Die ‚selbstgeschlagene Wunde‘

Semele-Gleichnis und Unvollendetheit in Hölderlins Feiertagshymne

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Hölderlin’s unfinished poem Wie wenn am Feiertage … describes the poet’s tasks by the means of parables. One of them is the Semele-parable which connects the poet with Semele, who was struck by a divine lightning and gave birth to Bacchus. At the same time, the poet is also compared with Bacchus, who brought wine to the human beings. There are differences between these two parables: Semele is the subject of birth and did not survive it, while Bacchus is the object of birth and survived it. However these two parables are combined by the adverb “daher” (therefore) within the same logical framework. The adverb “daher” functions as a tool expressing the equalization of subject and object, which is an important motif for Hölderlin, as well as a tool describing the poet’s task to create works (Semele) and hand them over to the reader (Bacchus). The Semele-parable is a ’self-inflicted wound‘ for the poet because it describes the self-sacrifice showing a hubristic wish to get an inspiration. However, the Semele-parable also stresses the importance for the poet to sacrifice herself/himself in order to create a poem. Therefore the problem arises whether the self-sacrifice of poet is to be described as being positive or negative. In here lies the reason why Wie wenn am Feiertage … could not be finished. Therefore the Semele-parable made this poem uncompleted.