A Reading of Love in Hderlin's "Andenken" Author(s): Katrin Pahl Reviewed work(s): Source: The German Quarterly, Vol.

78, No. 2 (Spring, 2005), pp. 192-206 Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Association of Teachers of German Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30039383 . Accessed: 27/04/2012 10:54
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KATRINPAHL
Universityof SouthernCalifornia

A Readingof Love in H61derlin's

"Andenken"

At the heartof my readingof H6lderlin's lies poem "Andenken" the question of mutuality:how best to understand and how to realizeit. mutuality renditionof Hegel'stheoryof recognition,I Drawingon my unconventional will readthe blowingof the wind presented "Andenken" a conversation as by between lovers-indeed as the intersectionof two conversations,one between Friedrich H6lderlin SusetteGontard, onebetweenthe poetand and and the reader. with the lines"Doch / Ist ein Gesprich" "Mancher and Working gut / Triigt as Scheue" the maincoordinates this interpretation, will developa of I that callson the reader contributeto the poem'seffortsto to theoryof reading facilitatea love that is mutual.In a furthermultiplication crossedcouples, of the humanloversareinterlaced with the poem'sseveralpairsof treesuntil finot nally a Gesprdch so much in, but among,words emergesin the form of but chiasms-that is, of unfinished,non-reciprocal nevertheasymmetrical less mutual exchanges.
Andenken DerNordost wehet, DerliebsteunterdenWinden Geist Mir,weil erfeurigen verheiflet den UndguteFahrt Schiffern. Gehabernun undgrfitle Die schbneGaronne, von UnddieGarten Bourdeaux Ufer Dort,wo am scharfen der Hingehet Stegundin denStrom aber Tieffllt derBach, darfiber Hinschauet edelPaar ein von Eichen Silberpappeln; und Nochdenket mirwohl undwie das
TheGerman 78.2 2005) Quarterly (Spring 192

Remembrance Thenorth-easterly blows, Of windsthe dearest me to Because fieryspirit a Andhappyvoyageit promises mariners. Butgo now,go andgreet The beautiful Garonne Andthe gardens Bordeaux, of Towhereon the rugged bank The pathrunsandinto the river but Deepfallsthe brook, abovethem A noblepairof oaks Andwhite poplars out; look Stillwell I remember andhow this,

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The elmwood with its greatleafytops Die breiten Gipfel neiget towards mill, the DerUlmwald, Inclines, iber dieMihl', Im Hofeaber a wichset einFeigenbaum.Butin the courtyard fig-tree grows. On holidays theretoo An Feiertagen gehn The brownwomenwalk Die braunen Frauen daselbst On silken Aufseidnen Boden, ground, In the monthof March, ZurMirzenzeit, Whennightanddayareequal Wenngleich NachtundTag, ist Andoverslow footpaths, Undiber langsamen Stegen, Vongoldenen Triumenschwer, Heavywith goldendreams, breezes drift. ziehen. Lulling Einwiegende Lifte Esreiche aber, Des dunkeln Lichtes voll, Mireiner duftenden den Becher, Damitichruhenmbge; dennsfil Wir' unterSchatten Schlummer. der Nichtist es gut, Seellos sterblichen von Gedanken seyn.Dochgut zu und Ist einGesprich zu sagen Des Herzens zu Meinung, harenviel VonTagen Lieb', der UndThaten, welchegeschehen. Woaber sinddieFreunde? Bellarmin Mit demGefihrten? Mancher an TrigtScheue, dieQuellezu gehn; Esbeginnet nimlichderReichtum Im Meere. Sie, WieMahler, zusammen bringen Das SchinederErd' verschmihn und Den gefligeltenKrieg nicht,und Zu wohneneinsam, unter jahrlang, Dem entlaubten Mast,wo nicht dieNachtdurchglnzen Die Feiertage Stadt, der Und Saitenspiel eingeborener und Tanznicht. Nun abersindzu Indiern Die Minnergegangen, Dortan derluftigenSpiz' An Traubenbergen, herab wo Die Dordogne kommt, Undzusammen derpricht'gen mit Butsomeone passme The fragrant cup Fullof dark light, So thatI mayrestnow;forsweet It wouldbe to drowseamidshadows. It is not good Tobe soulless Withmortal But thoughts. good Is converse, to speak and Theheart's to opinion, hearmanytales Aboutthe daysof love Anddeedsthathaveoccurred. Butwherearethe friends? Where Bellarmine Andhis companion? Manya man Is shy of goingto the source; For wealthbeginsin The sea.Andthey, Like painters, bring together Thebeautiful thingsof the earth Anddo not disdain wingedwar,and Tolivein solitude, years, for beneath the Defoliate the mast,wherethrough night do not gleam Thecity'sholidays Normusicof strings, indigenous nor dancing. Butnow to Indians Thosemenhavegone, Thereon the airypeak On grape-covered wheredown hills, The Dordogne comes Andtogether with the glorious

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Garonne meerbreit der Es Ausgehet Strom. nehmetaber UndgiebtGedichtnifn See die auchheftetfleiflig UnddieLieb' dieAugen, stiftendieDichter. Wasbleibet aber, Hblderlin, (Friedrich 1803-05)2

