.Gehabernun undgrfitleDie schbneGaronne,Und dieGarten on BourdeauxDort,wo am scharfenUferHingehet erStegund n den StromTieffllt derBach,darfiberberHinschauet in edelPaarvon Eichen ndSilberpappeln;

Noch denketdasmirwohlundwie

RemembranceThenorth-easterlylows,Of windsthe dearest o me

Because fiery piritAndhappyvoyaget promisesmariners.Butgonow,goandgreetThe beautifulGaronneAndthegardens fBordeaux,Towhereon therugged ankThepathrunsand nto the riverDeepfalls hebrook, ut above hemA noblepairof oaksAndwhitepoplarsookout;

Stillwell I rememberhis,andhowTheGermanQuarterly8.2(Spring 005) 192


3/16

PAHL: 5Ilderlin 193

DiebreitenGipfelneigetDerUlmwald,iberdieMihl',ImHofeaberwichset einFeigenbaum.AnFeiertagenehnDiebraunen rauen aselbstAufseidnenBoden,ZurMirzenzeit,WenngleichstNachtundTag,Und ber langsamen tegen,Vongoldenen riumen chwer,Einwiegendeifteziehen.

Esreiche ber,DesdunkelnLichtes oll,MireinerdenduftendenBecher,Damit chruhenmbge;dennsfilWir' unterSchatten erSchlummer.Nicht st esgut,Seellos onsterblichenGedankenu seyn.DochgutIst einGesprich ndzu sagenDes HerzensMeinung, uharenvielVonTagen erLieb',UndThaten,welchegeschehen.

Woaber inddieFreunde?BellarminMit demGefihrten?MancherTrigtScheue, n die Quelle ugehn;Esbeginnet imlichderReichtumIm Meere. ie,WieMahler, ringenusammenDasSchinederErd' ndverschmihnDengefligeltenKrieg icht,undZu wohneneinsam,ahrlang,nterDementlaubtenMast,wo nichtdieNachtdurchglnzenDieFeiertageerStadt,UndSaitenspielndeingeborenerTanznicht.

Nun aber indzu IndiernDieMinnergegangen,Dortan der uftigenSpiz'AnTraubenbergen,o herabDieDordogne ommt,Undzusammenmit derpricht'gen

Theelmwood with itsgreat eafy opsInclines,owards hemill,But n thecourtyard fig-tree rows.Onholidayshere ooThebrownwomenwalkOn silken round,In the monthofMarch,WhennightanddayareequalAndoverslowfootpaths,Heavywithgoldendreams,Lulling reezes rift.

ButsomeonepassmeThefragrantupFullof darkight,So that Imayrestnow;forsweetIt wouldbeto drowseamid hadows.It is notgoodTobe soullessWithmortalhoughts.ButgoodIsconverse,nd o speakTheheart's pinion,o hearmany alesAbout hedaysof loveAnddeeds hathaveoccurred.

Butwhereare he friends?WhereBellarmineAndhiscompanion?ManyamanIsshyofgoing o thesource;ForwealthbeginsnThe sea.Andthey,Likepainters, ring ogetherThebeautifulhingsof theearthAnddo notdisdainwingedwar,andTo ive nsolitude,oryears,beneath heDefoliatemast,where hroughhenightdo notgleamThecity'sholidaysNormusicof strings, or ndigenousdancing.

Butnowto IndiansThosemenhavegone,Thereon theairypeakOngrape-coveredills,wheredownTheDordogneomesAndtogetherwith theglorious


4/16

194 THEGERMAN UARTERLY Spring005

GaronnemeerbreitAusgehet erStrom.EsnehmetaberUndgiebtGedichtnifnieSeeUnddieLieb' uchheftetfleifligdieAugen,Wasbleibet ber, tiftendieDichter.(Friedrichblderlin,803-05)2

Garonne s wide as the seaThe currentweepsout. But t is the seaThattakesandgivesremembrance,And oveno lesskeeps yesattentivelyfixed,Butwhat islasting hepoetsprovide.(trans.MichaelHamburger)3

"Andenken"s a windpoem.Itinitiates ts own movement n the first ineby saying"DerNordostwehet."WhyNordost?Whynotanyotherwind? Andpreciselywhat directiondoes this northeasterlypoemtake?Most interpret-ers,amongthemmostinfluentiallyHeidegger,akeforgranted hat the act of'thinking-toward'"Andenken")ollows theblowingof the wind fromnorth-east to southwest. Presuming hat recollection s only possiblefrom theperspective f home andpresupposinghat this home must beGermany,Hei-deggeremphasizes hat the poemknows only one direction, hat is, south-west: "DerNordostzeigt und fihrt hinwegaus dem heimischenLand n dieeinzigeRichtungdes sidwestlichen Himmels" myemphasis).4 eilfner,n hiseditionof Hblderlin'sworks,followsHeidegger nd,with asurprisingackofcritical ensibility, onflatesempirical ndpoeticrealitieswhencommenting,"DerNordostweht nach Sidwesten, das bedeutetvomOrt des Dichtersaus:nachBourdeaux."5Dieter Henrichcomplicatesthis readingsomewhat, by integratingachange n perspective.Heargues hat,aftermovingsouthwestto Bordeaux,the windandwith it thepoem'sgestureofremembranceurnsnorthwestandtoward he sea.6Nevertheless,Henrich'snterpretationtill eavesuntouchedthe presupposed irectionality f the first stanzaandtherebyof the poem'sgreeting, ts originalandself-originatingddress:"Geh bernun undgrfile."Eberhard aumanns, to my knowledge, he first to pointout how counter-intuitive these claimsabout the orientationof the poem reallyare.Readingthe firstline, "DerNordostwehet,"he asks:

Was or GedankenbstdenndieseRichtungsangabem Hbrer derLeser us?NurdiederRichtung,n diederWindwehtunddamitdenBlick achSiidwest,wie er m weiterenGedichtngesprochenu werdencheint, der ielmehr ieBlickrichtungachNordostenlsdemUrsprungnddemHerkommenesWin-des?7Since hegeographicoordinatesncludedn thedescriptor f aparticularwind do not indicate intowhich direction he wind blows but rather romwhichdirectiont isblowing, heline"DerNordostwehet," ocates ts writer-and reader-in the southwestfacingnortheastandfeeling he wind (ofthepoem)blow in his/herface.Even houghthepoempoints n thenorth-easterly irectionwith itsopen-ing phrase,a slightfearblows most readers wayfrom the sourceand turns


5/16

PAHL:Hliderlin 195

them towardthe south-west. "Mancher Trigt Scheue,an die Quellezugehn." Hdlderlin ries to be amongthe few, a "mancher," ho carries heburden of moving against the wind instead of beingcarriedaway by it.8H&ilderlinravelsnortheast romBordeaux ack oFrankfurt;e doesso in reallife,but alsowith thelinesof thispoem.InMay1802,H8lderlinets outonhiswalk fromBordeaux,where he had assumedapositionastutor,to Frankfurt,the home of SusetteGontard.Drawntoward heimpossible eunionwith theforbiddenove,this journey s markedbyseveraldetoursanddelays(inParis,Stuttgart,N(rtingen, andagain Stuttgart)until H5lderlin s struckby thenews of Gontard'sdeath. Written between one and three yearsafter thisagonizing(non-)experience, Andenken"orms an attempt to re-enact hejourney n a way that keepsGontardalive forhim.Admittedly,"Geh bernun undgriife/ DieschdneGaronne"eemsatfirstto unequivocallyddress greetingo the riverGaronne,whichflowsthroughBordeaux.This would affirm the idea that the poem's "Andenken"urnsfrom Germanyto Bordeaux.But Baumannconvincingly arguesthat thenortheasterlys "deriebsteunterdenWinden" ecause t tells "vonTagenderLieb"and reminds Hblderlinof Gontard.During his stay in Bordeaux,Hblderlin eceiveshe northeasterlywith specialardor.As this wind is a rarephenomenon n theregionofBordeaux,Halderlin reasures t because,com-ingfromthe direction n which Gontardives, tmakeshimhot with itsprom-ise of fieryspirit,"feurigenGeist... verheilfet."9fone understands he windas a mediumof communicationbetweenthe lovers,the "schaneGaronne,"with its initialsS.G., s to be readas an encoded vocationof SusetteGontard.With the line "Gehabernun undgrille / Die schine Garonne,"H6lIderlinn-vites the northeasterlyo move northeast,from Bordeaux o Frankfurt,ogreetS.G.,SusetteGontard.10 e asks the wind to blow backwards.Such a readingbringsout the reversal f the wind directionand has theadvantage fconveyingmeaning othe "aber"n thefifth line.11Whenunder-stood as anappeal o blow fromnortheast o southwest,it makes ittle senseto sayto the wind:"gehabernun."The"aber"wouldindicatethat the windis not already lowing,but the first inesays clearly"DerNordostwehet."Wemightwant to read his "aber" s anemptyfillernot meant to correlate on-tradictoryerms.12 utsincethepoemcontainsa seriesof "aber,"ndsinceasHeideggerpoints out, this wording "gives he poem its hiddentone,"wewould run he riskofaffecting herestofthepoemwith itsemptiness.13Gehabernun"unfolds ts potentialto signifyonlywhen we take the "aber"eri-ouslyasinitiatingaturn,thatis,when we read hephraseasasking hewindto blow intheoppositedirection."Geh bernun" hen meanssomething ike:"You rethe dearestamongthe winds to me becauseyou giveme fever,butnow go backandgreet S.G.;makeher feelwhat I feel ..."And,sinceSusetteGontarddiedof apulmonarynfectionassociatedwith the measlesand,thus,literallyhaddifficultiesbreathing,"gehabernun" also suggests something


