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Breathturn into Timestead

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by Paul Celan




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  Contents

  TITLE PAGE

  COPYRIGHT NOTICE

  INTRODUCTION

  BREATHTURN

  I

  You may

  By the undreamt

  Into the furrows

  In the rivers

  Before your late face

  Down melancholy’s rapids

  The numbers

  Paths in the shadow-break

  Whitegray

  With masts sung earthward

  Templeclamps

  Next to the hailstone

  To stand

  Your dream

  With the persecuted

  Threadsuns

  In the serpentcoach

  Slickensides

  Wordaccretion

  (I know you

  Eroded

  II

  By the great

  Singable remnant

  Flowing

  Twenty forever

  No sandart anymore

  Brightnesshunger

  When whiteness assailed us

  Hollow lifehomestead

  Over three

  On the white philactery

  Go blind

  Latewoodday

  Today

  Midday

  Sown under

  The hourglass

  Harbor

  III

  Black

  Anvilheadedness

  Landscape

  The jugglerdrum

  When you lie

  Behind coalmarked

  In Prague

  Starting from the orchis

  Halfgnawed

  From fists

  Bullroarers

  Evening

  At the assembled

  The upward-standing country

  The pushed-around

  Ashglory

  IV

  The written

  Cello-entry

  Frihed

  The silicified saying

  Where?

  King’s rage

  Solve

  Coagula

  Skullthinking

  Eastersmoke

  Quaywall-rest

  Answered

  Sight threads, sense threads

  A roar

  Lunatic-bowls

  Lichtenberg’s twelve

  Give the Word

  From beholding the blackbirds

  V

  Great, glowing vault

  Slate-eyed one

  Oozy

  You, the

  The with heavens heated

  Vaporband-, banderole-uprising

  Rest in your wounds

  VI

  Once

  THREADSUNS

  I

  Eye-glances

  Frankfurt, September

  Chance, marked

  Who rules?

  The trace of a bite

  In the eternal depth

  Visible

  Detour-maps

  Sackcloth-mold

  Spasms

  Your eyes in the arm

  Hendaye

  Pau, by Night

  Pau, Later

  The stallion

  The ounce of truth

  In the noises

  Lyon, Les Archers

  The heads

  Where am I

  The long discovered

  All your seals broken open? Never.

  II

  Sleepmorsels

  Truth

  Out of the near

  Hatched

  Eternities

  The perty saxifrage

  The between-whiles

  The successful

  On the rained-over spoor

  Whitesounds

  The devilish

  The dark vaccination candidates

  The second

  The excavated heart

  The industrious

  The colliding

  In-heavened

  When I don’t know, don’t know

  Acclimatized-disclimatized

  Giant

  Neighed tombprayers

  The eternities honkytonk

  Trashswallower-choirs

  III

  Dedeviled instant

  Shells

  Love

  You were

  To the right

  The dismantled taboos

  Rage-pilgrim raids

  Silence

  The one

  Over mulled and toiled wine

  Aslant

  The heartscriptcrumbled

  Unkept

  The unconditional chiming

  Eternity

  Late

  The seedlings

  Along the hill lines

  Come

  Deslagged

  Soulblind

  Borderess

  Gullchicks

  IV

  Irish

  The ropes

  Dew

  Lavish message

  This day

  Oily

  You with the

  Out of angel-matter

  The free-blown lightcrop

  Line the wordcaves

  The highworld

  The muttering

  … though no kind of

  Near, in the aortic arch

  Throw the solar year

  Because you found the woe-shard

  It has come the time

  Lips, erectile-tissue

  V

  Principalities, powers

  Daybombardment

  Speechwalls

  Orphaned

  Of both

  Rolled-away

  As colors

  The chimney swallow

  White

  Bare one

  The silence-butt

  Haut Mal

  The pigeon-egg-size growth

  Bewintered

  Outside

  Who stood the round?

  Dysposition

  No name

  Imagine

  TENEBRAE’D

  Unscrupulously

  After the lightwaiver

  Explicit

  Forced off

  Heaved far over

  Do you throw

  Contested stone

  Tenebrae’d

  Shovel the void

  Irruption

  With us

  LIGHTDURESS

  I

  Soundscraps, visionscraps

  Night rode him

  Musselheap

  Scooped with the ashladle

  Larded with microliths

  Gone into the night

  We already lay

  Contact mines

  Who sided with you?