Garonne wideas the sea as Thecurrent sweepsout.Butit is the sea Thattakesandgivesremembrance, Andloveno lesskeepseyesattentively fixed, Butwhat is lastingthe poetsprovide. Michael (trans. Hamburger)3

is "Andenken" a wind poem.It initiatesits own movementin the firstline Nordostwehet."WhyNordost? Whynot anyotherwind?And by saying"Der preciselywhat directiondoes this northeasterly poem take?Most interpretthem most influentiallyHeidegger, forgrantedthat the act of take ers,among follows the blowingof the wind fromnorth("Andenken") 'thinking-toward' east to southwest. Presumingthat recollectionis only possible from the of that Heiperspective homeandpresupposing this homemust be Germany, deggeremphasizesthat the poem knows only one direction,that is, southwest: "DerNordostzeigt und fihrt hinweg aus dem heimischenLandin die Beilfner, his in einzige Richtungdessidwestlichen Himmels"(myemphasis).4 lack editionof Hblderlin's works,follows Heidegger and,with a surprising of conflatesempirical poeticrealities and when commenting, criticalsensibility, "DerNordostweht nachSidwesten, dasbedeutetvom OrtdesDichtersaus: nach Bourdeaux."5 Dieter Henrich complicates this reading somewhat, by integrating a He changein perspective. arguesthat, aftermovingsouthwest to Bordeaux, turnsnorthwestand the wind andwith it the poem'sgestureof remembrance still towardthe sea.6Nevertheless, Henrich's interpretation leavesuntouched the presupposed of directionality the first stanza and therebyof the poem's address: "Geh abernun und grfile." greeting,its originaland self-originating Baumannis, to my knowledge,the first to point out how counterEberhard intuitive these claimsabout the orientationof the poem reallyare.Reading the first line, "DerNordostwehet,"he asks: lbst Wasfor Gedanken denndieseRichtungsangabe Hbrer Leser im oder aus? in wehtunddamit Blick den nachSiidwest, NurdiederRichtung, diederWind wie erimweiteren Gedicht zu oder die scheint, vielmehr angesprochen werden nach als und des Nordosten demUrsprung demHerkommen WinBlickrichtung des?7 of coordinates Sincethe geographic includedin the descriptor a particular wind do not indicateintowhich directionthe wind blows but ratherfrom Nordostwehet,"locatesits writer which directionit is blowing,the line "Der -and reader-in the southwest facingnortheastandfeelingthe wind (of the poem) blow in his/her face. with its openEventhoughthe poempointsin the north-easterly direction away from the sourceand turns ing phrase,a slight fearblows most readers

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them toward the south-west. "Mancher Trigt Scheue,an die Quelle zu / who carriesthe tries to be among the few, a "mancher," gehn."Hdlderlin burden of moving against the wind instead of being carriedaway by it.8 travels northeastfromBordeaux backto Frankfurt; doesso in real he H&ilderlin but alsowith the linesof this poem.InMay 1802,H8lderlin out on his sets life, wherehe hadassumeda positionas tutor,to Frankfurt, walk fromBordeaux, Drawntowardthe impossible the homeof SusetteGontard. reunion with the forbidden love,this journeyis marked severaldetoursanddelays(in Paris, by Stuttgart,N(rtingen, and again Stuttgart)until H5lderlinis struckby the news of Gontard'sdeath. Writtenbetween one and three years after this "Andenken" forms an attempt to re-enactthe agonizing (non-)experience, in a way that keepsGontardalive for him. journey abernun undgriife / Die schdneGaronne" "Geh seemsat first Admittedly, a to which flows through to unequivocally address greeting the river Garonne, Bordeaux.This would affirm the idea that the poem's "Andenken" turns from Germanyto Bordeaux.But Baumannconvincinglyarguesthat the is liebsteunterdenWinden" becauseit tells "von northeasterly "der Tagender Lieb"and reminds Hblderlinof Gontard.During his stay in Bordeaux, the with specialardor. this wind is a rare Hblderlin receives northeasterly As in the regionof Bordeaux, Halderlintreasures because,comit phenomenon fromthe directionin whichGontard it makeshimhot with its promlives, ing ise of fieryspirit,"feurigen If Geist ... verheilfet."9 one understands wind the as a mediumof communicationbetween the lovers,the "schaneGaronne," with its initialsS.G.,is to be readas an encodedevocationof SusetteGontard. With the line "Geh abernun und grille / Die schine Garonne," H6lIderlin invites the northeasterly move northeast,from Bordeauxto Frankfurt, to to He greet S.G.,Susette Gontard.10 asks the wind to blow backwards. Such a readingbringsout the reversal the wind directionand has the of of in Whenunderadvantage conveyingmeaningto the "aber" the fifth line.11 stood as an appealto blow fromnortheastto southwest, it makeslittle sense to say to the wind: "gehabernun."The "aber" would indicatethat the wind is not already Nordostwehet."We blowing,but the firstline saysclearly"Der want to readthis "aber" an empty fillernot meant to correlate as conmight terms.12 sincethe poemcontainsa seriesof "aber," sinceas But and tradictory Heideggerpoints out, this wording "givesthe poem its hidden tone," we would runthe riskof affectingthe restof the poemwith its emptiness.13 "Geh abernun"unfoldsits potentialto signifyonly when we take the "aber" seriously as initiatinga turn,that is, when we readthe phraseas askingthe wind to blow in the oppositedirection."Geh abernun"then meanssomethinglike: "You the dearestamongthe winds to me becauseyou give me fever,but are now go backand greetS.G.;makeherfeel what I feel ..." And, since Susette Gontard diedof a pulmonary infectionassociated with the measlesand,thus, had difficultiesbreathing,"gehabernun"also suggests something literally

