Paul Celan's Encounters with Surrealism by Ryland Charlotte

Author:Ryland, Charlotte
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)

‘Le Dernier Poème' in Translation

Celan did not discover the genesis of ‘Le Dernier Poème’, and that it was therefore probably not composed in that form by Desnos, until after his translations had gone to press for the anthology edited by Klee-Palyi.49 The unique status of ‘Le Dernier Poème’ renders Celan’s translation of it exceptional also within his translation oeuvre. When read in the light of its unusual provenance, Celan’s version appears to thematize both the French poem’s relationship to its source text (the poem ‘J’ai tant rêvé de toi’) and its own status as a translation of a translation:

DAS LETZTE GEDICHT

Vor lauter Von-dir-Träumen,

lauter Gehn, lauter Sprechen

mit deinem Schatten,

lauter Ihn-Lieben,

bleibt mir nun nichts mehr von dir,

bleibt mir nur dies:

der Schatten Schatten zu sein,

der Schatten-Schemen,

der ein und aus geht

bei deinem sonnigen Leben.50

[From much dreaming-of-you,

much walking, much speaking

with your shadow,

much loving-it,

remains for me nothing more of you,

remains for me only this:

to be the shadow of shadows,

the shadow-phantom,

which goes in and out

in your sunny life.]

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