  Reflection-laden

  Cleared

  Beaconcollector

  A you

  What threw

  II

  Once

  Hatchetswarms

  Precognition

  Two at Brancusi’s

  Where I

  Long ago

  Todtnauberg

  Sink

  Now

  To a Brother in Asia

  Jostled

  How you

  Highgate

  By lightning scared

  III

  Discus

  Knock

  The escaped

  In the darkclearings

  Scattered property

  The letter read from

  Cut the prayerhand
<
br />   What’s required as stars

  I can still see you

  Nothing but

  In the void

  The loamy sacrifice downpours

  The wildheart

  IV

  The eternities

  Heartsound-fibulas

  Grown weary

  An extra dollop of night

  Behind froststreaked beetles

  The Irishwoman

  The left-to-me

  Repudiated

  Productionhangar

  In the vesicle chamber

  Magnetic blue

  Outfall

  The mantis

  No halfwood

  Webbing

  Addressable

  V

  Oranienstraße 1

  Well-like

  With dreampropulsion

  For the larkshadow

  The cut-through

  Wan-voiced

  Sounddead sistershell

  Weathersensing hand

  In time’s corner

  Me too

  The backwardspoken

  Gradually clownfaced

  Roadblockbuoy language

  To fly under

  VI

  Delusionstalker eyes

  Unwieldy morrow

  Notepaper-pain

  Strew ocher

  Swandanger

  Leapcenturies

  Sourcepoints

  Trekscowtime

  You be like you

  Do not work ahead

  SNOWPART

  I

  Unwashed, unpainted

  You lie

  Lilac air

  Welldigger

  The breached year

  Unreadability

  Whorish else

  What sews

  I hear the axe has blossomed

  With the voice of the fieldmouse

  In lizard-

  Snowpart

  II

  The to-be-restuttered world

  You with the darkness slingshot

  Enjanuaried

  Be sloppy

  Parceled goods

  From abeam

  Woodfaced

  Largo

  To nightorder

  To speak with

  Something like night

  III

  Why this sudden at-homeness

  Why, from the uncreated

  Mapesbury Road

  The overloaded call

  Darkened forth

  With you, ragdoll

  The runic one too

  Your, even your

  Wallslogan

  For Eric

  Who doesn’t plough up something?

  Gillyflowers

  You transfathom

  For Eric

  Your blondshadow

  The abysses roam

  Your mane-echo

  IV

  The in-ear-device

  The halfgnawed

  A leaf

  Playtime

  Out of future-past fate

  Open glottis

  From the moorfloor

  Highmoor

  Oreglitter

  Einkanter

  With pruning hooks

  Loessdolls

  V

  Steeluginous visionstone

  And strength and pain

  Raised together

  Falling rocks

  I stride across

  Lightrods

  One reading branch

  Tear your

  Chalk-crocus

  The cables are

  In the access hatches

  And now

  Rapidfire-perihelion

  We the overdeepened

  Behind the templesplinters

  Rescue

  The darkened

  Eternity

  TIMESTEAD

  I

  Nomadforb, you catch yourself

  Spiteful moons

  Gold

  From the sinking whale forehead

  You outlier

  The silkbedecked Nowhere

  The vineyardwall assailed

  Only when I touch

  In the remotest

  Inserted into

  All the sleepfigures, crystalline

  Two sightbulges, two

  Before my

  You throw gold

  The whisperhouse

  Little night

  To huddle against

  I fool around

  Your clockface

  I pilot you

  My

  A star

  Little rootdreamings

  II

  Almonding you

  It stood

  The swelter

  We who like the sea oats guard

  A ring, for bowdrawing

  The radiance

  You, nitid

  Come

  A bootful

  The trumpet’s part

  The poles

  The kingsway

  There also

  I drink wine

  Something shall be

  Nothingness

  In the bellshape

  As I

  Strangeness

  Illuminated

  III

  Salved away

  Place change

  The world

  What bitters

  The lowered

  Crocus

  Vinegrowers

  ATEMWENDE

  I

  Du darfst

  Von Ungeträumtem

  In die Rillen

  In den Flüssen

  Vor dein spätes Gesicht

  Die Schwermutsschnellen hindurch

  Die Zahlen

  Wege im Schatten-Gebräch

  Weißgrau

  Mit erdwärts gesungenen Masten

  Schläfenzange

  Beim Hagelkorn

  Stehen

  Dein vom Wachen

  Mit den Verfolgten

  Fadensonnen

  Im Schlangenwagen

  Harnischstriemen

  Wortaufschüttung

  (Ich kenne dich

  Weggebeizt

  II

  Vom großen

  Singbarer Rest

  Flutender

  Zwanzig für immer

  Keine Sandkunst mehr

  Helligkeitshunger

  Als uns das Weiße anfiel

  Hohles Lebensgehöft

  Über drei

  Am weißen Gebetriemen

  Erblinde

  Engholztag

  Heute

  Mittags

  Unter die Haut

  Das Stundenglas

  Hafen

  III

  Schwarz

  Hammerköpfiges

  Landschaft

  Die Gauklertrommel

  Wenn du im Bett

  Hinterm kohlegezinkten

  In Prag

  Von der Orchis her

  Halbzerfressener

  Aus Fäusten

  Schwirrhölzer

  Abends

  Bei den zusammengetretenen

  Das aufwärtsstehende Land

  Das umhergestoßene

  Aschenglorie

  IV

  Das Geschriebene

  Cello-Einsatz

  Frihed

  Den verkieselten Spruch

  Wo?