6/16

196 THEGERMAN UARTERLY Spring 005

like:"I oveyou because hroughyou Igetwind of the fevershe suffers rom,but now help her to get back her wind ..." The movement of "Andenken"thus exceedsthe word's sense of remembrance r recollection. t combinesthisretrospectivehoughtprocesswith the forward-orientedndopen-endedactivityof thinking-ofor of thinking-toward,.e.,denken n.The accumulationof f and s sounds in "liebste,""feurigen," Geist,""Fahrt,"verheifiet,"Schiffern,"grUf/e,"nd "schine" ot only imitates thewind'sblowing,but alsotransmits he initialsof the two lovers,Friedrich ndSusette.Withthe wind, the loverswhispereach other's namesacrosstimeand space.Nevertheless,t is an overstatementwhen Baumannwrites that"derNordost ist in Hblderlin'sEmpfindenbereitsGesprachund geistigerAustausch,alsoWechselwirkung"Baumann19).The north-easterlymightbe amedium orcommunication ndapromiseofmutualitybetween the lov-ers,but the realization f thisGesprdichs farfrombeingagiven.It requiresconstantbattleagainstdeath.AWeh ccompanies he wehen f "Andenken."Gesprich,"s the realiza-tion ofmutuality nthebackandforthmovementofthinking-of,proves o bedifficult anddangerous. t requires o be struggled or without relent. Eventhough t mightbe sweet to drowseamidshadows, his is notgoodas we cansee in the fourthstanza:"siif/ Wr' unterSchattenderSchlummer/Nicht istesgut."Onemighttireof the constant aborandyearn orarest,but"gut Istein Gesprach."With the contrast that the poem establishes n the middlestanzabetween the sweetnessof "Schlummer"ndthe valueof "Gesprach,"tacknowledgeshedifficultyof keeping he conversationmutual.14 he workof love includes the almost impossibletask to send the wind in the otherdirectionwhile thedangero lose the beloved urksatthe turnofevery ine.One-sidedness ersistently hreatens he conversationwith arrest.Natu-rally, verything lowsin one direction: he windblows,thespirit s fiery,andthe riverDordogneflows downward("woherab/die Dordognekommt").Beforeongthe movement sextinguished: ausgehet erStrom."Quickly,hepoem gets effaced n its all too transparentmessage.Whennothingis readbetween the lines, this nothing grindsthe verses to sharp edges, "scharfeUfer,"hatspeedupthereading ndrushthe water nto theabysswheredeepfalls the brook,"tief illt der Bach."But the wordsthemselvesfight againsttheir death."Dariber .. / Hin-schauet" tretchesoutitsambiguities llowing he "edelPaar"o overlookandlookbeyondthe abyss,towardwhich the waterraces."DerSteg" moothesout the sharp edge when it nonchalantly"trailsalong"the bank (trans.Chadwick,"amscharfenUfer Hingehet")distracting romthe other,moregloomymeaningof "hingehet," amely"topass away."The reader lso contributes o the task of alovingconversation.Shejoinsthe lovers,therebyopeningtheirpotentiallydestructive ate-8-tate.The in-terpretation f the line"gehabernun" s, thus,not merelyaquestionof right


7/16

PAHL:olderlin 197

orwrong.More s at stake.Forus to invest this"aber" ith negatingpower sto rescue the poem's potentialfor love, its abilityto move back and forthbetween the lovers.'5Forus to understandhis "aber" s initiatinga turn ofaddressbetweenS.G.andEH.meansalso to reverse heblowingof this windpoem that comes to us from the author,and to participateactivelyin theconversation that moves back and forth between author and reader.Itamounts to givingthe poemsome of the meaning t offers-respondinginkind to the love that it gives.Ourdifficultieswith receiving he poemas a love letter and Friedrich'sdifficultieswith receivingSusette'sgreetings re, nbothcases, iedupwith afrustrationaboutthe evasivecharacter f the beloved.She is unreliable. donot knowwhat I have n her. do not even knowwheresheis,fromwhereshesendsherlove,andif she will keepsending t. True, here is a promise:"DerNordostverheifetfeurigenGeistMir."Yet,how longcan I wait for theprom-ise to cometrue?Even f it iscoming ruerightnow Iremain n thepositionofawaiting ts realization inceI cannotbear hethoughtof her oveeverending.Already,empty words arecreepingup on me, habitualturns,without anindividual ddress.Butwho amIto forcehertospeak o me?Thepoemmightrefuse to yield meaningin orderto avoidthe graspof a readerwho onlypretends o be a lover.Yet, oaccept he "aber"'sefusal o signify sbarelyan act of chivalryhatpreserveshe other's freedom. nstead, t infects the poemwith the reader'sown helplessness.Abandonedby the reader, midst the beautyof the Ga-ronne,Friedricheels a sharppainof despair"amscharfenUfer"andstrug-glingnot to slide nto theabyssof solitudehe triesto makesurethat Susettewill remember o greethim: "gehaber nun und grille." This might be anunderstandableesire,butthefactthathe takeschargeof the continuationofthe lovingdiscoursemeansthat Friedrichtopsto hearhervoicein the wind.Susette disappears s an agent in the conversation.The imperative orms"geh" nd"grfsse" eglectto acknowledgehat the wind alreadyblows,andfail to recognize hat S.G. n fact sendsher love. This redundantmperativespreads ts impotenceto overshadow he promiseof the wind. It catchesupwith the wind by apostrophizing ndenclosing t in a "nun" hatinterruptsthe wind'smovement,breaks hepromiseof "verheisset,"nd acts as a brakeon the futuraldrift of the prophecy.The imperative ransforms he love forthe wind intoa suffocating lasp.It thrusts ts will into theopenflesh of thefuture and forecloses he adveningmovement of futurity.In its finalturn,this "aber"urnsthe lovingconversation ff.Thisreadingmelancholicallye-enactsa loss of which the reader sbarelyaware: he immenseandalwaysfrustrateddesire o beoverwhelmedby theother's address. t projectsonto thepoemthe reader's wn refusal o receivethepoem n its precariousnessndunreliability. heattemptat indifferencesnotmotivatedbythe wish to preservehe beloved ntact in herdifference, ut


