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Article: The question of influence: Holderlin's dealings with Schiller and Pindar.
- Article from:
- The Modern Language Review
- Article date:
- October 1, 2000
- Author:
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Holderlin is remarkable for having identified his main literary influences very early on in his writing career. They are named in one of his first poems, 'Mein Vorsaz', written when he was about seventeen: 'Ists schwacher Schwung nach Pindars Flug? Ists | Kampfendes Streben nach Klopstoksgrosse?' (1, 28). (1) In a poem that betrays Klopstock's influence in its form, and Pindar's nowhere, these lines apparently acknowledge that Klopstock's 'Grosse' is more attainable, and nearer attainment, than the 'soar' of Pindar, to which even aspiration is hopeless from the start ('schwacher Schwung'). The word 'kampfendes', on the other hand, suggests a degree of engagement, of ...