Friedrich Schiller, An die Freude [Ode to Joy]

Karl J. Fink (Saint Olaf College)

Ed. by Herbert Rowland, Purdue University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1786

Places

Germany (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poem

Resources

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In his medical dissertation (1780) Schiller examined the way animal and spiritual sentiments function in the human body. In his storm and stress ode “To Joy” (1785), these feelings of anger and outrage are subdued by the joy of friendship in common cause against state organized tyranny. In later writings on “The Aesthetic Education of Man” (1795) he set out pragmatic rules to reform civic engagement with artistic skills that those after him institutionalized in theatre and music, in courts and schools, in political protests and rallies, all with the same focus to manage anger and rage in the art of living. The legacy of Schiller is the craft to free animal sentiments trapped in the body politic.

In Schiller’s poem, we see the joy of friendship in the opening lines, “Joy, thou

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4391 words

Citation: Fink, Karl J.. "An die Freude". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 April 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=40523, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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