8/16

198 THEGERMANUARTERLY Spring005

bythe desire oprotect he selffrom he beloved's aprice.n theparametersfthisreading, ovingandrespectingheintegrityof the other urns nto a hold-ingon to theotherandanticipatinghermoves.Thebeloved huslosestheveryqualitiesfor which one loves her: herliveliness,herunforeseeability,r,inHegelian erms,hernegativity.Weare eft with no future,nothingthat comesto us fromthe other.Nothingcan move us. The result s stagnation,anemptyrepetitionofnothing,an accumulation f a habitual"aber"hat does not turnormoveanything,butpitches hepoem n amelancholy one.Theinsistenceof a meaningless"aber" s a marker f indifference nddistrust solates thereader nd encloses he poemin a circleof non-understandingnd lonelinessfromwhich, at best,one cry emerges:"Woabersind dieFreunde?"In a trulymutualrelation,as Hegelconceives t, that is, in the processofmutualrecognitionbetween two equally reeparties,killing he other is notan autonomous act. Its agency is shared and each partynegates herselfwhile negatingthe other.At the sametime, self-negation-when it is notone-sidedand thereforeviolent-is crucial o freedom.Hegelwitnessed thelove between H6lderlinand Gontardafterhe moved to Frankfurtn 1797.Duringthe sametime, he drafteda philosophyof love.16After their forcedseparation Gontard's usband iredHalderlinromhis postasa tutorin hishousehold),GontardnvolvedHegelasa middlemann her communicationwith H6lderlin.17 egel, he futurephilosopher f Spirit, henplayed he roleof the wind. Bothin practice deliveringecret etters)and in his theoreticalendeavorshe was concernedwith enablingmutuality.Hegelcontends thatthe experienceof love-or of the processof recognition,ashe calls it in hisPhi'nomenologieesGeistes-brings with it the realization hat the other isnot a passiveobjectof mine,but a freesubjectwho compromisesmy agency.InHegel'swords:"Das rste[Selbstbewufbtsein]at denGegenstandi.e.,daszweite Selbstbewuftsein]... vor sich ... [als]einen fur sich seiendenselbst-standigen,Uberwelchenes darumnichts for sichvermag,wenn er nicht ansich selbst diestut, was esan ihm tut."18Hegel s farfrom maginingmutualloveas a peacefulandstablerelationship:he two subjectsmovein avertigi-nous struggle,ceaselesslynegatingeach other and themselves.These nega-tions canbe blissful f theymanage o realizea form of deaththat is movingwithout ending he encounter n definitedestruction.As the mostimportantsafeguard gainstdestruction,bothpartiesneedtorecognize achotheras thesubject, hatis,boththeagentand hepatientoftheirnegativity.AccordingoHegel,"derGegenstanddes Selbstbewufbtseinsst ... selbststandign dieserNegativitatseinerselbst" 127).We encounter his negativity n H6lderlin'spoem."DerNordostwehet;"thepoemspeaks o us.ButwhileHdlderlinwritesthispoemSusette salreadydead,and when we read he poemthe author s alreadydead.The wind mayhave come fromthe north-east,but by the time it hits Friedrich usette issomewhereelse. Oncewe read he poem,we nolongerknow in what sense t


9/16

PAHL: ilderlin 199

was written. Eventhough Susette's death is a historicalfact, "Andenken"demonstrates hat Hblderlin idnotexperiencehis deathas afact,butstrug-gledto stayin communicationwith Diotima Susette Gontard.19 erdeathfiguresas atrope or theexperience f thenegativityof the other.Becauseherfreedomconsists in beingthe subjectof andsubjectto herown self-differ-entiality,the lover s always already omewhereelse as soon as she presentsherself for identification.In the very act of sendinga loving messagethesender herselfchanges.The source s gone, and it does not makesense tosearch or it at the pointof its departure nlessone wants to arrest hegreet-ing.If Friedrichwants to communicatehis love to Susette it is, in fact, notenoughto simplyreverse he directionof thegreeting,and to givebackwhathe received.Reciprocity oesnot realizemutuality.The wind would notreachthe source ven f it blew in theoppositedirection.Friedrich as to speakwith-out knowingwhereexactlyto directhis words. He has to approachomeonewho is gone,dead,so to speak.Likewise,we have to communicatewith thepoem without knowing from where exactly it addressesus. To bear theembarrassment "dieScheuezutragen" ofarticulatingwordsagainst hewind without any certaintyas to where and how the otherwill receive hegreeting s the only way to recognize he other'snegativitywithout killingher.

The lackof orientation esultingrom heinability o locatethepositionofthe belovedcombinedwith the strainof moving against hewind provokeawish forquietness hat has strongsuicidalundertones:Esreiche ber,DesdunkelnLichtes oll,Mir iner enduftendenecher,damitchruhenmage; enn iUfwair' nter chattenerSchlummer.