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like:"Ilove you becausethroughyou I get wind of the fevershe suffersfrom,

but now help her to get back her wind ..." The movement of "Andenken"

thus exceedsthe word's sense of remembrance recollection.It combines or this retrospective with the forward-oriented open-ended and thoughtprocess of thinking-ofor of thinking-toward, denken an. i.e., activity The accumulationof f and s sounds in "liebste," "Geist," "feurigen," and not "Fahrt," "Schiffern," "verheifiet," "grUf/e," "schine" only imitates the wind's blowing,but alsotransmitsthe initialsof the two lovers,Friedrich and Susette. With the wind, the loverswhisper each other's names acrosstime and space.Nevertheless,it is an overstatementwhen Baumannwrites that "derNordost ist in Hblderlin'sEmpfindenbereits Gesprachund geistiger Austausch,also Wechselwirkung" (Baumann19). The north-easterly might and of be a mediumforcommunication a promise mutualitybetweenthe lovis of a ers,but the realization this Gesprdichfarfrombeinga given. It requires constant battle againstdeath. A Weh of as "Gesprich," the realizaaccompaniesthe wehen "Andenken." tion of mutualityin the backandforthmovementof thinking-of, provesto be difficultand dangerous. requiresto be struggledfor without relent.Even It thoughit might be sweet to drowseamidshadows,this is not good as we can seein the fourthstanza:"siif/ Wr' unterSchattenderSchlummer/Nicht ist es gut."One might tireof the constantlaborandyearnfora rest,but "gut/ Ist With the contrast that the poem establishesin the middle ein Gesprach." and it stanzabetweenthe sweetnessof "Schlummer" the valueof "Gesprach," The the difficultyof keepingthe conversation mutual.14 work acknowledges of love includes the almost impossibletask to send the wind in the other to lurksat the turnof everyline. directionwhile the danger losethe beloved with arrest.NatuOne-sidedness persistentlythreatensthe conversation the rally,everythingflows in one direction: wind blows, the spiritis fiery,and the riverDordogneflows downward ("wo herab/ die Dordognekommt"). der the Before "ausgehet Strom." Quickly, longthe movementis extinguished: message.When nothing is read poem gets effacedin its all too transparent between the lines, this nothing grinds the verses to sharpedges, "scharfe and that speedup the reading rushthe waterinto the abysswheredeep Ufer," falls the brook,"tieffillt derBach." But the words themselvesfight against their death. "Dariber... / HinPaar" overlookand to schauet" stretchesout its ambiguities allowingthe "edel look beyondthe abyss, towardwhich the water races."DerSteg"smoothes out the sharp edge when it nonchalantly "trailsalong"the bank (trans. Chadwick,"amscharfenUfer/ Hingehet") distractingfromthe other,more namely "topass away." gloomy meaningof "hingehet," She The reader contributesto the task of a lovingconversation. joins also the lovers,therebyopeningtheir potentiallydestructivetate-8-tate.The inof terpretation the line "gehabernun"is, thus, not merelya questionof right

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with negatingpoweris orwrong.Moreis at stake.Forus to investthis "aber" to rescuethe poem's potential for love, its ability to move back and forth this as between the lovers.'5Forus to understand "aber" initiatinga turn of the addressbetweenS.G.andEH.meansalso to reverse blowingof this wind poem that comes to us from the author,and to participateactively in the conversation that moves back and forth between author and reader.It amounts to giving the poem some of the meaningit offers-responding in kind to the love that it gives. Our difficultieswith receivingthe poem as a love letter and Friedrich's Susette'sgreetings in both cases,tiedupwith a difficultieswith receiving are, of I frustrationaboutthe evasivecharacter the beloved.She is unreliable. do not know what I havein her.I do not evenknow whereshe is, fromwhereshe sends her love, and if she will keepsendingit. True,thereis a promise:"Der Nordostverheifet feurigenGeistMir." how long canI wait forthe promYet, ise to cometrue?Evenif it is comingtruerightnow I remainin the positionof sinceIcannotbearthe thoughtof herloveeverending. awaitingits realization Already,empty words are creepingup on me, habitual turns, without an But individual address. who am Ito forceherto speakto me?The poemmight refuse to yield meaning in orderto avoid the grasp of a readerwho only pretendsto be a lover. refusalto signifyis barelyan act of chivalry that Yet,to acceptthe "aber"'s other's freedom.Instead,it infects the poem with the reader's the preserves amidst the beauty of the Gaown helplessness.Abandonedby the reader, feels a sharppain of despair"amscharfenUfer"and strugronne, Friedrich gling not to slideinto the abyssof solitudehe triesto makesurethat Susette will rememberto greet him: "gehabernun und grille." This might be an understandable of desire,but the factthat he takescharge the continuationof the lovingdiscourse meansthat Friedrich stops to hearhervoice in the wind. as Susette disappears an agent in the conversation.The imperativeforms and "grfsse" that the wind already blows, and "geh" neglectto acknowledge fail to recognizethat S.G.in fact sendsher love. This redundantimperative spreadsits impotenceto overshadowthe promiseof the wind. It catchesup and that interrupts with the wind by apostrophizing enclosingit in a "nun" the wind's movement,breaksthe promiseof "verheisset," acts as a brake and The imperativetransformsthe love for on the futuraldrift of the prophecy. the wind into a suffocatingclasp.It thrustsits will into the open fleshof the future and foreclosesthe adveningmovement of futurity.In its final turn, off. turns the loving conversation this "aber" This reading re-enactsa loss of which the reader barely is melancholically desireto be overwhelmedby the aware:the immenseand always frustrated It other's address. projectsonto the poem the reader's own refusalto receive the poemin its precariousness unreliability. attemptat indifference and The is the wish to preserve belovedintactin herdifference, not motivatedby the but

