Thursday, June 7, 2018

My first attempt at translating: it is not necessarily finished, but it is in good enough form. Bobrowski deserves more recognition. I have posted about him before here and on Facebook. 


Dryade
Birke, kühl
von Säften, Baum, der Atem
in meinen Händen, gespannt
Rinde, ein weiches Glas,
Aber zu spüren tiefer
Regung, die Dehnung hinauf
Im Stamm,
Den Verzweigerung zu.

Laß,
In den Nacken hinab,
Laß fallen dein Haar, ich hör
Durch die Kühle, ich hör ein Wehen,
Hör anheben die Strömung,
Steigende Flut,
Den Taumel
Singen im Ohr.

Johannes Bobrowski, Schattenland Ströme
---
Dryad

Birch, cool
With sap, tree, the breath
in my hands,
the bark straining,
a soft crystal.
But sensing deeper
impulse, distending upwards
in the trunk
towards the branches

Let it fall down,
on your neck
Let your hair fall down. I hear
through the coolness  a rush,
I hear a rising flood,
a frenzied singing in the ear.


-translated  by Arthur Turfa, @2018

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