Georg Trakl

My Heart in Evening

Zu Abend mein Herz

Am Abend hört man den Schrei der Fledermäuse.
Zwei Rappen springen auf der Wiese.
Der rote Ahorn rauscht.
Dem Wanderer erscheint die kleine Schenke am Weg.
Herrlich schmecken junger Wein und Nüsse.
Herrlich: betrunken zu taumeln in dämmernden Wald.
Durch schwarzes Geäst tönen schmerzliche Glocken.
Auf das Gesicht tropft Tau.

My Heart in Evening

In the evening one hears the sharp shrieks of bats.
Two ponies prance in the meadow.
The red maple rustles.
On the road, a small inn reveals itself to the hiker.
To drink the new wine and eat nuts is delicious.
To tumble, drunk in the darkening wood:  delicious.
Through black branches, church bells inflict their notes.
On my face, the surprise of the dew.

Author: Georg Trakl

Georg Trakl was born in 1887 in Salzburg, Austria, and is considered one of the most important writers of the Austrian Expressionist movement. Trakl trained as a pharmacist.  His first poetry collection, Gedichte (Poems), was published in 1913; other collections were published posthumously.  He served in the medical corps of the Austro-Hungarian army and suffered a psychotic break while stationed in Galicia.  He died from an overdose of cocaine in Krakow in 1914.

Translation: Mark Wunderlich

Plume: Issue #5 November 2011