Whereunto the poet?

pp. 527-529

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

Abstract

As for the Rilke study contained in the essay "Whereunto the Poet?" (1946), composed to help commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the poet's death, we have seen already the essential: Rilke fell prey to Nietzsche's metaphysical nihilism but comprehended that it was to be overcome somehow through the authentic use of language.¹ The present general remarks may be brief.