Synopses & Reviews
This groundbreaking anthology will serve as the standard for years to come. Editor Michael Hofmann has assembled brilliant translations of the major German poets, from Rilke and Brecht to Durs Grunbein and Jan Wagner, in an approachable, readable, and endlessly interesting collection. Here we find poetry as a living counter-force to socio-political reality; poetry of dissent and fear and protest; poetry of private griefs and musics. From the subtlety and elegance of Brecht, to the extraordinary jargon-glooms of Gottfried Benn, to the oblique and straightforward responses to the country's villainous history, to the bitter, cleansed, and haunted poetry of the postwar years, the anthology ends with a reunified country looking at itself and its neighbors in new ways. This is an essential and timely collection of verse from a tumultuous, violent, tragic, and hopeful century, written in the language of those who were at the heart of the matter.
Review
"Michael Hofmann's eclectic and inspiring anthology is going to be a touchstone for readers like myself of European poets whose works, even though known to us only in translation, have formed an essential element of our contemporary sensibility. There is a special pleasure in finding among his choices translations that one has responded to intensely in comparison with others collected over the years--in my case, for example, J.B. Leishman's version of Rilke's 'Orpheus. Eurydice. Hermes.' And there's the fresh interest of discovering translations never before come across, of poems thought of as finally known. The German originals side-by-side are a stimulus to us, the lovers of words. Though one doesn't know the language, these are words whose mouthed cadence makes itself understood in enhancement of the English word and phrase. A wonderful source to return to, again and again." --Nadine Gordimer "Except for a few famous names, modern German poetry is sadly unknown to most Anglophone readers. Poet Michael Hoffman and his team of gifted poet/translators have done much to right the situation with this brilliant and amazing collection." --John Ashbery
"Michael Hofmann has a skeptical intelligence, an observant eye, a compulsion to speak the unspeakable, and the useful wariness of the displaced person." --Helen Vendler, The New York Review of Books
About the Author
The noted poet
Michael Hofmann has translated many German-language authors, among them Ernst Junger, Franz Kafka, Wolfgang Koeppen, and Joseph Roth.
Ashes for Breakfast, a translation of Durs Grunbein, was published by FSG in 2005. He lives in London.
Table of Contents
Christian Morgenstern (1871-1914)Night Song of the Fish
Introduction Else Lasker-Schuler (1869-1945)George GroszGeorge Grosz
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)HerbsttagAutumn Day
Spanische TanzerinThe Spanish Dancer
Blaue HortensieBlue Hydrangea
Vor dem SommerregenBefore Summer Rain
Orpheus. Eurydike. HermesOrpheus. Eurydice. Hermes
Der Konig von MunsterThe King of Munster
"Ausgesetzt auf den Bergen des Herzens""Exposed on the cliffs of the heart"
Die neunte ElegieThe Ninth Elegy
Sonette an Orpheus II, 4The Unicorn
Paul Klee (1879-1940)WasserWater
Ernst Stadler (1883-1914)Fahrt uber die Kolner Rheinbrucke bei BachtOn Crossing the Rhine Bridge at Cologne by Night
Gottfried Benn (1886-1956)aus
Morgue I, IIfrom Morgue I, II
NachtcafeNight Cafe
D-ZugExpress Train
ChopinChopin
Kleines sußes GesichtLittle Sweet Face
Gewisse LebensabendeThe Evenings of Certain Lives
FragmenteFragments
Blaue StundeBlue Hour
Teils-teilsPar ci, par la
Menchen getroffenPeople Met
Hor zuListen
Georg Heym (1887-1912)Die Damonen der StadteThe Demons of the Cities
Umbra VitaeUmbra Vitae
Die Tote im WasserThe Dead Girl in the Water
Der ModedichterPoet a la Mode
Jakob van Hoddis (1887-1942)WeltendeEnd of the World
Georg Trakl (1887-1914)Traum des BosenDream of Evil
De ProfundisDe Profundis
Die RattenThe Rats
LandschaftLandscape
KindheitChildhood
Psalm IIPsalm II
Im OstenEastern Front
GrodekGrodek
Hans Arp (1887-1966)Kaspar ist totKaspar is Dead
Kurt Schwitters (1887-1947)Die RaddadistenmaschineThe Dadarotator
"
Es ist Herbst""It is autumn"
Gesetztes Bilgedicht (Composed Picture Poem)
Franz Werfel (1890-1945)Der dicke Mann im SpiegelThe Fat Man in the Mirror
Nelly Sachs (1891-1970)"
O die Schornsteine""O the chimneys" "
Wer aber leerte den Sand aus euren Schuhen""But who emptied your shoes of sand"
Chor der GerettetenChorus of the Rescued "
Diese Kette von Ratseln""This chain of enigmas" "
Auch dir, du mein Geliebter""Two hands, born to give"
George Grosz (1893-1956)Apfelbock, oder die Lilie auf dem FeldeApfelbock, or the Lily of the Field
Vom Schwimmen in Seen und FlussenOf Swimming in Lakes and Rivers
Erinnerung an die Marie A.A Cloud
Die Ballade vom LiebestodBallad of the Love-Death
Vom armen B.B.Of Poor B.B.
