Tuesday 12 May 2009

the soul silences the blue springtime





Es schweigt die Seele den blauen Frühling.
Unter feuchtem Abendgezweig
Sank in Schauern die Stirne den Liebenden.

O das grünende Kreuz. In dunklem Gespräch
Erkannten sich Mann und Weib.
An kahler Mauer
Wandelt in seinen Gestirnen der Einsame.

Über die mondbeglänzten Wege des Walds
Sank die Wildnis
Vergessener Jagden; Blick der Bläue
Aus verfallenen Felsen bricht.



The soul silences the blue springtime.

Under moist evening branches

The forehead of lovers sank in shudders.


O the greening cross. In dark conversation

Man and woman knew each other.

Along the bleak wall

The lonely one wanders with his stars.


Over the moon-brightened forest ways

The wilderness

Of forgotten hunts sank; gaze of blue

Breaks from decayed rocks.















O des verfluchten Geschlechts. Wenn in befleckten Zimmern jegliches Schicksal vollendet ist, tritt mit modernden Schritten der Tod in das Haus. O, daß draußen Frühling wäre und im blühenden Baum ein lieblicher Vogel singe. Aber gräulich verdorrt das spärliche Grün an den Fenstern der Nächtlichen und es sinnen die blutenden Herzen noch Böses. O, die dämmernden Frühlingswege des Sinnenden. Gerechter erfreut ihn die blühende Hecke, die junge Saat des Landmanns und der singende Vogel, Gottes sanftes Geschöpf; die Abendglocke und die schöne Gemeine der Menschen. Daß er seines Schicksals vergäße und des dornigen Stachels.




O of the cursed race. When in maculate rooms every destiny has been fulfilled, death enters the house in moldering steps. O, that it were spring outdoors and a lovely bird was singing in the blossoming tree. But grayish the scanty green withers around the windows of the nocturnal ones and bleeding hearts still ponder evil. O, the dusking spring paths of the pondering. More righteously he rejoices in the blossoming hedge, the countryman's young seed, and the singing bird, God's soft creature; the evening bell and the beautiful community of men. So that he might forget his fate and the thorny sting.














Sehr leise sinkt ihr Lächeln in den verfallenen Brunnen,
Der bläulich in der Dämmerung rauscht. O, wie alt ist unser Geschlecht.
Jemand flüstert drunten im Garten; jemand hat diesen schwarzen Himmel verlassen.



Very quietly her smile sinks into the decayed fountain

Which murmurs bluish in the dusk. O how old is our race.

Somebody whispers down there in the garden; somebody has left this black sky.


















































Purpurn zerbrach der Gesegneten Mund. Die runden Augen
Spiegeln das dunkle Gold des Frühlingsnachmittags,
Saum und Schwärze des Walds, Abendängste im Grün..




Purple, the blessed one's mouth broke. Round eyes
Mirror the dark gold of the spring afternoon,
Edge and blackness of the forest, evening-anguishes in the green.









Bläulich dämmert der Frühling; unter saugenden Bäumen
Wandert ein Dunkles in Abend und Untergang,
Lauschend der sanften Klage der Amsel.
Schweigend erscheint die Nacht, ein blutendes Wild,
Das langsam hinsinkt am Hügel.

In feuchter Luft schwankt blühendes Apfelgezweig,
Löst silbern sich Verschlungenes,
Hinsterbend aus nächtigen Augen; fallende Sterne;
Sanfter Gesang der Kindheit.

Erscheinender stieg der Schläfer den schwarzen Wald hinab,
Und es rauschte ein blauer Quell im Grund,
Daß jener leise die bleichen Lider aufhob
Über sein schneeiges Antlitz;

Und es jagte der Mond ein rotes Tier
Aus seiner Höhle;
Und es starb in Seufzern die dunkle Klage der Frauen.





Spring dusks bluish: under sucking trees

A dark shape wanders into evening and decline,

Listening to the blackbird's soft lament.

Silently the night appears, a bleeding deer,

That slowly sinks down at the hill.


In moist air blossoming apple branches sway,

Labyrinthine shapes loosen silverly,

Dying away from nocturnal eyes; falling stars;

Soft song of childhood.


Appearing more the sleeper descended the black forest,

And a blue spring murmured from the ground,

So that the other one quietly lifted pale eyelids

Over his snowy countenance;


And the moon chased a red animal

From its cave;

And in sighs the dark lament of women died.










