“None of the Living Was Closed from His Soul”: A Translation of, and Commentary on, Hölderlin’s Poem “To My Venerable Grandmother. On Her 72nd Birthday”

Amidst Hölderlin’s many well-known odes, elegies, and hymns, it is perhaps not surprising that Hölderlin’s occasional poem “To my Venerable Grandmother. On her 72nd Birthday” (Meiner verehrungswürdigen Grosmutter. Zu ihrem 72sten Geburtstag) has been translated into English only once and in an obscure self-published edition. Yet the poem is rich in Hölderlin’s distinctive diction and syntax, it reveals much about Hölderlin’s aspirations for himself, and it contains one of his deepest sets of reflections on Christ. Still, the poem is often overlooked. But once one reflects on its content, with its multiple attempts to name Christ, including his friendship to the earth and his knowing no strangers, one can readily see why Pope Francis elevated this poem as one of his favorite literary works. This publication presents the first accessible translation of the poem (I), after which I offer some commentary on its form, individual lines, and the translation (II). I then turn to the period of his writing the poem (III). I conclude with a few additional thoughts on Hölderlin and religion (IV).