Abstract
This paper analyses Nietzsche’s Dionysus-Dithyramb “Letzter Wille” with regard to characteristics of the genre “hymn”, of which the dithyramb can be considered a subgenre. The analysis considers two main concepts: gestures of speech and Freie Rhythmen (free rhythms). Gestures of speech as found in hymns could not be identified in the poem. Instead, the paper proposes that the attribution Freie Rhythmen (free rhythms) serves to characterize the poem. The metrical analysis is based on conceptualizations of Moennighoff and Schulz (2007MOENNIGHOFF, Burkhard; SCHULZ, Georg-Michael. “Freie Rhythmen”. In: BURDORF, D.; FASBENDER, C.; MOENNIGHOFF, B. (Hrsg.) Metzler Lexikon Literatur. Stuttgart; Weimar: Metzler , 2007, 253.) and Bunia (2014BUNIA, Remigius. Metrik und Kulturpolitik. Berlin: Ripperger & Kremers, 2014.) and discusses features attributed to the genre “hymn”. “Letzter Wille” is also observed in the context of Nietzsche’s other poems. Finally, the motifs of the Dionysian and of self-reflection in Nietzsche are briefly examined.
Keywords:
Dionysus-Dithyrambs; Free Rhythms (Freie Rhythmen); Hymn