{"id":63,"date":"2023-04-21T23:56:11","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T23:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/german-environments\/?p=63"},"modified":"2023-04-21T23:56:11","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T23:56:11","slug":"da-ich-ein-knabe-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/german-environments\/2023\/04\/21\/da-ich-ein-knabe-war\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Da ich ein Knabe war&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FRIEDRICH H\u00d6LDERLIN - DA ICH EIN KNABE WAR\" width=\"584\" height=\"329\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PW2ebppV7cw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cDa ich ein knabe war\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(When I was a boy)<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">is a poem written by Friedrich H\u00f6lderlin, a German romantic poet who lived from 1770 to 1843. Much of Friedrich H\u00f6lderlin\u2019s works center on Greek mythology and syntax, going beyond an appreciation of the Classics, Friedrich is often thought to have truly believed in these Gods, intertwining them with the strict Lutheran beliefs that he was raised upon. Later in life, H\u00f6lderin would experience intense physical and mental illness that drove him to insanity. His work was very influential in the field of philosophy, referenced by thinkers like Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWhen I was a boy\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">was one of H\u00f6lderlin\u2019s early works, and follows a more structured form of writing compared to his later works later in life. The poem is a recollection of his childhood, as well as a celebration of the Greek Gods, who he found in every part of nature. He describes these fond memories with different facets of nature; the trees, plants, flowers, the moon, and the sky as moments of teaching by the Gods and an attempt to reach out to him. He relishes in the beauty of the natural environment around him and shares his love for the Gods he associates with it. H\u00f6lderlin reminisces on the sights and sounds of nature that he claimed to have raised him, completing the poem with the line \u201cI grew up in the arms of gods\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">H\u00f6lderin created his works during the German Romantic period, the post-Enlightenment era that focused heavily upon the celebration of the natural world and its connection to God. While most Romantic artists center upon a Christian God or make light reference to classical mythology, H\u00f6lderlin explicitly connected the Greek Gods of nature to his environment. Consistent with the Romantic ideals of the time, H\u00f6lderlin deeply emphasizes the beauty of his environment, using divine language and describing it as a teacher to mankind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This historical perspective on nature was a major development in German history and culture. Poems that celebrate the forest as a spiritual place made room for its deeper appreciation as a place of beauty and the unknown. Giving meaning to the forest beyond being a material resource encouraged people to protect and respect it.\u00a0 Poetry like H\u00f6lderlin\u2019s can convey a vivid experience of nature as one would encounter it, something a scientific or material perspective could not offer. This poem gives modern readers a window into the passion and admiration Romantic thinkers had for their forests and the world around them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Works Cited<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cFriedrich H\u00f6lderlin &#8211; New World Encyclopedia.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Newworldencyclopedia.org<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, 2017, www.newworldencyclopedia.org\/entry\/Friedrich_H%C3%B6lderlin. Accessed 21 Apr. 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">New York Council on the Arts. \u201cNine Poems, by Friedrich H\u00f6lderlin\u00a0 |\u00a0 Conjunctions \u2014 the Forum for Innovative Writing.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Www.conjunctions.com<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, www.conjunctions.com\/online\/article\/friedrich-holderlin-05-31-2005. Accessed 21 Apr. 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Poetry Foundation. \u201cPoetry Foundation.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Poetry Foundation<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, 2009, www.poetryfoundation.org\/poets\/friedrich-holderlin.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cDa ich ein knabe war\u201d (When I was a boy) is a poem written by Friedrich H\u00f6lderlin, a German romantic poet who lived from 1770 to 1843. Much of Friedrich H\u00f6lderlin\u2019s works center on Greek mythology and syntax, going beyond &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/german-environments\/2023\/04\/21\/da-ich-ein-knabe-war\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5217,"featured_media":64,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-and-environment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/german-environments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/german-environments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/german-environments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/german-environments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/german-environments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/german-environments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/german-environments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/german-environments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/german-environments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/german-environments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}