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In of caprice. the parameters by the desireto protectthe selffromthe beloved's the this reading, lovingandrespecting integrityof the otherturnsinto a holdher ingon to the otherandanticipating moves.The belovedthuslosesthe very for which one loves her:her liveliness,her unforeseeability, in qualities or, We Hegelianterms,hernegativity. areleft with no future,nothingthat comes to us fromthe other.Nothingcanmoveus. The resultis stagnation,an empty of that repetitionof nothing,an accumulation a habitual"aber" doesnot turn ormove anything,but pitchesthe poemin a melancholytone. The insistence as of and of a meaningless"aber" a marker indifference distrustisolates the reader enclosesthe poemin a circleof non-understanding loneliness and and fromwhich, at best, one cry emerges:"Woabersind die Freunde?" In a truly mutualrelation,as Hegelconceivesit, that is, in the processof mutual recognitionbetween two equallyfreeparties,killingthe otheris not an autonomous act. Its agency is shared and each party negates herself while negating the other.At the same time, self-negation-when it is not one-sidedand thereforeviolent-is crucialto freedom.Hegelwitnessed the in love between H6lderlinand Gontardafter he moved to Frankfurt 1797. After their forced During the same time, he drafteda philosophyof love.16 fromhis post as a tutor in his husbandfiredHalderlin separation(Gontard's household),GontardinvolvedHegelas a middlemanin her communication with H6lderlin.17 of Hegel,the futurephilosopher Spirit,then playedthe role secretletters)and in his theoretical of the wind. Both in practice(delivering endeavorshe was concernedwith enablingmutuality.Hegel contends that the experienceof love-or of the processof recognition,as he calls it in his des Phi'nomenologie Geistes-brings with it the realizationthat the other is not a passiveobjectof mine,but a freesubjectwho compromises agency. my hat In Hegel'swords:"Daserste[Selbstbewufbtsein] denGegenstand [i.e.,das zweite Selbstbewuftsein] ... vor sich ... [als]einen fur sich seiendenselbstwelchen es darumnichts for sich vermag,wenn er nicht an standigen,Uber sich selbstdies tut, was es an ihm tut."18 Hegelis farfromimaginingmutual the love as a peacefuland stablerelationship: two subjectsmove in a vertiginous struggle,ceaselesslynegatingeach other and themselves.These negations can be blissfulif they manageto realizea formof death that is moving As without endingthe encounterin definitedestruction. the most important both partiesneedto recognize eachotheras the safeguard againstdestruction, to According subject,that is, boththe agentandthe patientof theirnegativity. ist Hegel, "derGegenstanddes Selbstbewufbtseins ... selbststandigin dieser Negativitatseinerselbst"(127). We encounterthis negativityin H6lderlin's poem. "DerNordostwehet;" writesthis poemSusetteis already the poemspeaksto us.Butwhile Hdlderlin dead.The wind may dead,andwhen we readthe poem the authoris already Susette is have come from the north-east,but by the time it hits Friedrich somewhereelse.Oncewe readthe poem,we no longerknow in what senseit

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was written. Even though Susette's death is a historicalfact, "Andenken" demonstrates that Hblderlin not experience deathas a fact,but strugdid this Her gled to stay in communicationwith Diotima Susette Gontard.19 death as a tropeforthe experience the negativityof the other.Because of her figures freedomconsists in being the subjectof and subjectto her own self-differentiality,the loveris always alreadysomewhereelse as soon as she presents herself for identification.In the very act of sending a loving message the sender herselfchanges.The sourceis gone, and it does not make sense to searchforit at the point of its departure unlessone wants to arrestthe greeting. If Friedrich wants to communicatehis love to Susette it is, in fact, not to simplyreverse directionof the greeting,and to give backwhat the enough he received. doesnot realize The Reciprocity mutuality. wind wouldnot reach the sourceevenif it blewin the oppositedirection. Friedrich to speakwithhas out knowingwhereexactlyto directhis words.He has to approach someone who is gone, dead,so to speak.Likewise, have to communicatewith the we poem without knowing from where exactly it addressesus. To bear the embarrassment "dieScheuezu tragen" of articulating wordsagainstthe wind without any certaintyas to where and how the other will receivethe greetingis the only way to recognizethe other's negativitywithout killing
her.

