From Heidegger, we can extract the metaphysical importance of the poet and the singer, mortals who can “reach into the abyss” and “sense the trace of the fugitive gods.” It is the artists who can show “their kindred mortals the way toward the turning.” In his essay “What Are Poets For?” Heidegger says we “must learn to listen to what these poets say,” because they “are on the way to the destiny of the world’s age.” The poets and the singers (terms he used more metaphorically than literally) represent the very salvation of the human soul.

p. xxi

¶ 3:30 PM