The lines of life are various,
Like roads, and the borders of mountains.
What we are here, a god can complete there,
With harmonies, eternal reward, and peace.
For Ernst Zimmer, a cabinet-maker who housed and looked after Hölderlin in Tübingen during the period of his mental estrangement from 1807-1843. Written in 1812, this short verse of healing and hope can serve as a final signature poem for Hölderlin’s life and writings.
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