Holderlin

Friedrich Hölderlin was a German lyric poet and a major figure of German Romanticism. Born in Lauffen am Neckar in 1770, he spent much of his life in intellectual circles, notably as a tutor to the son of the family of Euler, and later as a private tutor in the home of the von Homburg family. His early work was deeply influenced by classical antiquity, particularly Greek poetry and philosophy, which is evident in his hymnic style and themes of nature, beauty, and the divine.

Hölderlin's most significant poetic achievements include his odes, elegies, and his epic fragment "Hyperion." His poetry is characterized by its musicality, its exploration of the sublime, and its often melancholic tone. He sought to reconcile the ancient world with the modern, believing that a spiritual renewal was necessary for contemporary society. Despite his profound artistic vision, Hölderlin struggled with mental illness, experiencing periods of profound depression and ultimately spending the last decades of his life in a state of mental decline, residing in the house of a carpenter in Tübingen. His work, though not widely recognized during his lifetime, had a significant posthumous influence on later poets and philosophers, including Rainer Maria Rilke and Martin Heidegger. He died in 1843.