Breathturn into Timestead (59 page)

“Es wird” | “Something shall be”

December 13, 1969, Paris, avenue Émile Zola.

See commentary on “Vor mein” | “Before my” (pp. 613–14) for connection with a translation of Nina Cassian, whom Celan knew from his Bukovinian days and had met again in December 1969 (and also on the day he wrote the poem) in Paris.

“Das Nichts” | “Nothingness”

December 18, 1969, Paris, avenue Émile Zola.

“Im Glockigen” | “In the bellshape”

December 29, 1969–January 16, 1970. The following poem was also completed on January 16. Ilana Shmueli was in Paris intermittently from December 23, 1969, to February 3, 1970; Celan gave her a copy of the poems at that time.

“Wie ich” | “As I”

January 5–16, 1970.

Ringschatten | ringshadow: See the poem “Du wirfst mir” | “You throw gold” (p. 418), which spoke of the moment Celan took off his wedding band.

“Das Fremde” | “Strangeness”

January 20, 1970, Paris, rue d'Ulm. Erich Fried's 1976 essay “Also a Love Poem” in
Die Muse hat Kanten: Aufsätze und Reden zur Literatur
, ed. Volker Kaukoreit (Berlin: Verlag Klaus Wagenbach, 1995) addresses the question of the “comprehensibility” of a late Celan poem, using this poem, which he says is in its language, content, and feeling for life and death unmistakingly Celanian. He writes:

The first two lines indicate the basic situation: A fate has us in its net. A fate that comes seemingly from outside, that the poet cannot identify and that he cannot completely decipher. Thus, “strangeness.” Another power at work in this net is transience, which is our lot and which will eventually destroy us, no matter how we stand in relation to our being in the net, if it remains strange to us, or if we're willing to play along. Transience reaches through us, thus proving that our bodies, and not only them, are not as solid as we sometimes think. This reaching-through-us of transience also has something of the heavy-handed, merciless clampdown of a tyranny or its authorities, the poet feels exposed to in real life. But even this powerful transience (whose power however consists only in passing and in making past [im Vergehen und Vergehenmachen]) has no sense or purpose. It reaches through us “perplexedly.” Through us. It is a poem about being exposed, but not a loneliness poem. The “us” does not stand for a collectivity, not for many, but obviously for two. For two deeply connected humans …

His analysis of the poem as a complex love poem about a complex, at times contradictory situation goes on for another page or so and concludes: “The poem means so much to me, because it says all this in an incomparably shorter, simpler and more complex way than my explanation is able to do.”

zähl meinen Puls | take my pulse: Shmueli indicates that she and Celan had discussed the following lines from the sixth of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's sonnets: “The widest land / Doom takes to part us, leaves thy heart in mine / With pulses that beat double” (
IS
, p. 56).

“Umlichtet” | “Illuminated”

January 22, 1970, Paris, avenue Émile Zola. The last poem written during Ilana Shmueli's stay in Paris, it also concludes the second, or “Jerusalem,” cycle of the book.

III

“Fortgesalbt” | “Salved away”

February 6, 1970, Paris, rue d'Ulm.

Stein- / weizen | stone- / crop: A mainly Austrian name for various plants of the genus
Sedum
, having fleshy leaves and variously colored flowers, here possibly
sedum acre
, wall pepper.

Skabiose | scabious:
Knautia arvensis
, commonly known as field scabious, a species in the genus
Knautia
, is a perennial plant that grows between twenty-five and a hundred centimeters tall. Its tincture is used in homeopathy as a blood purifier.

“Ortswechsel” | “Place change”

February 8, 1970, Paris, avenue Émile Zola.

“Die Welt” | “The world”

February 8, 1970, Paris, avenue Émile Zola. Among the last poems Celan sent to Shmueli, writing in the letter of February 16, 1969: “Meanwhile you will have received the poems—all these days I reproached myself for having sent you that terrible poem, ‘Welt'; today I know that I was allowed to, that you'd understand it in all its pain, in its full dimension of love” (
IS
, p. 68).

