Requiem auf einer Stele
(4/12 fragments)
]
thou comest
]
thou com[es]t
with
perfect precision ·
]
· [
]
quae tanta fuit tibi causa vivendi?
Neque vita causa fuit!
] scribant de te alii [
[ ]
] iamͺ petraeͺ sumite vires!
] quamve bibistis aquam? [1]
›2‹
]
bl[es][se]d ·
] but of space and time ›1.5‹
[ ] ·
Есть только небо
fr. 1.
]
das ist eine im feld gefundene stele
das ist ein im fluss gefundener stein
dies die im körper gefundenen knochen[2]
dies materiales fuerunt [3] ›1.4‹
shortestͺ infrequent
[
] carboniferous tubers awakening [of] ›1.3‹
] black
alluvial fingers
] veins
winding along
eye-pebbles and flints [ͺ curving the fields where
there
is no endͺ [ ›2.2‹
did
not want to end
to the abandoned land
] · I’m the old riverͺ the whole riverͺ
the understanding of it
] река‒это
я [4]
fr. 2 A.
] und das sind die
polierten knochen
der poeten in meinem fleisch [5]
[
] как
лес [6]
] redeemer of waters [
[bla]ck old tree-line in the flicker of storm ·
fr.
2 B.
carved
on the names of the dead and on the short amen of grassͺ when the river freezes
ten degrees below zeroͺ and its voice grows old in the parable of thunder ·
¦das hart gefrorene licht [7]¦ a peat-pit
under-earͺ where a closer shout could not be heard · the birdsong left mute
hearts in a cage of wings · curved images lie beneathͺ awaiting old oak roots
to be sucked up from hollows · ¦das wort schwitzt durch das eis [8]¦ · cormorants hanging over the moor pecked
up patches of schist · ›2.1‹
you too lost yellow bonesͺ black paws and
twigsͺ dense nerves left on rocksͺ ¦wie raues heuͺ totes gelbes gras [9]¦ sweeping plectrums through the light cry
of springͺ when rain was typing on April waterͺ flowing slowly beneath us or
close by · ¦mein gesicht geht von mir weg und bleibt fern [10]¦
· something forever gone in the work of words · ¦vor mir steht ein alter
unfruchtbarer apfelbaum · meine müden hände zittern [11]¦
· [ -12-]
lithe ants slowly climbͺ weighing nothing in the invisible discipline of leavesͺ
of the grass which makes the wind articulate · ¦es ist zeitͺ die stunden
schweben voraus [12]¦ · all falls onto
the seasons of your faceͺ for all comes as a seasonͺ ¦aus dem waldͺ meinem
oeden kopf [13]¦ · spring time is yet as
perfect for death as the winter thresholdͺ hacked by the axe on the river’s
edgeͺ where the moon-gap moves forward one millimetre each night · ¦oh wie
leise tropft das licht aus jeder ader! [14]¦
fr.
3.
[the]
tongue of the dead in the mouth of the living speaks the numbness of exileͺ a
heavy brow of such severe mercy · the tips of fingers gather numberless creases
encompassing a new black hole when the day’s done · its odd twist and the
continual straining makes time move straight on the skin-line and time succeeds
timeͺ neat as expectedͺ powderedͺ ¦von stern zu stein [15]¦ͺ a thousand ages per minuteͺ under
silent graniteͺ unheard and reconciled · I have myself removed the finest
minutesͺ seconds maybeͺ the last few thousand blinks of your eyelids · may you
live or die nowͺ off time · ¦blinde rosen sind ohne dornen [16]¦ · [ -5-]
vowels bloom on the stems of dead flowers · bones spelled out upon the grass ·
¦du spürst das wortlose wasser in allen deinen knochen [17]¦
· ›2.0‹
ear-trapͺ mouth-wellͺ gravitatingͺ sinking · the whole river’s pressure on the
weirs of veins ·
fr.
4.
Rules and tips about symbols
Words and signs between
open-closed square brackets have been either recovered (when hardly
decipherable) or restored according to the closest reliable meaning (when
completely missing).
Blank space means that a whole
single line is missing.
Open square brackets on different
lines span the whole surface of some missing and unrecoverable text.
Numbers between open-closed
square brackets indicate the length (inches) of a fracture-erased set of words
(unrecoverable).
Isolated closed square brackets
indicate that we can gauge that a consistent part of the text has been lost
from that point backwards, but that we can’t exactly delimit it.
Isolated open square brackets indicate
that we can gauge that a consistent part of the text has been lost from that
point on but that we can’t exactly delimit it.
Words between two vertical broken
bars indicate those more deeply carved in the stone.
Numbers between right or left-pointing
angled quotation marks indicate the depth (inches) of a hole in the stone
(deeper than 1 inch).
Lower short vertical strokes
indicate evident scratches on the surface of the stone.
Interpuncts indicate moss spots
and other stains.
Notes:
1. ...] quale fu il motivo
tanto grande della vita?/ Non la vita, certo!// ...] altri scrivano di te
[...// [ ]/ ...] e voi, pietre,
rianimatevi!/ ...] che acqua mai beveste?/ …]
2.
this is a stele found in the field/ this is a stone found
in the river/ these are the bones found in the body
3.
[those] were material days
4.
I’m the river
5. and these are the
polished bones/ of the poets within my flesh
6.
like a wood
7.
the light frost hardened
8.
the word oozes from ice
9.
as rough hay, dead yellow grass
10.
my face goes away from
me and keeps far
11.
before me an older fruitless apple tree
stands. my weak hands shiver
12.
it is time: the hours hanging overhead
13.
out of the woods, from
my wasting head
14.
oh how quietly light drips from every
vein!
15.
from star to stone
16.
not a thorn on a blind rose
17.
you experience wordless water in all of
your bones
***
***
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