Even though the final version of the poem calls the heavenly bodies the “ancients,” this did not eliminate their designation as “the poetic ones.” For the verses that follow (lines 29-42) begin by expressly naming the most supreme of the celestial bodies, “the day’s sun,” the “all transfiguring” sun – and line 38 calls it “the poetizing one.” The sun bestows a clarity that allows all things to shine forth in their uniqueness and gives to mortals their measure.
And yet, the poem “The Archipelago” expresses itself in more meaningful and complete a manner than a set of inevitably fragmented notes ever could.
Meanwhile, a question imposes itself. Don’t the passages, certified by the poet’s own hand and preceding the final version of this poem, diminish or entirely do away with any doubts surrounding the authenticity of the words “In lovely blueness blooms” (employed by Hölderlin in a prose text) from which the line “full of merit, yet poetically, man dwells on this earth” was taken? Even if this were true, the distinction mentioned above between “the ancient” versus “the poetic” would still remain.
According to “The Archipelago”, the heavenly bodies “dwell poetically,” with the sun being, as the most supreme of heavenly bodies, “the poetizing one.” The designation “poetic” thus goes with “heaven’s own.” According to the later prose text, “poetic dwelling” goes with the mortals “on this earth.”
According to “The Archipelago,” the heavenly ones were inclined to impart to those on earth their measure. According to the prose text, mortals concede the imparting of their measure to the heavenly. “Imparting their measure in equal ways?” we may ask, ere we pause and hear the text’s own question: “Is there a measure on earth?”, and have to immediately ponder the text’s own answer: “There is none.”
The poetized ones on earth are only the measure-takers of a heavenly gift of measure. Poetized mortals always only bestow meaning by building on something they themselves already received. For Hölderlin, the making of poetry is not a creative power that resides in the individual poet. Rather, it is a measured building (Bauen) the heavenly ones employ, to the full extent of their power, with works of Saying being the result of such building. In this way a region is kept open for mortals to sojourn within it.5
5. Heidegger writes “the region” (die Gegend) instead of “a region.” The latter is used here because he is referring to a kind of region or regioning, not a specific locality or place. Also, like sections 7 and 10, the present paragraph uses ‘poetize(d)’ to designate ‘dichten(d)’, the verb (and adjectival form of) ‘to make poetry’. Cf. Aurenque’s essay above, n. 8.