Ein blauer Augenblick ist nur mehr Seele.


A blue moment is only more soul.






















Leise sank von dunklen Schritten der Schnee,
Im Schatten des Baums
Heben die rosigen Lider Liebende.

Immer folgt den dunklen Rufen der Schiffer
Stern und Nacht;
Und die Ruder schlagen leise im Takt.

Balde an verfallener Mauer blühen
Die Veilchen,
Ergrünt so stille die Schläfe des Einsamen.



Quietly snow sank from dark steps,
In the shadow of the trees
Lovers raise the rosy eyelids.

Always star and night
Follow the mariners' dark calls;
And the oars beat quietly in time.

Soon by the decayed wall
Violets bloom,
So silently the temple of the lonely one turns green.
















Feierlich rauschen die Wasser. O die feuchten Schatten der Au,
Das schreitende Tier; Grünendes, Blütengezweig
Rührt die kristallene Stirne; schimmernder Schaukelkahn.
Leise tönt die Sonne im Rosengewölk am Hügel.
Groß ist die Stille des Tannenwalds, die ernsten Schatten am Fluß.

Reinheit! Reinheit! Wo sind die furchtbaren Pfade des Todes,
Des grauen steinernen Schweigens, die Felsen der Nacht
Und die friedlosen Schatten? Strahlender Sonnenabgrund.

Schwester, da ich dich fand an einsamer Lichtung
Des Waldes und Mittag war und groß das Schweigen des Tiers;
Weiße unter wilder Eiche, und es blühte silbern der Dorn.
Gewaltiges Sterben und die singende Flamme im Herzen.

Dunkler umfließen die Wasser die schönen Spiele der Fische.
Stunde der Trauer, Schweigender Anblick der Sonne;
Es ist die Seele ein Fremdes auf Erden. Geistlich dämmert
Bläue über dem verhauenen Wald und es läutet
Lange eine dunkle Glocke im Dorf; friedlich Geleit.
Stille blüht die Myrthe über den weißen Lidern des Toten.



Solemnly the waters murmur. O the moist shadows of the floodplain,

The striding animal; greening shapes, flowering branches

Touch the crystal forehead; shimmering swaying boat.

Quietly the sun sounds in the rose-colored clouds by the hill.

Great is the stillness of the fir forest, the serious shadows at the river.


Purity! Purity! Where are the terrible paths of death,

Of grey stony silence, the rocks of the night

And the peaceless shadows? Radiant sun-abyss.


Sister, when I found you at the lonely clearing

Of the forest, and it was midday and the silence of the animal great;

Whiteness under wild oak, and the thorn bloomed silver.

Enormous dying and the singing flame in the heart.


Darker the waters flow around the beautiful play of fishes.

Hour of mourning, silent vision of the sun;

The soul is a strange shape on earth. Spiritually blueness

Dusks over the pruned forest; and a dark bell rings

Long in the village; peaceful escort.

Silently the myrtle blooms over the white eyelids of the dead one.



All excerpts from Georg Trakl
(translated by Jim Doss and Werner Schmitt)

















44 comments:

  1. That is a wonderful post. Absolutely fantastic, all of it, images and text. If the verses were a little too romantic for my normal taste, on this occasion it didn't matter a bit, it was good to be taken somewhere else by something so well done.

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  2. my lord, those are some stunning images (and a rather dark poem).

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  3. o lume de vis!
    am fost acolo ....ptr putin timp!

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  4. Sometimes I feel that as long as we have trees there's hope in the world...

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  5. These are incredible pictures, crystalline and -- at once -- otherworldy and deep, deep in this world. Your camera, your eye, loves these trees. And Trakl is the perfect accompaniment....

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  6. there is nothing as beautiful as wood carved by nature - no carpenters' craft can surpass it. such beautiful and untamed lands...and the manner you've captured/photoshopped it imparts almost a tolkenian fantasy feel - like the woods of lothlorien or rivendell or some such enchanted place... is this really your neighborhood in romania? how much i would envy you then...
    P.S: you are making it really difficult for me to make my selection, by the way...

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  7. roxana, you should be proud of living in such a beautiful place.. so lovely and inspirational.. :-)

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  8. What beautiful, beautiful photographs - each one a moment held in time, balanced against what has happened and what is still to be.

