Buddhist Romanticism

Although there was some appreciation of Hölderlin’s writings during
the 19th century—Nietzsche, for one, was an avid admirer of Hyperion—
only in the early 20th century were his collected poems published. Many
poets at the time, including Rilke and Celan, were struck by the originality
of Hölderlin’s language and imagery, and came to regard him as one of
their own: a Symbolist, an Imagist, even a Surrealist well before his time.
Since then, his reputation as a poet has continued to grow to the point
where many poets and critics regard him as one of the premier poets that
Europe has produced.
His philosophical writings did not come to light until the mid-20th
century, so only recently have scholars begun to appreciate him as a
Romantic philosopher as well as a poet.
Because of the renewed interest in Hölderlin’s writings, there have been
many efforts at posthumous psychoanalysis to diagnose his final
breakdown. The more common verdicts include schizoid psychosis,
catatonic stupor, and bipolar exhaustion. However, what is perhaps the
most perceptive diagnosis was a comment that Zimmer once made about
Hölderlin’s condition to a friend: “The too-much in him cracked his mind.”
He died of pulmonary congestion in 1843.
Friedrich Schelling (1775–1854)
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, the son
of Pietist parents, was born in Württemberg
not far from Hölderlin’s birthplace. In fact,
the two first became friends at an early age
when both were in Latin school, where
Hölderlin protected the young Schelling
from bullies.
A very precocious child, Schelling was
admitted to the Tübingen seminary at the age
of 16, four years short of the normal age of
enrollment. There, as noted above, he
roomed with Hölderlin and Hegel, both of
whom sparked his interest in revolutionary politics and philosophy. In
1794, at the age of 19, he published his first book on philosophy, before
completing his theological degree in 1795.
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