Hilde Domin, translated by Mark S. Burrows

The Wandering Radiance (tr. Mark S. Burrows) brings a collection of Hilde Domin’s poems into English for the first time. Here are two poems from the book.


Hilde Domin wrenched from the darkest of times a formidable belief in the radiance that nonetheless exists in life. —Stephanie Dowrick

Burrows has succeeded in carrying the radiant power of Domin’s poems to the shoreline of his native tongue. —Vera-Sabine Winkler

A must-read book. —Jewish Book Council

 


Appell


1
Geh nicht als ein Erlöschender
Geh nicht als ein Erlöschender
Geh nicht als ein Erlöschender
in das Erlöschen

Brenne
Brenne
Wir sind Fackeln mein Bruder
Wir sind Sterne
Wir sind Brennendes
Steigendes
Oder wir sind nicht
gewesen

2
Ein Körper
wie der unsere
ist nur die Hülle des Ballons
lichtdurchlässig


Appeal


1
Don’t go as one burning out
Don’t go as one burning out
Don’t go as one burning out
into the extinction

Burn
Burn
We are torches my brother
We are stars
We are something burning 
Something rising
Or we’ve not
been at all

2
A body
like ours
is only the sheathing of the balloon
penetrable by light


Abel steh auf

Abel steh auf
es muß neu gespielt werden
täglich muß es neu gespielt werden
täglich muß die Antwort noch vor uns sein
die Antwort muß ja sein können
wenn du nicht aufstehst Abel
wie soll die Antwort
diese einzig wichtige Antwort
sich je verändern
wir können alle Kirchen schließen
und alle Gesetzbücher abschaffen
in allen Sprachen der Erde
wenn du nur aufstehst
und es rückgängig machst
die erste falsche Antwort
auf die einzige Frage
auf die es ankommt
steh auf
damit Kain sagt
damit er es sagen kann
Ich bin dein Hüter
Bruder
wie sollte ich nicht dein Hüter sein
Täglich steh auf
damit wir es vor uns haben
dies Ja ich bin hier
ich
dein Bruder
Damit die Kinder Abels
sich nicht mehr fürchten
weil Kain nicht Kain wird
Ich schreibe dies
ich ein Kind Abels
und fürchte mich täglich
vor der Antwort
die Luft in meiner Lunge wird weniger
wie ich auf die Antwort warte

Abel steh auf
damit es anders anfängt
zwischen uns allen

Die Feuer die brennen
das Feuer das brennt auf der Erde
soll das Feuer von Abel sein

Und am Schwanz der Raketen
sollen die Feuer von Abel sein


Abel Get Up

Abel get up
it must be done again
every day it must be done again
every day the answer must be before us
the answer yes must be possible 
if you don’t get up Abel
how should the answer
this answer which is the only important one
ever change 
we could close all the churches
and do away with all the law books 
in all the languages of the earth 
if you would only get up
and reverse this
the first wrong answer
to the only question
that matters
get up
so that Cain says
so that he can say
I am your keeper
brother
how could I not be your keeper
Get up every day 
so that we have this before us
this Yes I am here
I
your brother
So that Abel’s children 
won’t be afraid any longer
because Cain won’t be Cain
I write this
I a child of Abel
and I fear the answer
every day
the air in my lungs diminishes
as I wait for the answer

Abel get up
so that it can begin differently
between us all 

The fires that burn
the fire that burns upon the earth
should be Abel’s fire 

And the tail of the rocket 
should be Abel’s fire

 

photo: Mathias Michaelis

Hilde Domin, born Hildegard Dina Löwenstein in Cologne on July 27, 1909, was a German writer, poet, and essayist. Domin became known primarily for her poetry, which was influenced by her time in exile and loss of homeland. A poet of Jewish heritage, she fled political developments in Germany in 1932. Domin spent more than twenty years of her life in various countries including the Dominican Republic, which became her self-chosen namesake. After returning home to Germany from exile she became known as the “poet of return” and received numerous honors for her literary work, including the Carl Zuckmayer Medal, the Nelly Sachs Prize, and the Grand Federal Cross of Merit. Domin died in Heidelberg on February 22, 2006, at the age of 96.

Mark S. Burrows is a poet, scholar, teacher, and award-winning translator of German poetry. His recent books include The Chance of Home. Poems (2018) and a third collection inspired by the writings of the medieval mystic Eckhart: Meister Eckhart’s Book of Darkness and Light (2023). His translation of Rilke’s Prayers of a Young Poet is the only English edition of poems Rilke later entitled The Book of Monastic Life and included as Part I of The Book of Hours. Forthcoming in 2024 is his new translation of Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus. Burrows edits poetry for the journal Spiritus and for Wildhouse Publications. He lives and writes in Camden, Maine. www.msburrows.com

Also by Hilde Domin (translated by Mark S. Burrows): "Winter," "All My Ships," "Moving Landscape," "Poetry"
In the store: The Wandering Radiance: Selected Poems of Hilde Domin (translated by Mark S. Burrows)
More from The Wandering Radiance: a reading and conversation at The Poets Corner
Also translated by Mark S. Burrows: four poems by SAID

ISSN 2472-338X
© 2023