Mörikes heimliche Modernität

In essays and interpretations of individual works, Ulrich Hötzer sets out to define what it is that makes Eduard Mörike's (1804-1875) works so unmistakably his own. In his quest for fundamental characteristic features, Hötzer concludes that it is the 'depth of the moment' that can be defined as a recurrent formative element in Mörike's poetry. Like sunrays gathered by a lens to a point of searing intensity, this depth of the moment distils the quintessence of the experience and response informing the respective poem. The author sees the structure of time and awareness embodied in this as an indication of Mörike's modernity. Ulrich Hötzer did not live to see this volume published but it minutely respects the layout he had in mind: Mörike's formal mastery - individual works interpreted - Mörike's Hellenism. In a far-flung context ranging from classical antiquity to the present, Mörike stands revealed both as a descendant of Horace and a contemporary of Baudelaire.