SOURCE: Guthrie, John. “Poetry 1838-1845.” In Annette von Droste-Hülshoff: A German Poet Between Romanticism and Realism, pp. 44-76. Oxford: Berg, 1989.

In the following essay, Guthrie gives a chronological review of a prolific period in Droste-Hülshoff's writing, depicting her development thematically and stylistically. Guthrie downplays any early feminist leanings or awareness in the poet's work.

Münster 1838-1840

The encouragement which came from various quarters in the two years after the appearance of her first volume of poetry—encouragement from Schlüter, from members of the literary circle in Münster—did not produce great results. These couple of years (until the winter of 1839 when she started working on the Geistliches Jahr again) are characterised by a notable amount of indecision on Droste-Hülshoff's part about what to write. She often wavered between prose and poetry, getting down to neither.

As far as poetry is concerned, there...