Georg Trakl

Two Poems from the German, translated by James Reidel

MY HEART TOWARD EVENING

At dusk one hears the squeak of the bats.
Two black horses leap in the meadow.
The red maple soughs.
To the wanderer appears a small tavern on the way.
Splendid how the new wine and nuts taste.
Splendid: to be reeling drunk in the gloaming forest.
Through the black branches ring the painful bells.
Dew beads on the face.

Zu Abend mein Herz

Am Abend hört man den Schrei der Fledermäuse.
Zwei Rappen springen auf der Wiese.
Der rote Ahorn rauscht.
Dem Wanderer erscheint die kleine Schenke am Weg.
Herrlich schmecken junger Wein und Nüsse.
Herrlich: betrunken zu taumeln in dämmernden Wald.
Durch schwarzes Geäst tönen schmerzliche Glocken.
Auf das Gesicht tropft Tau.

DELIRIUM

The black snow that trickles from the rooftops;
A red finger dips into your forehead,
In the bare room blue firn glaciers descend,
Are mirrors of lovers dying away.
In heavy slabs the head calves and contemplates
The shadows in the mirror of blue firn ice,
The cold smile in the face of a dead whore.
The evening wind weeps in clouds of carnations.

Delirium

Der schwarze Schnee, der von den Dächern rinnt;
Ein roter Finger taucht in deine Stirne
Ins kahle Zimmer sinken blaue Firne,
Die Liebender erstorbene Spiegel sind.
In schwere Stücke bricht das Haupt und sinnt
Den Schatten nach im Spiegel blauer Firne,
Dem kalten Lächeln einer toten Dirne.
In Nelkendüften weint der Abendwind.

Note: Firn is old snow atop a mountain glacier, which in layers takes on the color of blue sky. The German can also refer to old or last year's wine, Firnewein.

The work of the Austrian Expressionist poet GEORG TRAKL (1887–1914) is considered part of the world canon.

These two renderings by JAMES REIDEL are from a longer work to mark the centenary of Trakl's death in 1914. With the Swiss poet Daniele Pantano, Reidel recently translated and published a selection of Robert Walser's short plays in Conjunctions 60. His next book of poems is Jim's Book (Black Lawrence Press, forthcoming).