“Was bittert” | “What bitters”

February 7–10, 1970, Paris, avenue Émile Zola.

Hörrinden-Hymnus | auditory cortex-hymn: See reading traces (
BW
, p. 878) in Reichert/Bleichert book on human physiology, here speaking of the auditory cortex and the neuronal pathways to it.

Daumenschrauben | thumbscrews: See reading traces in the seventeenth-century Spanish baroque writer Baltasar Gracián's writing as translated into German by Schopenhauer, and in which Celan underlined the word
Daumschrauben
in the sentence: “A strange malice often puts such temptations in the path of reason on purpose, to make a voyage of discovery into the interior of the mind, and similarly uses
thumbscrews
of the secrets [
Daumschrauben
der Geheimnisse
] that are able to push even the most reasonable head to extremes.”

Zählkammer | counting chamber … Ringe | rings: Wiedemann locates further reading traces in Reichert/Bleichert, concerning a process of counting blood cells: “A whetted
cover glass
is pressed on the cleaned
counting chamber
until at the contact points Newton's rings appear (p. 397)” (
BW
, p. 878).

“Die gesenkten” | “The lowered”

February 20, 1970, Paris, rue d'Ulm. Some of the poem's vocabulary comes from the
FAZ
of February 18, 1970, where a spread on nature and science was published, including the article “The Dialects of the Elephant Seals,” which mentioned
Baumläufer
, “treecreepers,” birds of the family
Certhiidae
, small passerine birds, as ellas—in the context of elephant seals, the word
Markierungen
, “markings.” Another article, “Universum ohne Anti-Welt” (Universe Without Anti-World) by H. J. Fahr, points to the terms
Strahlengezücht
, “radiationbrood,” and
Antimaterie
, “antimatter” (
BW
, p. 879).

“Krokus” | “Crocus”

April 7, 1970, Paris, rue d'Ulm. See the commentaries on the poems “Largo” (pp. 584–85) and “Kalk-Krokus” | “Chalk-crocus” (pp. 606–607).

“Rebleute” | “Vinegrowers”

April 1–13, 1970, Paris, avenue Émile Zola.

Paul Celan's last poem.

Select Bibliography

EDITIONS OF PAUL CELAN

SINGLE VOLUMES

Der Sand aus den Urnen
. Vienna: Sexl, 1948. Five hundred copies. With lithographs by Edgar Jené.

Mohn und Gedächtnis
. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1952. Includes twenty-six poems from
Der Sand aus den Urnen
.

Von Schwelle zu Schwelle
. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1955.

Sprachgitter
. Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag, 1959.

Die Niemandsrose
. Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag, 1963.

Atemwende
. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1967. The first cycle of poems,
Atemkristall
, was published in a bibliophile edition of eighty-five copies, with etchings by Gisèle Celan-Lestrange (Paris: Brunidor, 1965).

Fadensonnen
. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1968. The poem “Schlafbrocken,” included in this volume, was first published, with an etching by Gisèle Celan-Lestrange, in a bibliophile edition of one hundred copies (Paris: Brunidor, 1967).

Lichtzwang
. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1970. The first fourteen poems in this volume were published under the title
Schwarzmaut
in a bibliophile edition of eighty-five copies, with etchings by Gisèle Celan-Lestrange (Vaduz, Liechtenstein: Brunidor, 1969). The poem “Todtnauberg,” also included in this volume, had been published in a bibliophile edition of fifty copies by Brunidor in 1968.

Schneepart
. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1971.

Zeitgehöft
. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1976. (Posthoumous work, this is the one volume not compiled by Paul Celan himself.)

Gedichte 1938–1944
. With a preface by Ruth Kraft. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1986.

COLLECTED VOLUMES

Gedichte in zwei Bänden
. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1975. The first volume of this two-volume edition gathers the books
Mohn und Gedächtnis
,
Von Schwelle zu Schwelle
,
Sprachgitter
, and
Die Niemandsrose
; the second volume gathers the books
Atemwende
,
Fadensonnen
,
Lichtzwang
, and
Schneepart
. The posthumous volume
Zeitgehöft
, which came out in 1976, was thus not yet available for inclusion.