Gedanken uber die Dauer des ExilsThoughts on the Duration of Exile
ZufluchtsstattePlace of Refuge
An die NachgeborenenTo Those Born Later
MottoMotto
19401940
Nachdenkend uber die HolleOn Thinking About Hell
Hollywood-ElegienHollywood Elegies
Vom Sprengen des GartensOf Sprinkling the Garden aus
Buckower Elegienfrom Buckow Elegies
Der Radwechsel Changing the Wheel
Die Losung The Solution
Vor acht Jahren Eight Years Ago
Bei der Lekture eines spatgriechischen Dichters Reading a Late Greek Poet
"
Und ich dachte immer" "And I always thought"
Peter Huchel (1903-1981)Landschaft hinter WarschauLandscape Beyond Warsaw
ChausseenRoads
Die PappelnThe Poplars
Der Garten des TheophrastThe Garden of Theophrastus
PsalmPsalm
Der SchlammfangThe Mudcatchers
Gunter Eich (1907-1972)InventurInventory
Bericht aus einem KurortReport from a Spa
Bruder GrimmBrothers Grimm
Aussicht vom Spezial-KellerPerspective from the Spezial-Keller
Auskunfte aus dem NachlaßTips from the Posthumous Papers
Bett hutenConfined to Bed
Ernst Meister (1911-1979)Monolog der MenschenHuman Monologue
Johannes Bobrowski (1917-1965)KindheitChildhood
Lettische LiederLatvian Songs
UngesagtUnsaid
BerichtReport
MozartMozart
TraklTrakl
Rainer Brambach (1917-1983)VormittagMorning
Alleinstehende MannerSingle Men
Paul Celan (1920-1970)Erinnerung an FrankreichMemory of France
CoronaCorona
TodesfugeDeathfugue "
Zahle die Mandeln""Count the almonds"
TenebraeTenebrae
Matiere de BretagneMatiere de Bretagne "
Es war Erde in ihnen""There was earth inside them"
Tubingen, JannerTubingen, January "
Schlafenzange""Temple-pincers" "
Schreib dich nicht""Don't write yourself"
Friederike Mayrocker (1924- )Ostia wird dich empfangenOstia Will Receive You
Verlust und NaheLost and Near
Ernst Jandl (1925-2000)aus
das große efrom the big e "1944/1945"marking a turn oberflachenubersetzung Heinz Piontek (1925
-2003)Um 1800Circa 1800 Inge Muller (1925
-1966)Unterm Schutt IIIUnder the Rubble III
Der schwarze WagenThe Black Cart "
Du hast versprochen mit mir""You promised you would walk with me" "
Ich habe dich heute Nacht verlassen""I left you last night" Ingeborg Bachmann (1926
-1973)Die gestundete ZeitThe Time Allotted
Abschied von EnglandDeparture from England
HerbstmanoverAutumn Maneuver
Salz und BrotSalt and Bread Tage in Wei
ßDays in White Oskar Pastior (1927
- )DominotaurusDominotaurus
Gunter Grass (1927- )KlappstuhleFolding Chairs
Im EiIn the Egg
Dreht euch nicht umDon't Turn Round
Die Festung wachstThe Fortress Grows Hertha Kraftner (1928
-1951)Auf den Tod eines DichtersOn the Death of a Poet Gunter Kunert (1929
- )Uber einige davongekommeneAbout Some Who Survived
Film—Verkehrt eingespanntFilm Put in Backwards
Vor seinem AngesichtShelley Plain Heiner Muller (1929
-1995)BrechtBrecht
Die HyaneThe Hyena
Herz aus Finsternis nach Joseph ConradHeart of Darkness adapted from Joseph Conrad Hans Magnus Enzenberger (1929