The lackof orientationresulting fromthe inabilityto locatethe positionof the belovedcombinedwith the strainof movingagainstthe wind provokea wish for quietnessthat has strongsuicidalundertones:
Esreiche aber, Des dunkeln Lichtes voll,

Mir einer duftenden den Becher, ichruhen denn mage; siUf damit unter Schatten Schlummer. der wair' The desireof the loverwould be appeased, reiche," he coulddrinkup her "es if to cup andrestin the beloved.Sinceit is impossible findquietnessin S.who is alive with negativity,constantly moving and moved, E wishes to rest with Susette's nonexistence.To put an end to their missed encounters-feeling that "esreicheabernun"-he is readyto go whereshe is clearlynot, if only to securethe certaintyof herfullabsence.He is readyto die.Likethe reader who is temptedto give in to the lureof nothingnessthat threatensto collapsethe E poeminto the one meaningof non-communication, is temptedto givehimself over to destruction. to the According Baumann, next line, "Nichtist es gut,"formsthe heartof the poem. Locatedat the exact mid-pointof the poem, it marksits turning point:when H6lderlinresolvesto tearhimselfaway fromthe temptationof The strugglefor recognitionin Hegel'sPhiactively or passivelydying.20

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initiatesa similarturn when its protagonists realizethat a dead nomenologie Death is not good; so opponent will not providethe desiredrecognition.21 much might safelybe said.But on which side arewe to locate death:hereor The centralline of the poem is so insignifithere,in this world or hereafter? cant in its transparency we haveto consultthe neighboring that versesto give it moresubstance.Likethe other pivot with which we havebeen concerned, the potentiallyvoid "aber," "Nichtist es gut"readslikean empty heartuntil we widen our focus and analyzethe blood that will havecrossedin it: War' unter Schatten Schlummer. der Nicht esgut, ist Seellos sterblichen von The preceding versespeaksof drowsingamidshadows.Shadowsmight refer to the underworld, dominionof the deadandits shadowyinhabitants.Or, the if we adhereto Platonic ideas,it mightremindus of the factthat ourempirical world consists of only shadows. Or the line might simply drawthe picture of a nap in the shadows of the wooded homeland.22 The next line reads "Seellosvon sterblichen." be soullesswould mean to be dead.More preTo cisely - since even the dead are consideredto be souls, albeit nothing but souls -it means to dwell in a death that entertainsno relationto life. Those who havea soul aremortal,they areableto die or to live, they areaffectedby death, dividedbetween death and life. But to be soullesswould mean to be without deathorlife, to restin an absolutebeyondor a total immediacy. The line break between "sterblichen" and "Gedanken," isolates the adjective from the term it is adjectedto, so that it establishesits own "sterblichen" substantialityandasksto bereadasa substantive.Readon its own, as "Seellos von Sterblichen," line evokes a state of soullessnesscausedby mortals the who never recognizedF.as being with soul, or alive and affected by death, subjectof and subjectto his negativity.He walks aroundon earthlikea dead man amid shadows.The centralline pivots between the line beforeand the lineafter,which themselvesareambiguousin theirrelationto this worldand the hereafter. "Nichtist es gut"is itselfa "sterblicher Gedanke," impossibleto pin down, crossingbloodcontainingoxygen with blood that carriescarbon dioxide,dividedin itself between life and death. / The first stanzaof "Andenken" namesa noblecouple:"einedel Paar Von Eichenund Silberpappeln." loversin this pairarequite different.White The poplarsareknown to be fickle.They liketo grow nearthe water so the liquid can flow in abundance throughtheirsupplestems.Withthe helpof the water leaves that flickerin the wind. Oscillatingbetween their they grow silvery two faces,these leavesenrapture with the musicthey singin the breeze.The It oak, on the other hand,is ancient and unfaltering. was Jupiter'stree and In time, in gave honey to the GoldenAge.23 the imaginationof Hblderlin's

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texts of German Romanticism Idealism, figuresas theGerman and it tree.Big and steady,oakslend themselvesto mediatebetweengodsandhumansor,as
Hdlderlin phrases it in another poem: "unterGottes Gewittern ... zu stehen /

Des VatersStral... zu fassenund demVolk'ins Lied/ Geholltdie himmlische Gabezu reichen."24Solitary,free,and wild, they attract the lightning,like Semele,and arelikely to be burntfor theirlove.25 betweenthese treesas loverscouldbe a sourcefor The obviousdifference and misunderstanding death.Buta certainshynessorshameearnsthe pairits edel attributeof ethicalnobility("ein Paar").26 do not address eachother They directly.Their gaze is twice diverted.Overseeingtogether the gardensof the Bordeaux, riverGaronnewith its sharpbank,the fallingbrook,and the footbridge, they glanceat eachotheracrossthe entireworldof theirsurroundBut even this world is not the direct object of their gaze, they "hinings. with a squintinglook that looksat andlooksbeyondat the schauetdartiber" same time.27 Recognizingnegativity,theirgaze is attentive without identifying its object. as Hegel understandsshame among lovers, quite counter-intuitively, a forceagainstseparation. him, "Scham" not a feelingthat leadsloversto To is restore proprietyand property,but rather the expressionof an aversion In againstthe proper. his 1797/98fragmenton love, Hegelwrites:"DieLiebe ist unwillig iber das noch Getrennte,Uber Eigentum; dieses Ztirnender ein Liebeiber Individualititist die Scham."28 the Reversing common valuesof the decency,he regards messy fusion of two bodiesin love as an exampleof purity, whereas lovers who resist their intimacy trying to preservesome properindependencepresent to him an image of indecency: "Einreines Gemit schamt sich der Liebenicht, es schamt sich aber,dafl diese nicht vollkommenist"(247). Strivingto overcomethe obstaclesthat hinderlove's culmination,shameis thus an agent in the serviceof love. the as In rephrases roleof "Scham" "Scheue." his poem,shyness H6lderlin doesthe workof preserving within the pair. stimulaThe dynamicdifferences tion of differenceagainst the idea of an unqualifiedunion is also part of Hamacher Hegel'saccountof shame.Werner highlightsthe ambiguityof the He work of shamein Hegel.29 shows that shamesplitsup the unity that it has in produced orderto worktowardsa moreinclusiveunity.Shamerelentlessly takes offense in the results of its own efforts becauseno union is radical The enoughto beabsolutelypure.30 workof shameis limitless.Its infinitycan be frustratingwhen merelynumerical,that is, when we presumeseparate countableentities. If we presuppose clear-cut a distinctionbetweenidentity and difference, every newly achievedunity opposesthe differencewhich it resolvedandtherefore addsto the seriesof termsto be reconciled. a differBut ent logic gives riseto a pleasurable This is the casewhen the lovers infinity. into an exclusiveunity andmakea love in preventtheirunionfromcollapsing Getrennte noch [ist],abernichtmehralsGetrenntes,[sondern] which "das als

