Soory, i think it's 'A leaf, treeless'. I could be off on this.
On 22 December 2011 07:23, David Bircumshaw <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> It could be Celan's poem, which I think is translated as 'A tree,
> leafless' (for Bertolt Brecht) - I'm quoting from memory - come in between,
> or at least that the Rich piece is strongly suggested by the Celan. I don't
> know, though, the date of the Rich poem ,and of course it might precede the
> Celan, which was about '66 or '67.
>
>
> On 22 December 2011 00:50, Max Richards <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> The Adrienne Rich poem is quoted in a psychotherapy conference paper my
>> wife
>> has been reading, and the paper-giver connects it with the earlier Brecht
>> poem.
>> I hope it's a good translation of the Brecht - I haven't even got a name
>> for the
>> translator.
>>
>>
>> To Those Born After
>> by Bertolt Brecht
>>
>>
>>
>> I
>>
>> To the cities I came in a time of disorder
>> That was ruled by hunger.
>> I sheltered with the people in a time of uproar
>> And then I joined in their rebellion.
>> That's how I passed my time that was given to me on this Earth.
>>
>> I ate my dinners between the battles,
>> I lay down to sleep among the murderers,
>> I didn't care for much for love
>> And for nature's beauties I had little patience.
>> That's how I passed my time that was given to me on this Earth.
>>
>> The city streets all led to foul swamps in my time,
>> My speech betrayed me to the butchers.
>> I could do only little
>> But without me those that ruled could not sleep so easily:
>> That's what I hoped.
>> That's how I passed my time that was given to me on this Earth.
>>
>> Our forces were slight and small,
>> Our goal lay in the far distance
>> Clearly in our sights,
>> If for me myself beyond my reaching.
>> That's how I passed my time that was given to me on this Earth.
>>
>> II
>>
>> You who will come to the surface
>> From the flood that's overwhelmed us and drowned us all
>> Must think, when you speak of our weakness in times of darkness
>> That you've not had to face:
>>
>> Days when we were used to changing countries
>> More often than shoes,
>> Through the war of the classes despairing
>> That there was only injustice and no outrage.
>>
>> Even so we realised
>> Hatred of oppression still distorts the features,
>> Anger at injustice still makes voices raised and ugly.
>> Oh we, who wished to lay for the foundations for peace and friendliness,
>> Could never be friendly ourselves.
>>
>> And in the future when no longer
>> Do human beings still treat themselves as animals,
>> Look back on us with indulgence.
>>
>>
>> What Kind of Times Are These
>> by ADRIENNE RICH
>>
>> There's a place between two stands of trees where the grass grows uphill
>> and the old revolutionary road breaks off into shadows
>> near a meeting-house abandoned by the persecuted
>> who disappeared into those shadows.
>>
>> I've walked there picking mushrooms at the edge of dread, but don't be
>> fooled
>> this isn't a Russian poem, this is not somewhere else but here,
>> our country moving closer to its own truth and dread,
>> its own ways of making people disappear.
>>
>> I won't tell you where the place is, the dark mesh of the woods
>> meeting the unmarked strip of light—
>> ghost-ridden crossroads, leafmold paradise:
>> I know already who wants to buy it, sell it, make it disappear.
>>
>> And I won't tell you where it is, so why do I tell you
>> anything? Because you still listen, because in times like these
>> to have you listen at all, it's necessary
>> to talk about trees.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> This email was sent from Netspace Webmail: http://www.netspace.net.au
>>
>
>
>
> --
> David Joseph Bircumshaw
> "The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is
> that none of it has tried to contact us."
> - Calvin & Hobbes
> Website and A Chide's Alphabet
> http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk
> The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/david.bircumshaw
> twitter: http://twitter.com/bucketshave
> blog: http://groggydays.blogspot.com/
>
--
David Joseph Bircumshaw
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is
that none of it has tried to contact us."
- Calvin & Hobbes
Website and A Chide's Alphabet
http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk
The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/david.bircumshaw
twitter: http://twitter.com/bucketshave
blog: http://groggydays.blogspot.com/
|