Black milk of daybreak we drink it at evening
we drink it at midday and morning we drink it at night
we drink and we drink
we shovel a grave in the air where you won't lie too cramped
A man lives in the house he plays with his vipers he writes
he writes when it grows dark to Deutschland your golden hair Margareta
he writes it and steps out of doors and the stars are all sparkling he whistles his hounds to stay close
he whistles his Jews into rows has them shovel a grave in the ground
he commands us play up for the dance
Black milk of daybreak we drink you at night
we drink you at morning and midday we drink you at evening
we drink and we drink
A man lives in the house he plays with his vipers he writes
he writes when it grows dark to Deutschland your golden hair Margareta
Your ashen hair Shulamith we shovel a grave in the air where you won't live too cramped
He shouts dig this earth deeper you lot there you others sing up and play
he grabs for the rod in his belt he swings it his eyes are so blue
stick your spades deeper you lot there you others play on for the dancing
Black milk of daybreak we drink you at night
we drink you at midday and morning we drink you at evening
we drink and we drink
a man lives in the house your goldenes Haar Margareta
your aschenes Haar Shulamith he plays with his vipers
. . .
He shouts play death more sweetly this Death is a master from Deutschland
he shouts scrape your strings darker you'll rise up as smoke to the sky
you'll then have a grave in the clouds where you won't lie too cramped
Black milk of daybreak we drink you at night
we drink you at midday Death is a master aus Deutschland
we drink you at evening and morning we drink and we drink
this Death is ein Meister aus Deutschland his eye it is blue
he shoots you with shot made of lead shoots you level and true
a man lives in the house your goldenes Haar Margarete
he looses his hounds on us grants us a grave in the air
he plays with his vipers and daydreams der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland
dein goldenes Haar Margarete
dein aschenes Haar Sulamith
Original text:
Todesfugue
Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken sie abends
wir trinken sie mittags und morgens wir trinken sie nachts
wir trinken und trinken
wir schaufeln ein Grab in den Lüften da liegt man nicht eng
Ein Mann wohnt im Haus der spielt mit den Schlangen der schreibt
der schreibt wenn es dunkelt nach Deutschland dein goldenes Haar Margarete
er schreibt es und tritt vor das Haus und es blitzen die Sterne er pfeift seine Rüden herbei
er pfeift seine Juden hervor läßt schaufeln ein Grab in der Erde
er befiehlt uns spielt auf nun zum Tanz
Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachts
wir trinken dich morgens und mittags wir trinken dich abends
wir trinken und trinken
Ein Mann wohnt im Haus der spielt mit den Schlangen der schreibt
der schreibt wenn es dunkelt nach Deutschland dein goldenes Haar Margarete
Dein aschenes Haar Sulamith wir schaufeln ein Grab in den Lüften da liegt man nicht eng
Er ruft stecht tiefer ins Erdreich ihr einen ihr andern singet und spielt
er greift nach dem Eisen im Gurt er schwingts seine Augen sind blau
stecht tiefer die Spaten ihr einen ihr andern spielt weiter zum Tanz auf
Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachts
wir trinken dich mittags und morgens wir trinken dich abends
wir trinken und trinken
ein Mann wohnt im Haus dein goldenes Haar Margarete
dein aschenes Haar Sulamith er spielt mit den Schlangen
Er ruft spielt süßer den Tod der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland
er ruft streicht dunkler die Geigen dann steigt ihr als Rauch in die Luft
dann habt ihr ein Grab in den Wolken da liegt man nicht eng
Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachts
wir trinken dich mittags der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland
wir trinken dich abends und morgens wir trinken und trinken
der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland sein Auge ist blau
er trifft dich mit bleierner Kugel er trifft dich genau
ein Mann wohnt im Haus dein goldenes Haar Margarete
er hetzt seine Rüden auf uns er schenkt uns ein Grab in der Luft
er spielt mit den Schlangen und träumet der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland
dein goldenes Haar Margarete
dein aschenes Haar Sulamith
If you are super keen, you may have noticed that Celan misspeaks in the third stanza, saying "spielt weiter zum tanz auf" instead of "singet und spielt." In his analysis, John Felstiner links this mistake to Celan's hypersensitivity to the pain of the German language (he wrote exclusively German, the language his oppressors, those who killed his parents and put him in the camps). Plath also knew of this pain. Consider the line "Ich, ich, ich, ich:" In English, "I" is a whole sound, a round sound that rolls on the glottis; in German, however, it is a choking sound: the "I" is suddenly interrupted by the glottal stop of "ch." Thus, "Ich" is a broken sound, a broken identity. Celan deals with this physical and emotional pain of German extensively, most notably in Die Silbe Schmerz (The Syllable Pain) and Frankfurt, September.
Winn--
ReplyDeleteI was talking to our mutual friend AJ today about German, and seeing as I have a little (only a little) experience with the language, it'd be good to bring that conversation here. I think the most relatable-to-this-class subject we talked about was the gendering of nouns. In a language such as German, to what extent are nouns "genderized?" Perhaps you can elaborate further, as I have no real experience with the language. It seems to me, though, that these gender articles are placed somewhat arbitrarily. So, how do we interpret the der, die and the das of a text? Is it, again, arbitrary, or can we read further into a noun based on it's appropriated article? Food for thought.
Thanks for your post about Celan, and especially for posting the original text.
I too have little experience. From talking with AJ and my other friend Collin (in Deutschland jetzt), my impression is that there are three genders: Male, Female, and Neuter. (der, die, das), and these genders are somewhat arbitrarily dispersed, making them notoriously hard to predict. Germanophones just seem to have an implicit concept of categories into which nouns fall. There are some vague rules about gender as follows: abstract nouns are always female, things in nature are often male, diminutives are always neuter. perhaps there are more that i'm not aware of.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting, however, that it is only the word that is gendered, not the referent. For instance, you could call the ocean die see, der ozean, or das meer.
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ReplyDeletePerhaps it's a sociological notion that such things should embody their identifying gender (?). Is the English so set in it's binaries that we try to read those binaries into other languages when such distinctions do not exist. It brings into question the definition of the word "Gender." Perhaps calling a word masculine or feminine does not imply any human distinction, as the traditional definitions suggest.
ReplyDeleteit at least hints at the arbitrariness of these anthropomorphisms. in many gendered languages (esp. latinate ones), the sun is male and the moon female, but it's the opposite in german.
ReplyDelete