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Einiges"(Hegel 246).31Then, like Halderlin'snoble pair, those who are ashamedof the fact that they areseparated takepleasure letting more also in and moreobstaclescome between them. Rubbing againstthese hurdlesthey activelyenjoy theirlove:
Diesen Reichtumdes Lebenserwirbtdie Liebe ..., indem sie unendlicheUn-

terschiede suchtund unendliche sich an Vereinigungen ausfindet, die ganze der sich ihrer Leben Liebe die zu Mannigfaltigkeit Natur wendet, ausjedem um trinken. 248) (Hegel The infinite work of shameopens the closedrelationship between two individuals, their potentiallyviolent tite-a-tite, and allows for more and more interference fromthe manifoldrichesof the outsideworld or,in Hdlderlin's of As die words,of the gardens Bordeaux. Hamacher puts it: "For Schamgibt
es Sein - ihr eigenes nicht ausgenommen - nur im Plural"(105).

Indeed,the seeminglyexclusivecouplehas always been a play of multipoem: the pairdoes not consist of one oak and one plicities in Hd1derlin's white poplar,but oaks and white poplarsin the plural:"einedel Paar Von / Eichenund Silberpappeln." poplar-oak The has alsoalwaysbeenintercouple laced with other pairs.Oaks and poplarsare crossedwith other trees. The with care,with confusion, poem aboundswith exchange,with "Gesprich," with mutation,andwith mutuality. Thereis carein the elmwood that protecdie tively"neiget breitenGipfel... iberdieMihl'."The housetakesthe figtree into "Feigenbaum," its courtyardand sheltersit from storm and weather.32 Derfeige the Baum, cowardlytree,needsprotection. by its involvementin Yet, another pair,the fig gains a divine power to keep the house safe in return. he When HalderlintranslatesEuripides' Bacchants, confusesfig tree (Greek: with sanctum(Greek: The saekon).33 fignow offersprotectionprecisely sykon) becauseit is derFeigen Baum,the holy tree of the cowards.In the context of love, cowardiceturns into a specialcourage.It becomesthe strengthof not being afraidto let shyness show, "Scheuezu tragen."Hegel asserts:"[Die Liebe]forchtetihreFurchtnicht, abervon ihr begleitethebt sie Trennungen of auf"(248).34 loverbears,ortriigt bravetimorousness the fig treelike The the shewears,ortrigta figleaf.The fig leaf"hebt auf" Trennungen by denyingthe difference betweenlovers.Sinceneitherof themcanbesurethat theirlovecan toleratetheirseparation they preferto weartheirshame.But the coy fig leaf also highlightsthe differencebetween them, if only as somethingthat is impossibleto pinpoint.The excessivelyshy love of the noble pairkeepsdifferences moving.35 The second stanza presents this movement of differencesacross the multipleinterlacing pairsthat forma noblepair.It beginswith "Diebraunen Frauen daselbst/ Auf seidnenBoden." adjective"seidnen" hereusedin The is the plural and is thus grammaticallyaligned with "Frauen" rather than "Boden." it would not exactlymakesenseto exchangethe adjectivesand But

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is to say:"DieseidnenFrauen daselbst braunem auf Boden." exchange not The of origin.The "daselbst" functionsas thereis no identifiable reversible; point chiasmicexchangethat neverfully the eccentricpivot for an asymmetrically Bothsidesareimperfectly drawn nevercomesto rest.36 lines up andtherefore nor into the otherso that both can neitherbe separated unified.Aroundthe of as identity,the Selbigkeit, the "daselbst," the emptyheartof disempowered the chiasm,the verseskeepinsistingon the plural. We find a similar structure in: "Und iber langsamen Stegen, / Von Lifte ziehen."Here,the converse goldenenTriumenschwer,/ Einwiegende moves in a round. explicitlyengagesmore than two terms.The "Gesprich" andheavyat the sametime, it is a slow danceoverthe abysswheredeep Light One is tempted to correct down the riverrages:"Uber langsamenStegen"? this peculiarexpressioninto "iber einwiegendenStegen,"and this sets the dance in motion: "vongoldenen Triumen schwer, Lffte ziehen langsam, langsam einwiegende Stege, Triume ziehen schwer, schwer einwiegende Lffte ziehenlangsamStege,wiegen ein in goldeneTriume,triumen goldene
Stege ..."