Thedesireof the loverwould beappeased,"esreiche,"f hecoulddrinkuphercupand rest n the beloved.Since t is impossibleo findquietness nS. who isalive with negativity,constantlymovingandmoved,E wishes to rest withSusette'snonexistence.To put an end to their missedencounters-feelingthat "esreicheabernun"-he isready o gowhere she isclearlynot, if onlytosecure hecertaintyof herfull absence.He is ready o die.Like hereaderwhois temptedto givein to the lureof nothingness hat threatens o collapse hepoem ntotheonemeaningofnon-communication, istempted ogivehim-self over to destruction.AccordingoBaumann,he nextline,"Nicht st esgut," orms heheartofthe poem.Locatedat the exactmid-pointof the poem,it marks ts turningpoint:when H6lderlin esolves o tear himselfaway from the temptationofactivelyor passively dying.20The strugglefor recognition n Hegel'sPhi-


10/16


nomenologienitiatesa similar urn when its protagonists ealize hat a deadopponentwill not provide he desiredrecognition.21 eath is not good;somuchmight safelybesaid.Buton which sidearewe to locate death:hereorthere, n thisworldorhereafter?The central ine of the poemis so insignifi-cant in its transparencyhat we haveto consulttheneighboringerses ogiveit more substance.Like he otherpivotwith which we have beenconcerned,the potentiallyvoid"aber,"Nicht st esgut"reads ike anemptyheart untilwe widen our focus andanalyzethe blood that will have crossed n it:

War' nter chattenerSchlummer.Nicht stesgut,Seellosonsterblichen

The preceding ersespeaksof drowsingamidshadows.Shadowsmightreferto theunderworld,he dominionof the deadand tsshadowy nhabitants.Or,if we adhere o Platonicdeas, t mightremindus of the fact that ourempiricalworld consists of only shadows. Or the linemight simplydraw the pictureof a nap in the shadows of the wooded homeland.22The next line reads"Seellosvon sterblichen." o be soullesswould mean to be dead.Morepre-cisely- since even the dead are considered o be souls,albeitnothingbutsouls -it means to dwellin a death that entertainsno relation o life. Thosewho have a soul aremortal, heyareableto die or to live,theyareaffectedbydeath,dividedbetween deathand life. But to be soullesswould mean to bewithout deathorlife,to rest n an absolutebeyondor a totalimmediacy.Theline break between "sterblichen" nd "Gedanken,"solates the adjective"sterblichen"rom the term it is adjected o, so that it establishes ts ownsubstantialityandasks o be readas a substantive.Readon itsown,as "Seellosvon Sterblichen,"he line evokes a state of soullessnesscausedby mortalswho neverrecognizedF.as beingwith soul,or alive and affectedby death,subjectof andsubject o hisnegativity.He walks aroundon earth ike a deadman amid shadows.The central ine pivotsbetween the linebeforeand thelineafter,whichthemselvesareambiguousntheirrelation o thisworld andthe hereafter."Nicht st esgut" s itself a "sterblicher edanke,"mpossible opindown, crossingbloodcontainingoxygenwith blood that carriescarbondioxide,divided n itself betweenlife anddeath.The first stanza of "Andenken"amesa noblecouple:"einedel Paar VonEichenundSilberpappeln."he lovers n this pairarequitedifferent.Whitepoplarsareknown to be fickle.Theylike to grownear hewater so theliquidcan flowinabundancehrough heirsupple tems.With thehelpof the waterthey grow silvery eaves that flicker n the wind. Oscillatingbetween theirtwo faces,these leavesenrapturewith the musicthey sing n thebreeze.Theoak,on the otherhand,is ancient andunfaltering. t was Jupiter's ree andgavehoney to the GoldenAge.23 n the imaginationof Hblderlin'sime, in


11/16

PAHL: dlderlin 201

texts of GermanRomanticism ndIdealism,t figuresas theGerman ree.Bigandsteady,oaks endthemselves o mediatebetweengodsand humansor,asHdlderlin phrasesit in another poem: "unter Gottes Gewittern ... zu stehen /DesVatersStral .. zu fassenund demVolk' ns Lied Geholltdie himmlischeGabezu reichen."24Solitary, ree,andwild, they attract the lightning, ikeSemele,and are ikelyto be burnt for their ove.25The obviousdifferencebetweenthese treesas loverscouldbe a source ormisunderstandingnddeath.But a certain hynessor shameearns hepair tsattributeof ethicalnobility("ein delPaar").26heydo not address achotherdirectly.Theirgaze is twice diverted.Overseeing ogetherthe gardensofBordeaux,he riverGaronnewith its sharpbank,the fallingbrook,and thefootbridge, hey glanceat eachotheracross he entireworldof theirsurround-ings. But even this world is not the directobjectof theirgaze, they "hin-schauetdartiber" ith a squintingook thatlooksat and ooksbeyondat thesame time.27Recognizingnegativity, heirgazeis attentive without identi-fyingits object.Hegelunderstands hameamonglovers,quite counter-intuitively, s aforceagainstseparation.Tohim,"Scham"s not a feeling hatleads overs orestoreproprietyand property,but rather the expressionof an aversionagainstthe proper.n his 1797/98fragmenton love,Hegelwrites:"DieLiebeist unwillig iber das nochGetrennte,Uber in Eigentum;dieses ZtirnenderLiebe ber Individualitit st die Scham."28eversinghe common values ofdecency,he regardshe messyfusion of two bodies n love asanexampleofpurity,whereas lovers who resist their intimacy trying to preserve omeproper independencepresent to him an image of indecency:"EinreinesGemit schamt sich der Liebenicht, es schamt sich aber,dafl diese nichtvollkommen st"(247).Striving o overcome he obstacles hat hinder ove'sculmination,shameis thus anagentin the serviceof love.