Gedichte aus dem Nachlaß.
Edited by Bertrand Badiou, Claude Rambach, and Barbara Wiedemann. Annotations by Barbara Wiedemann and Bertrand Badiou. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1997.

Gesammelte Werke in sieben Bänden
. Edited by Beda Allemann and Stefan Reichert, in collaboration with Rolf Bücher. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2000. Volume 1, subtitled
Gedichte 1
, contains
Mohn und Gedächtnis
,
Von Schwelle zu Schwelle
,
Sprachgitter
, and
Die Niemandsrose
. Volume 2, subtitled
Gedichte 2
, contains
Atemwende
,
Fadensonnen
,
Lichtzwang
, and
Schneepart
. Volume 3, subtitled
Gedichte 3,
Prosa, Reden
, contains
Der Sand aus den Urnen
,
Zeitgehöft
,
Verstreute Gedichte
, and a number of uncollected poems, consisting of a first section of eleven poems stretching from 1948 to 1967 and a second section, the cycle
Eingedunkelt
, which also contains eleven poems, dating from 1968. The remainder of the volume gathers all the extant prose and speeches. Volume 4, subtitled
Übertragungen 1
, gathers all of Celan's translations from the French. Volume 5, subtitled
Übertragungen 2
, gathers all of Celan's translations from the Russian, English, Italian, Romanian, Portuguese, and Hebrew. (Volumes 4 and 5 gather only the poetry Celan translated, not his prose translations.) Volume 6, subtitled
Das Frühwerk,
gathers chronologically all the early work under the categories “Bukovina,” “Bucharest,” and “Vienna.” Volume 7, subtitled
Gedichte aus dem Nachlaß
, gathers all posthumous poems.

Die Gedichte: Kommentierte Gesamtausgabe in einem Band
. Edited and with commentaries by Barbara Wiedemann. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2003. This is the edition used throughout the present volume. [
BW
]

Mikrolithen sind's, Steinchen: Die Prosa aus dem Nachlaß.
Edited and with commentaries by Barbara Wiedemann and Bertrand Badiou. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2005.

SCHOLARLY EDITIONS

Paul Celan: Werke: Historisch-kritische Ausgabe
. Prepared by Bonner Arbeitsstelle für die Celan-Ausgabe. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1990–. Fourteen volumes to date. [
BA
+ volume number]

Paul Celan: Werke: Tübinger Ausgabe.
Edited by Jürgen Wertheimer. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2004. Nine volumes. [
TA
+ volume title]

TRANSLATIONS BY PAUL CELAN

The names of the translated authors are given in the German spelling (e.g., Sergej Jessenin, rather than Sergei Yesenin) as used by Celan and the various publications. All of these are gathered in volumes 4 and 5 of the 1983 five-volume collected Celan edition.

Cocteau, Jean.
Der Goldenen Vorhang. Brief an die Amerikaner.
Bad Salzig: Rauch, 1949.

Blok, Alexander.
Die Zwölf.
Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag, 1958.

Rimbaud, Arthur.
Das trunkene Schiff
. Wiesbaden: Insel Verlag, 1958.

Mandelstam, Osip.
Gedichte
. Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag, 1959.

Valéry, Paul.
Die junge Parze
. Limited edition. Wiesbaden: Insel Verlag, 1960.

Cayrol, Jean.
Im Bereich einer Nacht
. Olten: Walter, 1961.

Jessenin, Sergej.
Gedichte
. Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag, 1961.

Shakespeare, William.
Einundzwanzig Sonette
. Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1967.

du Bouchet, André.
Vakante Glut
. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1968.

Supervielle, Jules.
Gedichte
. Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1968.

Ungaretti, Guiseppe.
Das verheißene Land / Das Merkbuch des Alten
. Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1968.

TRANSLATIONS OF PAUL CELAN INTO ENGLISH

Speech-Grille and Selected Poems.
Translated by Joachim Neugröschel. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1971. Contains all the poems of
Sprachgitter
and selected poems from the volumes
Mohn und Gedächtnis
through
Atemwende
.