mich hin, da fiel mir ein, ich wolle nach vollendeten Universitäts
Jahren Einsiedler werden--und der Gedanke gefiel mir so wohl, eine
ganze Stunde, glaub' ich, war ich in meiner Fantasie Einsiedler."[22]
And although he never became a hermit, this is the final disposition
which he makes of himself in his "Hyperion."

These habits of thought and feeling, formed in boyhood, could lead to
only one result. He became less and less qualified to comprehend and to
grapple with the practical problems and difficulties of life, and
entered young manhood and the struggle for existence at a tremendous
disadvantage.

Another trait of his character which served to intensify his subsequent
disappointments, was the strong ambition which early filled his soul. He
aspired to high achievements in his chosen field of art. In a letter to
Louise Nast, written probably about the beginning of 1790, he makes the
confession: "Der unüberwindliche Trübsinn in mir ist wohl nicht ganz,
doch meist--unbefriedigter Ehrgeiz."[23] The mere lad of seventeen had
scarcely learned to admire Klopstock, when he speaks of his own
"kämpfendes Streben nach Klopstocksgrösse," and exclaims: "Hinan den
herrlichen Ehrenpfad! Hinan! im glühenden kühnen Traum, sie zu
erreichen!"[24] It is remarkable to note how this fancy of a dream-life
becomes fixed in Hölderlin's mind and reappears in almost every poem.
Closely allied to this idea is that of a "glückliche Trunkenheit," and
expressions like "wie ein Göttertraum das Alter schwand,"
"liebetrunken," "Wie ein Traum entfliehen Ewigkeiten," "siegestrunken,"
"süsse, kühne Trunkenheit," "trunken dämmert die Seele mir," can be
found on almost every page of his shorter poems. Hyperion expresses
himself on one occasion in the words: "O ein Gott ist der Mensch, wenn
er träumt, ein Bettler, wenn er nachdenkt, und wenn die Begeisterung hin