H6lderlin ephraseshe roleof "Scham" s "Scheue."n hispoem,shynessdoes the workofpreserving ynamicdifferenceswithin thepair.The stimula-tion of differenceagainstthe idea of an unqualifiedunion is also partofHegel'saccountof shame.WernerHamacher ighlights he ambiguityof thework of shame nHegel.29He showsthat shamesplitsuptheunitythat it hasproducednorder o work towardsa more nclusiveunity.Shamerelentlesslytakes offense in the results of its own efforts becauseno union is radicalenoughto beabsolutelypure.30 he workof shame slimitless.Itsinfinitycanbe frustratingwhen merelynumerical, hat is, when we presumeseparatecountableentities. Ifwe presuppose clear-cutdistinctionbetweenidentityanddifference, verynewly achievedunity opposesthe differencewhich itresolvedandtherefore dds o the seriesof termsto bereconciled.But adiffer-ent logic givesrise to a pleasurablenfinity.This is the case when the loversprevent heirunionfromcollapsingnto an exclusiveunityandmakealove inwhich"dasGetrenntenoch[ist],abernichtmehralsGetrenntes, sondern] ls


12/16


Einiges"(Hegel 246).31Then, like Halderlin'snoble pair,those who areashamedof the factthattheyareseparated lso takepleasuren lettingmoreandmoreobstaclescomebetweenthem.Rubbing gainst hese hurdles heyactively enjoytheir ove:

Diesen Reichtumdes Lebenserwirbtdie Liebe .., indem sie unendlicheUn-terschiedeuchtund unendliche ereinigungenichausfindet, n dieganzeMannigfaltigkeiterNatur ichwendet,umaus edemhrerLeben ieLiebe utrinken.Hegel 48)The infinite work of shameopensthe closedrelationshipbetweentwo indi-viduals,theirpotentiallyviolent tite-a-tite, and allows for moreand moreinterference rom the manifoldrichesof the outsideworldor,in Hdlderlin'swords,of thegardensof Bordeaux.As Hamacher utsit: "For ieSchamgibtes Sein - ihr eigenes nicht ausgenommen - nur im Plural" 105).Indeed,the seeminglyexclusivecouplehasalwaysbeen a playof multi-plicitiesin Hd1derlin'soem:the pairdoes not consist of one oak and onewhite poplar,but oaks and white poplars n the plural:"einedel Paar VonEichenundSilberpappeln."hepoplar-oak ouplehas alsoalwaysbeen nter-laced with otherpairs.Oaks and poplarsare crossedwith other trees. Thepoemaboundswith exchange,with "Gesprich," ith care,with confusion,with mutation,andwith mutuality.There s care nthe elmwoodthatprotec-tively "neiget iebreitenGipfel... iber dieMihl'."The housetakes hefigtree"Feigenbaum,"nto its courtyardand shelters t from storm and weather.32Der eigeBaum,hecowardly ree,needsprotection.Yet,byits involvement nanotherpair, he fig gainsa divinepowerto keepthe housesafein return.When Halderlin ranslatesEuripides' acchants,e confusesfig tree (Greek:sykon)with sanctum Greek:aekon).33hefignowoffersprotectionpreciselybecause t is derFeigen aum, he holy tree of the cowards. n the context oflove, cowardice urns into a specialcourage. t becomes he strengthof notbeingafraidto let shyness show, "Scheuezu tragen."Hegelasserts:"[DieLiebe] orchtet ihreFurchtnicht,abervon ihrbegleitethebt sieTrennungenauf"(248).34 he loverbears,ortriigthe brave imorousness f thefigtree ikeshewears,ortrigtafig eaf.Thefigleaf "hebtTrennungenuf"bydenying hedifferencebetween overs.Sinceneitherof them canbe sure hat their ove cantolerate heirseparation hey prefer o wear theirshame.Butthe coy figleafalsohighlightsthe differencebetweenthem,if onlyassomething hat is im-possible o pinpoint.The excessively hy love of the noblepairkeepsdiffer-encesmoving.35The second stanza presentsthis movement of differencesacross themultipleinterlacingpairs hat form a noblepair. tbeginswith "DiebraunenFrauendaselbst AufseidnenBoden."Theadjective"seidnen"shereused nthe pluraland is thus grammaticallyalignedwith "Frauen"ather than"Boden." ut it would notexactlymakesense to exchange headjectivesand


13/16

PAHL:Holderlin 203

to say:"Die eidnenFrauen aselbstaufbraunemBoden."Theexchangesnotreversible;here s no identifiablepointof origin.The "daselbst"unctionsasthe eccentricpivotfor anasymmetricallyhiasmicexchange hat never ullylinesupandthereforenevercomesto rest.36 oth sidesare mperfectlydrawninto the otherso that both canneitherbeseparatednor unified.Around hedisempowereddentity, heSelbigkeit,f the "daselbst,"stheemptyheartofthe chiasm,the verseskeep insistingon the plural.We find a similarstructure in: "Und iber langsamenStegen, / VongoldenenTriumenschwer, EinwiegendeLifte ziehen."Here,the converseexplicitly engagesmore than two terms.The "Gesprich"moves in a round.Lightandheavyat thesametime,it is aslowdanceover heabysswheredeepdown the riverrages:"UberangsamenStegen"?One is temptedto correctthis peculiar xpression nto "ibereinwiegendenStegen,"andthis sets thedance in motion: "vongoldenenTriumen schwer,Lffte ziehen langsam,langsam einwiegendeStege, Triume ziehen schwer,schwer einwiegendeLffte ziehen angsamStege,wiegeneiningoldeneTriume, riumengoldeneStege ..."Would his be a "Gesprich,"dasagtdes "HerzensMeinung?"

