Hymns and Fragments (Lockert Library of Poetry in Translation)

Rating:
Summary: Well done, BUT
Review: This is a stellar editionh of HOlderlin's late poetry, much of which Heidegger focused on; however, I think his earlier stuff is of great value too. ALthough i have not read the Penguin edition, i plan to do so, and i have feeling, knowing penguin, it will be better in my eyes, in that i really enjoy his early stuff too. The notes that come along with the poems in this edition , as well as the introduction are spectacular. If you are unacquainted with HOlderlin, though, i would start out with the Penguin edition. Plus, Penguin books smell so nice.

Rating:
Summary: Well done, BUT
Review: This is a stellar editionh of HOlderlin's late poetry, much of which Heidegger focused on; however, I think his earlier stuff is of great value too. ALthough i have not read the Penguin edition, i plan to do so, and i have feeling, knowing penguin, it will be better in my eyes, in that i really enjoy his early stuff too. The notes that come along with the poems in this edition , as well as the introduction are spectacular. If you are unacquainted with HOlderlin, though, i would start out with the Penguin edition. Plus, Penguin books smell so nice.

Rating:
Summary: Do not miss this book
Review: This is my favorite book of poetry from the last 300 years. What's not to like here? Holderlin is the prince of all great modern German poetry. If you know Rilke, Trakl, Celan, George, or any of the others--come, and meet their godfather. Then there is Holderlin's relation to the past. The blazing richness of ancient Greek poetry, and especially Pindar, is burning more brightly in the poems in this book than in any other modern poetry. The introduction, notes, and facing-page German/English format of this edition are all top notch. These are the Holderlin poems you really want--the stuff that makes Holderlin one of the two or three most brilliant writers in the German language. Don't be fooled by other anthologies--this is a solid, virtually unabridged collection of the LATE poetry. If you really must spend your time with the relatively stale classicism of Klopstock and Schiller, by all means find another edition of Holderlin with more of his less mind-blowingly original work. But, if you buy this book, you will have the cream of all serious poetry since the 18th century.

There is no way to label Holderlin. Of course, you can say he's precociously modern in his response to early Greek poetry about mortality and the divine, or in his freedom from mere "romanticism," but, truly, Holderlin simply stands apart from--and above--the stream of poetry, and this book is the best way to discover that.