Melancholie des Abends
The melancholic evening fog | Flickr – Photo Sharing! www.flickr.com
-Der Wald, der sich verstorben breitet –
Und Schatten sind um ihn, wie Hecken.
Das Wild kommt zittern aus Verstecken,
Indes ein Bach ganz leise gleitet
Und Farnen folgt un altne Steinen
Und silbern glänzt aus Laubgewinden.
Man hört inh bald in schwarzen Schlünden –
Vielleicht, dass auch schon Sterne scheinen.
Der dunkel Plan scheint ohne Massen,
Verstreute Dörfer, Sumpf und Weiher,
Und etwas täuscht dir vor ein Feuer.
Ein kalter Glanz huscht über Strassen.
Am Himmel ahnet man Bewegung,
Ein Heer von wilden Vögeln wandern
Nach jenen Ländern, schönen, andern.
Es steigt un sinkt des Rohres Regung.
Georg Trakl
From Autumn Sonata Selected Poems of Georg Trakl
English Versions by Daniel Simko
Introduction by Carolyn Forche’
English:
Evening Melancholy
– The dead forest widens –
And shadows enclose it, like hedges.
Deer come trembling from its refuge
While a stream flows gently on
And follows ferns and ageless stones,
Shimmering silver from the twisted foliage.
One begins to hear it in black gorges –
Perhaps the stars are already shining.
The dark plains seem endless.
Scattered villages, marsh and pond,
And something seems to imitate a fire.
A cold radiance flutters over the streets.
One senses motion in the heavens.
A multitude of wild birds migrate
To these distant, other lovely lands.
The stirring reed rise and fall.
Georg Trakl vor 100 Jahren gestorben literatenwelt.blog.de
Georg Trakl (3 February 1887 – 3 November 1914) was an Austrian poet and brother of the pianist Grete Trakl. He is considered one of the most important Austrian Expressionists.[1]
Some years ago I stumbled upon his poem Der Krieg, (War) and was just blown-away by it… I thought to myself, “who is this guy?” Well, I found this book of his poems just the other day – and it’s great; but it doesn’t have Der Krieg in it. No matter. It has shorted poems of his and two prose poems. I haven’t read them all, but will, and when I find great ones you’ll see them too. 2014 marked the 100th year since his death by suicide on the eastern front of WW I where he was serving in the German Army in the medical corps.
Der Krieg? I have plans for that one…
Alan Olee Book Report 