Poetry
Sebastian Dreaming
Sebastian im Traum
Georg Trakl · 1915
Opening lines
Voll Früchten der Hollunder; ruhig wohnte die Kindheit
In blauer Höhle.
The elder full of fruit; calmly childhood dwelt
In a blue cave.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from zeno.org
Synopsis
A collection of poems, of which the title poem evokes the childhood of a Sebastian: a mother carrying her little one under the white moon, the shade of the walnut tree, the thrush's lament. From one poem to the next return evening, silence, the sister, the mute dead and decay, with no narrative linking them. It also contains the song of Kaspar Hauser and the poem Untergang.
Context
After a first collection published by Kurt Wolff in 1913, the poet put together a second set for the same publisher, reusing several poems from the first, and revised it until May 1914. The delays of the war did the rest: from the hospital in Kraków he was still asking for the proofs when he died, and the book did not appear until the beginning of the following year. It is the last collection he composed himself; his final poems, including Grodek, appeared after his death in Ficker's journal.
Who it is for
Fewer than a hundred pages of poems, mostly short. You have to give up understanding every image and let yourself be carried by the return of the same words, which provide the structure in place of sense.
Prizes and reception
The last collection settled by its author, published after his death; it contains several of his most widely read poems.
Sources for this page 11
The pages consulted to check this page.