Notes1 The phrase"a readingof love" is borrowed from WernerHamacher,Ple-roma-ReadingnHegel, rans.NicholasWalker nd SimonJarvis StanfordUP, 1998)89.Original: eineLektfire erLiebe."WernerHamacher, Pleroma zu GenesisundStruktur inerdialektischenHermeneutik eiHegel,"n G.W.F.Hegel,"DerGeistdesChristentums":chriften 796-1800,ed. WernerHamacher Frankfurt/M:Ullstein,1978)105.Heuses the phrase o describe modeof readinghatseeksto keepgoinga

movementof multipledifferenceswithin the unityof the text.2 Text fromFriedrichHalderlin, evestigteresang: ieneu uentdeckendeymnischeSpi1tdichtungis 1806,ed. Dietrich Uffhausen(Stuttgart:Metzler,1989) 164f. Theexact date of the poem'scomposition s uncertain.Uffhausen assumes 1805 (BG261ff.).BeiiSneratesit spring1803between "Patmos" nd "Der ster," ee FriedrichHalderlin,SamtlicheWerke,Grof3etuttgarterAusgabe,ols. 1-5, ed. FriedrichBeiflner,vol. 6-7 ed.Adolf Beck(Stuttgart:Kohlhammer,Cotta, 1943-1977)2,2,800.Sattlerdates t fall 1804 n thevicinityof "Germanien,"Tinian,"Der ster,"DerAdler,"nd"DieSchlange""Mnemosyne");ee FriedrichHl61derlin,iimtlicheWerke, rankfurterAusgabe, d.D.H. Sattler Frankfurt/M.: erlagRoterStern,1975)15,11f.3 Selected oems ndFragmentsLondon:Penguin,1994)251-53. Other transla-tions: VernonChadwick nAnselmHaverkamp, eaves fMourning: dlderlin'saterWorkAlbany: UNYP, 1996)58-59;TaylorCarman nDieterHenrich,TheCoursefRemembrancendOtherEssays nHilderlin, d.EckartFirster(Stanford: tanfordUP,1997)253-55;Richard ieburth,HymnsndFragmentsPrinceton: rincetonUP,1984)106-09.


14/16

204 THEGERMAN UARTERLY Spring 005

4Heidegger,"Andenken," rliduterungenu Hi'lderlinsDichtung Frankfurt/M:Klostermann, 981)84.5Sidmtliche erke,Grof3etuttgarterusgabe , 2, 802.6DieterHenrich,DerGangdesAndenkensStuttgart:Klett-Cotta, 986),especiallychapterII. 9.7Eberhard aumann,Das Geheimnis irdLicht Essen:BlaueEule,1997)17.8"Mancher"anmeanboth"many"nd"some."Chadwick ranslates: Some arereluctant o go to the source."9Aboutthe rarityof the north-easterlyn the regionof Bordeaux, eeBaumann17-18.

10Baumannextendsthe cryptonym o D.S.G.(DieschdneGaronne).1 While I focushereon the turnand the inversemovementbecause t is usuallyoverlooked,hepoemevokesboth directions ndperspectives spartof itsattempttorealizemutuality(from henorth-east o the south-westand fromthe south-west tothenorth-east, romSusette o Friedrich ndfromFriedricho Susette, romauthor oreader nd from readero author).12EricSantner, n his piece"SoberRecollections:Halderlin'sDe-idealizations fMemory n 'Andenken'"Germaniceview 0.1 [1985]:16-22),affirms henon-adver-sative but ratheradditiveuse of the conjunction"aber"s liberating ndas a signofHalderlin'snew, morerelaxed tyle, seeesp. 19.13Heidegger151: "DieseFugedes wanderndenHeimischwerdensm Eigenen st

dichterischgefigt in das aber,das dem Gedicht den verborgenenTon gibt ...'Andenken'st eineeinzige n sichgefigte Fugedesaber."Heidegger, espite hese em-phaticremarks, ffersno interpretation f the use of "aber."14Santnerargues hat the later Hblderlinbreaksaway from his idealizationof amonological"Gesang,"owardembracinghemutualityof "Gesprach":In he poemAndenkenhepoet explores ndseems o discover,fonly verybriefly,apositiveaspectof such a disintoxication, he possibilityof survivaland perhapseven fulfillment,within the immanenceof Gespritch"21).151do not want to arguehere hat all uses of "aber"n thispoemshouldbe readasadversative. he automatic epetitionof the same"aber"rings o the fore hatgener-alizingthe procedure f reversal whatwe usually dentifywith Hegeliandialectic)results n its erosion.But I think that this poemmovesbeyond stagingthe generalimpotenceof the pivottowarda call forindividual, ocal,andpro emrneading. agreethat some"aber"srebetterreadas additive.But I am concernedherewith showingthat the dialecticreversal an be used in less facileandmore nterestingways thanitcommonly s, andthat-especially if we resist ts resolution n somehighersynthe-sis-it can enablemutuality.16Preservedn fragmentaryormandpublishedunder he title "DieLiebe"irstbyNohl and now in Werke (Frankfurt/M:uhrkamp, 986)244-50.17See TheRecalcitrantrt.Diotima's ettersoHilderlin ndRelatedMissives, d. andtrans.DouglasF.Kenney ndSabineMenner-BettscheidAlbany: UNYP,2000)22.18G.W.F.Hegel,PhiinomenologiedeseistesHamburg:elixMeiner,1988)128-29.19Inhis letterfromJune30, 1802, nformingHblderlin f Gontard's eath,Sinclairtries o remindhim thatshesurvives erdeath:"DuglaubtestanUnsterblichkeit,asienoch ebte,Du wirstgewif5tzt (sic!)mehrdennvorher lauben .. Undwasistgrafjerundedler,alsein Herz,das seineWelt iberlebt" StA 7,1,170).