- )Das Enge der Eulenthe end of the owls
Karl Heinrich MarxKarl Heinrich Marx
Schaumfoam
Zum Anderken an William Carlos WilliamsIn Memory of Williams Carlos Williams
Erkennungsdienstliche BehandlungIdentity Check
Die DreiunddreißigjahrigeAt Thirty-three
Der UrlaubThe Holiday
Besuch bei IngresVisiting Ingres
Valse triste et sentimentaleValse triste et sentimantale
FetischFetish
Zur Erinnerung an Sir Hiram Maxim (1840-1916)In Memory of Sir Hiram Maxim (1840-1916)
Herbst 1944Autumn 1944
Der Geist des VatersHis Father's Ghost
LanderlexikonGazetteer
Adolph Endler (1930- )Als der Krieg zu Ende war:When the war was over:
Jurgen Becker (1932- )Wechselnder WindA Shift in the Wind
Hotel BelgicaHotel Belgica " . . .
Beerdigungen im Sommer"" . . . Funerals in summer"
HerbstgeschichteAutumn Story
Reiner Kunze (1933- )Die Bringer BeethovensThe Bringers of Beethoven
ZimmerlautstarkeWith the Volume Turned Down
In memoriam Johannes BobrowskiIn Memoriam Johannes Bobrowski Sarah Kirsch (1935
- )Trauriger TagSad Day
WinterWinter
AlleinAlone
BriefLetter Christoph Meckel (1935
- )aus
Saurefrom Acid Kurt Bartsch (1937
- )TranenTears
G.G.
Besuch EnzensbergerA Visit from Enzensberger
Frage Antwort FrageQuestion Answer Question Nicolas Born (1937
-1979)MarktlageMarket Position
SelbstbildnisSelf-Portrait Elke Erb (1938
- )Grimms MarchenGrimm's Fairytales
N.s IdentitatN.'s Identity Volker Braun (1939
- )O Chicago! O Widerspruch!O Chicago! O Dialectic!
Das Theater der TotenThe Theatre of the Dead Rolf Dieter Brinkmann (1940
-1975)LandschaftLandscape Karin Kiwus (1943
- )Hommes a femmeHommes a femme Michael Kruger (1943
- )FußnoteFootnote
MeisterErnst Meister in Memoriam Jergen Theobaldy (1944
- )Mein junges LebenMy Young Life Joachim Sartorius (1946
- )AlexandriaAlexandria
Vieuz JeuVieux Jeu Uwe Kolbe (1957
- )MetamorfosisMetamorphosis Durs Grunbein (1962
- )Trilce, CesarTrilce, Cesar
Dieser Tag gehort DirAll About You
Ohne TitelUntitled
MonoLogisches Gedicht no. 2MonoLogical Poem no. 2
Tizians neue ZimmerTitan's New Pad
Klage eines Legionars aus dem Feldzug des Germanicus an die ElbeLament of a Legionnaire on Germanicus's Campaign to the Elbe River aus
Gruße aus der Hauptstadt des Vergessensfrom Greetings from Oblivion City Lutz Seiler (1963
- )good evening kapgood evening skip
fin de sieclefin de siecle
mein jahrgang, dreiundsechzig, jene"my birth year, sixty-three, that"
mude bin ichnow I lay me Marcel Beyer (1965
- )Jihad Klange der HeimatJihad Sounds of Home
RapsRapeseed Volker Sielaff (1966
- )SchopfungsmythosCreation Myth
SchlaflosSleepless Hauke Huckstadt (1969
- )Platz der BefriungLiberation Square
Thema uber eine VariationTheme on a Variation
Going BeckGoing Beck
Im HauseNo One Home Matthias Goritz (1969
- )Fur Wolodja in MoskauFor Volodya in Moscow Jan Wagner (1971
- )FroscheFrogs