  Königswut

  Solve

  Coagula

  Schädeldenken

  Osterqualm

  Kaimauer-Rast

  Erhört

  Schaufäden, Sinnfäden

  Ein Dröhnen

  Irrennäpfe

  Lichtenbergs zwölf

  Give the Word

  Vom Anblick der Amseln

  V

  Große, glühende Wölbung

  Schieferäugige

  Schlickende

  Du, das

  Der mit Himmeln geheizte

  Dunstbänder-, Spruchbänder-Aufstand

  Ruh aus in deinen Wunden

  VI

  Einmal
r />   FADENSONNEN

  I

  Augenblicke

  Frankfurt, September

  Gezinkt der Zufall

  Wer herrscht?

  Die Spur eines Bisses

  In der ewigen Teufe

  Sichtbar

  Umweg-Karten

  Sackleinen-Gugel

  Spasmen

  Deine Augen im Arm

  Hendaye

  Pau, Nachts

  Pau, Später

  Der Hengst

  Die Unze Wahrheit

  In den Geräuschen

  Lyon, Les Archers

  Die Köpfe

  Wo bin ich

  Die längst Entdeckten

  All deine Siegel erbrochen? Nie.

  II

  Schlafbrocken

  Die Wahrheit

  Aus den nahen

  Ausgeschlüpfte

  Ewigkeiten

  Der puppige Steinbrech

  Die zwischenein-

  Der geglückte

  Auf überregneter Fährte

  Weißgeräusche

  Die teuflischen

  Die Dunkel-Impflinge

  Die zweite

  Das ausgeschachtete Herz

  Die fleißigen

  Die kollidierenden

  Eingehimmelt

  Wenn ich nicht weiß, nicht weiß

  Eingewohnt-entwohnt

  Riesiges

  Gewieherte Tumbagebete

  Die Ewigkeiten tingeln

  Müllschlucker-Chöre

  III

  Entteufelter Nu

  Hüllen

  Die Liebe

  Du warst

  Zur Rechten

  Die abgewrackten Tabus

  Wutpilger-Streifzüge

  Stille

  Die Eine

  Bei Glüh- und Mühwein

  Schief

  Die herzschriftgekrümelte

  Unverwahrt

  Das unbedingte Geläut

  Die Ewigkeit

  Spät

  Die Sämlinge

  Die Hügelzeilen entlang

  Komm

  Entschlackt

  Seelenblind

  Anrainerin

  Möwenküken

  IV

  Irisch

  Die Stricke

  Tau

  Üppige Durchsage

  Ausgerollt

  Ölig

  Ihr mit dem

  Aus Engelsmaterie

  Die freigeblasene Leuchtsaat

  Kleide die Worthöhlen aus

  Die Hochwelt

  Die brabbelnden

  … auch keinerlei

  Nah, im Aortenbogen

  Wirf das Sonnenjahr

  Weil du den Notscherben fandst

  Es ist gekommen die Zeit

  Lippen, Schwellgewebe

  V

  Mächte, Gewalten

  Tagbewurf

  Redewände

  Verwaist

  Beider

  Fortgewälzter

  Als Farben

  Die Rauchschwalbe

  Weiß

  Unbedeckte

  Der Schweigestoß

  Haut Mal

  Das taubeneigroße Gewächs

  Angewintertes

  Draußen

  Wer gab die Runde aus?

  Heddergemüt

  Kein Name

  Denk Dir

  EINGEDUNKELT

  Bedenkenlos

  Nach dem Lichtverzicht

  Deutlich

  Vom Hochseil

  Über die Köpfe

  Wirfst du

  Angefochtener Stein

  Eingedunkelt

  Füll die Ödnis

  Einbruch

  Mit uns

  LICHTZWANG

  I

  Hörreste, Sehreste

  Ihn ritt die Nacht

  Muschelhaufen

  Mit der Aschenkelle geschöpft

  Mit Mikrolithen

  In die Nacht gegangen

  Wir lagen

  Tretminen

  Wer schlug sich zu dir?

  Abglanzbeladen

 

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