Novalis (author)

Hello everyone. This is Masashi Shimura from Atelier Shimura.

In this week's reading, continuing from last time, we will be talking about The Blue Flowers (Heinrich von Ofterdingen, 1802), the masterpiece by Novalis, a poet who represents early German Romanticism at the end of the 18th century.

*Heinrich von Ofterdingen is the name of a poet who appears in the legend of the Wartburg Song Battle.

The Blue Flower by Novalis
Publisher: Iwanami Shoten, published in 1989

This unfinished novel, left behind by Novalis, who died at the young age of 28, can be considered the culmination of his literary and philosophical work. In an era dominated by rationalist Enlightenment thought, the work is tinged with the romantic impulse to use poetic imagination to reunite the worlds that had been divided into dualistic divisions since the modern era, such as mind and nature, finite and infinite.

Today, we will analyze the story's overall structure, its symbolic meaning, and the world of "magical idealism" that Novalis aimed for.

1. The Structure of "Expectation": A Journey Inward and a Longing for Infinity

The story is divided into two parts: Part 1, "Expectation," and the unfinished second part, "Realization."

The first part depicts the "trajectory of growth" of the protagonist Heinrich, who awakens as a poet through his journey and shapes his own identity.

The symbolism of the blue flower

The story begins with a mysterious dream that 20-year-old Heinrich has. The "blue flower" that appears in his dream is not just a plant. It symbolizes something beyond our reach, or our longing for something infinite.

In his dialogue with his father, it is suggested that the flower is a passageway to a "higher being" that lies behind the material world.

For Novalis, blue was a special color that represented spirituality, the heavens, and the inner world. This is also the underlying spirituality of the Japanese indigo that we at Atelier Shimura handle.

Poetry as a universal language

Heinrich leaves his hometown of Eisenach and travels to Augsburg, where his maternal grandfather lives. It is during this journey that he comes to understand the essence of poetry.

Along the way, the legend of the ancient Greek poet Arion and the tales of the Crusader knights are told. The episode in Chapter 4, "The Song of the Saracen Maiden," is particularly important. Through song, Novalis shows that even pagans who are enemies are the same human beings who yearn for their homeland and grieve the loss of loved ones. Here, Novalis highlights the universal power of poetry to transcend religious and cultural barriers and communicate fundamental human emotions.

Mines and Correspondence

In Chapter 5, the group visits a mine, which reflects the knowledge of Novalis, who studied natural sciences at the Freiberg School of Mining and served as a mine inspector.

In the modern rationalist mind, nature tends to be seen as an object for resource extraction and economic gain. However, for the Romantics, nature is a "living organism" full of vitality and mystery. Proceeding through dark, intricate mine tunnels is not simply a matter of extracting minerals, but a metaphor for a journey into the human unconscious and deep psyche.

"Exploring the inner world of human beings is equivalent to exploring the inner world of the universe." The relationship in which the vast organism of nature and the inner world of human beings resonate with each other is called "correspondence."

2. From "Poet" to "Magician": The Development of Magical Idealism

Upon arriving in Augsburg, Heinrich met the poet Klingsor (who is said to have idealized Goethe), and in their conversation he developed a fascinating theory of poetry, stating that "poetry is not a mere outpouring of emotion, but a rigorous technique backed by cold reason and knowledge."

The view of language discussed here was original and overturned the common sense of the time. Let me explain in a little more detail.

We usually tend to think of words as "tools to point to reality." For example, the word "apple" is used to describe the red fruit in front of us. This is the idea that words are merely "copies" or "shadows" of reality. However, Novalis was different. He defined words as "a microcosm of signs and sounds."

What I mean is that he viewed words in the same way as "mathematics" or "music." Just as mathematicians use mathematical formulas to express the truth of the universe, or musicians create moving worlds by simply combining sounds, he believed that words, too, had the power to construct new worlds not by imitating reality, but by their own sounds, rhythms, and laws.

This way of thinking offers great possibilities for us humans. If poetry were a "technology for capturing reality," then poets would be limited to a select few. But what if words themselves contained the creative magic to create new worlds? We are all born with "language." In other words, every human being who speaks language already possesses within them the magic wand with which they can create new worlds.

This is the basis for the idea that "everyone is potentially a poet." It is not just special people who are poets. Each of us must awaken to the power of words that lies dormant within us, and use that power to reconstruct (romanticize) our seemingly boring everyday lives and the world into something lively. This is the gateway to the "magical idealism" that Novalis aimed for.

Unfinished Part 2: Realization

In the second part, it is foreshadowed that Heinrich will transform from a "poet" into a higher being, a "magician."

While a poet is someone who intuits and expresses the meaning of the world, a magician is someone who actively reshapes and transforms the world itself through their inner will.

In a conversation with the hermit Sylvester, Heinrich asks:

"But when will fear, pain, poverty and evil have no place in the universe?"

Sylvester responds:

"There is only one power—the power of conscience"

Novalis was influenced by the philosopher Hemsterhuys's concept of the "moral organ." He believed that the "conscience" inherent in humans is directly connected to the harmonious order of the universe and is the fundamental power (the source of magic) that can save and transform the world.

3. Klingsor's Fairy Tale: Creation from Chaos

The climax of the first part, Chapter 9, contains a lengthy story known as the "Klingsor Märchen." For Novalis, fairy tales were not simply fantasy but a "canon of poetry," a higher form that transcended reason and expressed the entire human spirit.

In his General Draft he states:

"The fairy tale is, so to speak, the canon of poetry - everything poetic must be fairy tale-like."

"In a true fairy tale, everything must be mysterious—mysterious, unrelated—everything must be alive. Everything must appear in a different way. ... The world of fairy tales is a world in complete opposition to the world of truth (history)—and for this very reason it resembles it exactly—just as chaos resembles completed creation."

"Chaos" here does not mean disorder, but rather "the source of creation containing all possibilities" that existed before all things were born.

Regenerating the world and rewriting destiny

In this fairy tale, the world is ruled by the "scribe," a symbol of rational intellect, and is devoid of vitality, but is saved by "poetry (Faber)" and "love (Eros)."

In the story, the "Mother (Heart)" is captured by a group of scribes and burned at the stake (symbolizing the suppression of emotion by rationalism, but she is later reborn from the ashes).

The key to saving the world lies in his daughter Faber (poetry). She descends into the underworld to converse with the three goddesses of fate (the Moirai). Faber uses a tarantula (a symbol of passion) to make the goddesses dance, intervening in the process of spinning the thread of fate. This is a metaphor for the act of rewriting fate by weaving poetic freedom (the weft) into the deterministic warp of fate.

Ultimately, thanks to the efforts of Faber (poetry) and Eros (love), the scribe is banished, heavenly wisdom (Sophie) returns, and "eternal spring (golden age)" descends upon the world.

Conclusion

Through "The Blue Flower," Novalis preached about the power of "poetry" and "conscience" that we humans possess.

Rather than viewing the world as merely material or economic objects, we should "romanticize" it and transform it with our inner imagination and love. Perhaps the question this unfinished story asks of us today is the possibility of such a creative way of life.

Next time we will bring you the second part of "Blue Flowers." Thank you for watching.

This is a reading guide by Shimura Masashi (CEO of Atelier Shimura).
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