Wouldthis be a "Gesprich,"das des "Herzens Meinung?" sagt

Notes The phrase "a reading of love" is borrowed from Werner Hamacher,Plein and UP, roma-Reading Hegel,trans.NicholasWalker SimonJarvis(Stanford 1998) der Werner 89. Original: "eine Lektfire Liebe." "Pleroma zu Genesisund Hamacher, bei in Struktur einerdialektischen Hermeneutik Hegel," G.W.F. Geistdes Hegel,"Der Christentums": ed. WernerHamacher(Frankfurt/M: Ullstein, Schriften 1796-1800, a that seeksto keepgoinga 1978) 105.He uses the phraseto describe modeof reading movementof multipledifferences within the unity of the text. 2 Text fromFriedrich die zu Halderlin, Bevestigter Gesang: neu entdeckende hymnische his Spi1tdichtung 1806,ed. DietrichUffhausen(Stuttgart:Metzler, 1989) 164f. The exact date of the poem's compositionis uncertain.Uffhausenassumes 1805 (BG dates it spring1803between "Patmos" "DerIster," Friedrich and see 261ff.). BeiiSner vols. Samtliche Werke, Halderlin, StuttgarterAusgabe, 1-5, ed. Friedrich Grof3e Beiflner, vol. 6-7 ed. AdolfBeck(Stuttgart:Kohlhammer, Cotta, 1943-1977)2,2,800.Sattler datesit fall1804in the vicinityof "Germanien," "Der and "Tinian," Ister, "DerAdler," "DieSchlange" see Werke, ("Mnemosyne"); Friedrich Frankfurter Hl61derlin, Siimtliche ed. Ausgabe, D.H. Sattler(Frankfurt/M.: VerlagRoterStern,1975) 15,11f. and Poems Fragments (London: Penguin,1994) 251-53. Other transla3 Selected tions:VernonChadwickin AnselmHaverkamp, Leaves Mourning: Hdlderlin's Later of Work in SUNYP, 1996)58-59; TaylorCarman DieterHenrich,TheCourse (Albany: of Remembrance Other and on ed. Stanford Essays Hilderlin, Eckart Firster(Stanford: UP, and Princeton 1984) 1997)253-55;Richard Sieburth, (Princeton: UP, Hymns Fragments 106-09.
1

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zu 4Heidegger,"Andenken," Dichtung(Frankfurt/M: Erliduterungen Hi'lderlins Klostermann, 1981)84. Werke, Grof3e 2, 5Sidmtliche Stuttgarter Ausgabe 2, 802. 6DieterHenrich, Gang Der desAndenkens Klett-Cotta, 1986),especially (Stuttgart: chapterII. 9. 7 Eberhard Das wird BlaueEule,1997) 17. Baumann, Geheimnis Licht(Essen: 8 "Mancher" meanboth "many" "some." can and Chadwick translates: "Some are / reluctantto go to the source." in see 9About the rarityof the north-easterly the regionof Bordeaux, Baumann 17-18. 10Baumannextendsthe cryptonymto D.S.G. (Dieschdne Garonne). 1 While I focus hereon the turn and the inversemovementbecauseit is usually the and as overlooked, poemevokesboth directions perspectives partof its attemptto realizemutuality(fromthe north-eastto the south-westandfromthe south-westto the north-east, fromSusetteto Friedrich fromFriedrich Susette,fromauthorto and to to reader fromreader author). and 12 EricSantner,in his piece "Sober Halderlin's Recollections: De-idealizations of Review 60.1 [1985]:16-22), affirmsthe non-adver(Germanic Memoryin 'Andenken'" sative but ratheradditiveuse of the conjunction"aber" liberating as a sign of as and Halderlin's new, morerelaxedstyle, see esp. 19. 13 Heidegger 151: "DieseFugedes wanderndenHeimischwerdens Eigenenist im dichterischgefigt in das aber, das dem Gedicht den verborgenenTon gibt ... ist 'Andenken' eineeinzigein sichgefigte Fugedesaber." Heidegger, despitetheseemof offersno interpretation the use of "aber." remarks, phatic 14 breaksaway fromhis idealizationof a Santnerarguesthat the later Hblderlin towardembracing mutualityof "Gesprach": the poem the "In monological"Gesang," and if Andenken poetexplores seemsto discover, onlyverybriefly,a positiveaspect the of such a disintoxication,the possibilityof survivaland perhapseven fulfillment, within the immanenceof Gespritch" (21). in I do not want to argueherethat all uses of "aber" this poemshouldbe readas 151 adversative. automaticrepetitionof the same"aber" The bringsto the forethat generof alizing the procedure reversal(what we usuallyidentifywith Hegeliandialectic) resultsin its erosion.But I think that this poem moves beyondstagingthe general local,andprotemrn impotenceof the pivot towarda call for individual, reading.I agree are herewith showing that some "aber"s betterreadas additive.But I am concerned can that the dialecticreversal be usedin less facileand moreinterestingways than it commonlyis, and that-especially if we resistits resolutionin some highersynthesis-it can enablemutuality. formand published in underthe title "DieLiebe" by first 16Preserved fragmentary I Nohl and now in Werke (Frankfurt/M: 1986)244-50. Suhrkamp, Art. and ed. Letters Hilderlin Related to Recalcitrant Diotima's 17 See The Missives, and SUNYP,2000)22. trans.DouglasF.Kenney Sabine and Menner-Bettscheid (Albany: 18 Felix G.W.F. Geistes Hegel,Phiinomenologiedes (Hamburg: Meiner,1988)128-29. 19In his letterfromJune30, 1802,informing of Hblderlin Gontard's death,Sinclair triesto remind that shesurvives death:"DuglaubtestanUnsterblichkeit, sie him her da nochlebte,Du wirstgewif5 (sic!)mehrdennvorher itzt glauben... Undwas ist grafjer und edler,als ein Herz,das seineWelt iberlebt" (StA7,1,170).

