The origin of a work of art Hölderlin and the essence of poetry

pp. 403-417

in: William Richardson, Heidegger, The Hague, Nijhoff, 1963

Abstract

Let us return now to 1935 and resume the chronological method, in order to watch Heidegger as he moves step by step toward a delineation of foundational thought. We must be patient with provisional obscurities, content if only we can comprehend the whole. EM was delivered as a course for the university students from May to July, and in November Heidegger delivered in Freiburg a lecture which, after having been expanded into three lectures during the following year, comes to us as "The Origin of a Work of Art."¹ During the course of that year (April), "Hölderlin and the Essence of Poetry"² was delivered in Rome. Contemporary and complementary, the two texts should be thought together.