Heidegger's aim in these essays is to reawaken the fundamental question "What is meant by Being?" The four essays included here are complementary and have an organic unity; two of them deal with the essence of metaphysics, the study of Being, and the other two with the essence of poetry, language used creatively. The introduction gives a brief outline of Heidegger's career and an ex- tensive analysis of his major work, Being and Time, and the four essays.