Saturday, March 23, 2013

Federico Federici



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
] рекаэто 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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