15/16

PAHL:Hdlderlin 205

20Baumann 8.21SeePhinomenologie31.22 See Heidegger118:"Zwar st derDichter in das Erfreuende er SchattenderheimischenWildergekommen."24 SeeOvid,Metamorphoses,rans.FrankJustusMiller(Cambridge:HarvardUP,1984)9-11:"And,men,contentwith foodwhichcame romnoone'sseeking, athered... acorns allen rom hespreadingreeofJove.... andyellowhoneywas distilled romtheverdantoak."Ovid's"TheFourAges"s an mportant ext forHalderlin.He evokesOvid'sdescription f the goldenage,forexample, n "Emilie or ihremBrauttag"v117-23). "Andenken"ncludesanotherreference o "TheFourAges" n the fourthstanza:"Zuwohneneinsam, ahrlang, nter DementlaubtenMast" vokes hebra-zenage n which "Men...spreadails o thewinds,though he sailor syet scarce newthem;andkeelsofpinewhich earlier adstooduponhighmountain-sides, owleapedinsolentlyoverunknownwaves" 11).With thephrase"entlaubtenMast,"H6lderlindrawsattention othe factthatthe masthasahistory, hat t was oncealiving ree.25Hblderlin, Wiewenn amFeiertage.."25 In "DieEichbiume,"H81derlin, obilizing nti-Frenchentiments,describes aktreesas Titanswho refuseto subject hemselves o the cultivatedgardenof society("gesellige eben").Hblderlin sesthe Semelemythin the sixth stanzaof "WiewennamFeiertage...." emele, he mortalmotherofDionysos,askedher overZeus o showhis trueshape.Whenheappearedo heras thegodof thunder, he wasstruckbylight-

ningand died.26H6lderlin sesthe word "Scheue" hileHegeloptsfor"Scham." egeloftenpre-fers the morecarnal ermto the moreetherealconnotationHblderlin hooses.27 "Dariberhinschauen" arriesa similarambiguityas "to overlook"n Englishmeaningboth "tosurvey" nd "to fail to notice."28G.W.F.Hegel,"DieLiebe,"Werke (Frankfurt/M:uhrkamp, 986)247.29 I am not as confidentas Hamacher hat we can neatly distinguishbetweenHegel's ntention(which s supposedlyo identifyshameasworking n the serviceofunity)and hispresentation Darstellung-whichHamacher ees asunderminingor-merintention).It is the presentationhat counts,alsoandespecially orHegel.30See Hamacher 04-05.31 In the same ragment,Hegelcalls hisidentityof lovethatpreservests differencewithin, a "vollendete inigkeit"sopposed o the"unentwickelte inigkeit" hich isonly the seedof lifebut not lifeitself.Theunityof love ismaturepreciselybecause tpreservesdifferencebetween the lovers while eliminating"allenCharakter inesFremden." hat love doesnot kill otherness n favorof anabstract dentity s of fore-most importanceo Hegelalreadyn the earlywritings.32 Haverkamp,n "Secluded aurel-Andenken," airs hefigtreewith the laurel,thefigure hat sforgottenandexcluded rom his remembrance. etracesa rhetorical

tradition rom he New Testament hroughAugustineandPetrarcho Hblderlinhatuses the figtree as a figure or conversion.33Beifnernotes:"InderObersetzung usdenBacchantinnen esEuripidesteht er(derFeigenbaum)or saekon(Heiligtum),verwechseltmit sykon(Feige)"StA2,2,803).


16/16


34As the figureof conversion seeHaverkamp),he figtreealsofigures hevacilla-tion andanxiety nvolved n suchaturning,as well as the brave owardice hat isopento and endures his fear.35Ifsomehave nterpretedhe scene hat isdepictedn the firstandsecondstanzasof the poemas paradisiacal,would add that thisparadise nows the figleaf,knowsshame,andknows deathornegativity. t is Paradise fterhumanshaveeaten from hetreeofknowledge.Thesestanzas, hus,workagainst heseparation fknowledgeandlove.36While ntheprose ormof thisphrasehe word"daselbst"tands n themiddlebe-tween the two terms"diebraunenFrauen"nd "auf eidnenBoden,"helayoutof thepoem nvitesthe reader o draw he chiasmic xchangebetween heparalleltructuresbraunen rauen ndseidnen odenwith "daselbst"tandingoff center n theupperrightcornerof this imaginaryX.

Documents

A Reading of Love in Höderlin's Andenken