Paul Celan

Paul Celan

I think he looks like he's seen a lot of the difficult things in life.

Also, here's a link to the original German of Todesfuge.

Todesfuge in a time of tragedy

I just came back from the vigil for Jim Miller, a professor at Goshen who was killed today.  It was a really moving experience, and I couldn't help comparing it to the poem Todesfuge.  Professor Miller died of unnatural causes and presumably with violence, in some ways bringing to mind the senseless slaughter of Jews and others in World War II.  Thinking about the incomprehensible number of deaths that resulted from World War II stunned me.  I can't even comprehend this one, let alone millions.  


I was simply thankful that the community can gather together to support his family, and to grieve. 


Here's the original assignment: 
Translating the poem Death Fuge by Paul Celan from the original German is a tricky proposition, since it plays with meter and references.  


Translations by John Felstiner and Joachim Neugroschel


I was struck by the way that these two translators handled a section about Death interacting with   "his Jews."   While I appreciate the both translations, I like Felstiner's better in this case. 


Neugroschel translates:


he whistles for his Jews he has them dig a grave in the earth

he commands us to play for the dance

while Felstiner translates the same spot as:


he whistles his Jews into rows has them shovel a grave in the ground


he orders us strike up and play for the dance


I thought the imagery in Felstiner's translation was much stronger. Whistling Jews into rows seems much more degrading and regimented than simply whistling for them. The use of 'shoveling a grave in the ground' also helps me visualize it, and the word 'shovel' sounds harsher than dig. I thought the shorter words in the last line of Felstiner's translation were also a better use of space, because they pack more meaning than the words that Neugroschel has selected.


Reading all the different versions of the poem in English was a great experience, because it was like hearing many different people's opinions. It helped me understand the poem in
German much better.

The Imperfect Amish

Tonight, I went to a presentation given by Saloma Miller Furlong, author of Why I Left the Amish.  I was really intrigued by her experience in the Amish, as I normally consider their society to be closer than the mainstream to the ideal existence.   While I know that the Amish way of living has its' flaws, I normally hold up their rejection of technology and community living as, in some ways, better than my own way of living.  However, Saloma's story was very moving, as she endured abuse, twisted relationships,  and  confining expectations of what she could become, eventually ending with her first attempt to leave the Amish.  I was fascinated that she could still stay in touch with her family because her community's ban was not as strict as I had imagined.  I thought it was very brave of her to share her painful history, as it may  spark a change for the better in the lives of both the English and the Amish.

Some Amish women in Indiana

Trying to Make Sense of the Insensible

After September 11, people looked for a lens to try to understand all the death. More and more frequently, W. H. Auden's poem "September 11, 1939" provided a way to deal with the grief shrouding the nation.  Even though some people thought that this poem may not have been appropriate for the time,  I found the tone to be suited to the fall of the twin towers.  To me, the poem speaks truth about the human condition,  about the shadow of industrialization,  about the longing within everyone to be loved.  It reminds us that no one can live truly alone.  I find it profound that even though Auden repudiates the line "We must love one another or die,"  readers continue to cling to it.  To me, this is the strongest proof that this poem speaks more than the poet ever dreamed it could.

September 1, 1939

I really enjoyed reading Auden's poem, written after the declaration of World War I.  I looked more in depth at stanza 4:

Into this neutral air
Where blind skyscrapers use
Their full height to proclaim
The strength of Collective Man,
Each language pours its vain
Competitive excuse:
But who can live for long
In an euphoric dream;
Out of the mirror they stare,
Imperialism's face
And the international wrong.

Since Auden was writing this from the U.S., he seems to be referring to the U.S.'s non-involvement in the war in the opening line, "the neutral air."  In this stanza, Auden describes one of the symbols of civilization's greatest achievements, the huge skyscrapers in the cities.  He then seems to tear them down as "an euphoric dream,"  which seems relevant in this new war atmosphere.  These testimonies to man's progress can be destroyed in a single air raid, and will be in the future. The blank windows and mirrors reflect the disharmony and disconnect between the relationships between individuals and relationships between countries in a time of war.