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20Baumann 38.

21SeePhinomenologie 131. 22 See Heidegger der 118: "Zwarist der Dichter in das Erfreuende Schattender heimischenWildergekommen." 24 See Ovid,Metamorphoses, trans.FrankJustusMiller(Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1984)9-11: "And, men,contentwith foodwhichcamefromno one'sseeking, gathered tree ... acornsfallenfromthe spreading ofJove.... andyellowhoneywas distilledfrom Ovid's"The Four is He the verdantoak." Ages" animportanttext forHalderlin. evokes vor of Ovid'sdescription the goldenage, for example,in "Emilie ihremBrauttag" (v includesanotherreferenceto "TheFourAges"in the fourth 117-23). "Andenken" unter/ Dem entlaubtenMast"evokesthe brastanza:"Zuwohnen einsam,jahrlang, zen agein which"Men... spread to thewinds,thoughthe sailor yet scarce sails as knew had now them;andkeelsof pinewhich earlier stooduponhighmountain-sides, leaped Mast,"H6lderlin insolentlyoverunknownwaves"(11).With the phrase"entlaubten drawsattentionto the factthatthe masthasa history,thatit was oncealivingtree. 25Hblderlin, "Wiewenn am Feiertage ..." 25 In "Die anti-French oak Eichbiume," H81derlin, mobilizing sentiments,describes trees as Titanswho refuseto subjectthemselvesto the cultivatedgardenof society Hblderlin wenn uses the Semelemyth in the sixth stanzaof "Wie Leben"). ("gesellige am Feiertage...." Semele,the mortalmotherof Dionysos,askedherloverZeusto show to his trueshape.Whenhe appeared heras the godof thunder,shewas struckby lightning and died. 26H6lderlin the word "Scheue" while Hegelopts for"Scham." uses Hegeloften prefers the morecarnalterm to the moreetherealconnotationHblderlin chooses. 27 "Dariberhinschauen" carriesa similarambiguityas "to overlook" English in both "tosurvey" "tofail to notice." and meaning I 28G.W.F. Werke (Frankfurt/M: Hegel,"DieLiebe," 1986)247. Suhrkamp, 29 I am not as confident as Hamacher that we can neatly distinguishbetween to Hegel'sintention(whichis supposedly identifyshameas workingin the serviceof Hamacher as undermining sees forunity) andhis presentation(Darstellung-which mer intention).It is the presentation that counts, also and especiallyfor Hegel. 30See Hamacher 104-05. 31 Inthe samefragment, its Hegelcallsthisidentityof lovethat preserves difference as which is within, a "vollendete Einigkeit" opposedto the "unentwickelte Einigkeit" becauseit only the seedof life but not life itself.The unity of love is matureprecisely eines preservesdifferencebetween the lovers while eliminating "allenCharakter Fremden." That love does not kill othernessin favorof an abstractidentityis of foremost importance Hegelalreadyin the earlywritings. to 32 Haverkamp, "Secluded in Laurel-Andenken," pairsthe fig treewith the laurel, the figurethatis forgottenandexcluded fromthisremembrance. tracesa rhetorical He traditionfromthe New Testamentthrough to that AugustineandPetrarch Hblderlin uses the fig treeas a figurefor conversion. 33 Beifnernotes:"In derObersetzung denBacchantinnen Euripides aus des steht er for saekon (Heiligtum),verwechseltmit sykon (Feige)" (derFeigenbaum) (StA 2,2, 803).

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34 the figureof conversion(seeHaverkamp), fig treealso figuresthe vacillaAs the tion andanxietyinvolvedin sucha turning,aswell as the brave cowardice that is open to and enduresthis fear. 35If some haveinterpreted scenethat is depicted the firstandsecondstanzas the in I of the poem as paradisiacal,would addthat this paradise knows the fig leaf, knows afterhumanshaveeatenfromthe shame,andknowsdeathornegativity.It is Paradise Thesestanzas,thus,workagainstthe separation knowledgeand treeof knowledge. of love. 36 Whilein the proseformof this phrase word"daselbst" the standsin the middlebetween the two terms"diebraunen and the Frauen" "aufseidnenBoden," layoutof the to betweenthe parallel structures poeminvitesthe reader drawthe chiasmic exchange braunen Frauen seidnen and Boden with "daselbst" off centerin the upperright standing cornerof this imaginary X.