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  9. Gosh, he sounds a bit depressed. Hope you're not. Here's this to cheer you up in case you r.

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  10. sorry, sorry! forgot to say what has to be said: some absolutely stunning photos.

    not so much a mythical place as a mythical time. reminds me of the singing ringing tree for some odd reason.

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  11. Roxana il faut suivre avec toi, vu la quantité de photos que tu post.
    Tu nous offre une multitudes de cerisier ; en fleurs des images très belle vraiment que ces beau . as-tu constaté de ton côté des perdre de pixels sur tes photos, en effet sur mon blog c’est constaté que mes photos avec moins de pêche que originale moins nette.

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  12. Such eerie pictures, both filled with darkness and life because of the blooming flowers.

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  13. Frumos, poezie de doua ori. Felicitari!

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  14. Thank you Dave, I am glad you enjoyed. I can't agree with you though re the 'romantic' verses, perhaps it is the English translation which gives this impression, I don't know. For me, Trakl is certainly not romantic, there is neither transcendence nor search of it in his poetry, only despair and dejection, the despair which comes after the end of the romantic illusions. so it is true that we can find Romantic symbols in his poems, but in such a way that their hollowness and decay becomes more apparent.

    and romantic poetry is discursive and diluted (i find it hard to like it myself, no matter how much i like romantic aesthetics), Trakl's poetry is concentrated, hermetic and violent. expressionism at its best.





    hi, Michael :-)
    sorry for the dark poem... Trakl is very little known so I thought i cannot lose this opportunity to post something from him - if I had to make a list of 3 poets, he would certainly be there, for me he is one of the greatest, ever. But I think one has to feel his images in German...




    multumesc, I.B., lumea de vis e o padurice la cativa km de Craiova :-)

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  15. Manu, yes, you are right - but if you came to Craiova you would discover they have started to cut all the trees. I tell to myself this is really a crazy world, when people prefer to surround themselves with concrete and cut off beautiful old trees for no reason whatsoever. oh yes, the reasons: they are in the way, and sometimes branches might fall away when we have a storm, it's dangerous!...

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  16. James, I have always wanted to live in the mountains (which would be ideally placed on the seaside, however :-) to wander through such forests whenever I feel like... This are small woods near Craiova (half an hour drive), where the hills begin, a transition area between the plain and the Carpathians...



    oh Zuma, you live in India and envy this :-) but it is true that Romania has marvellous landscapes, some foreigners say the most beautiful in Europe (and still wild). you are of course right about the fantasy- feeling, I wanted to have such a mood so i played a bit with contrasts and colours...
    (ah you will never be able to make that selection :-P no, I am not narcissistic, you are just too busy for that :-)





    Peter :-) Romanians tend generally to oscillate between nationalistic pride and total self-denial haha. but yes, read my answer to Zuma...

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  17. Noura! thank you so much, my dear... it's always a joy to hear from you...



    merc :-)
    (i love it so, when you use this magic word for me)



    Neil, perhaps this is exactly the aim and the meaning of each photograph, what gives photography its aching beauty... the impossible courage of such an attempt and the fragility of always being conscious of the failure...

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  18. anonymous, hi there... yes, he suffered from depression, eventually killed himself not being able to survive the sight of war atrocities...

    thank you for the song, now i have no possibility to listen to it, i'll do it as soon as possible and come back to you...

    I am glad you liked my dark spring... but it is spring nevertheless, however sullen :-)







    Allan, merci beaucoup pour tes paroles si gentilles... je ne sais pas s'ils sont des cerisiers... en tout cas ce n'est pas le cerisier japonais, puisque c'est une foret roumaine :-)
    j'ai entendu quelqu'un d'autre se plaindre de cette perte de qualite des photos postees sur blogger, moi je n'ai rien remarque jusqu'a present. mais c'est peut-etre parce que mes photos ne sont pas claires des le debut :-)

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  19. Simona, multumesc, primavara e o nebunie intotdeauna, da :-)



    Mary-Laure, thank you so much, 'eerie' is such a lovely word...




    Gabriel, ma bucur mult ca ti-au placut...

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  20. very nice one, I like especially the one with just one big branch and with angle made of wooden planks

    interesting use of adjustment brush, but be careful, on some it is way too obvious - and, especially in color, it is somewhat dangerous
    (yes i know that asking you for moderation is silly)

    regards from rue henri barbusse ;)

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  21. but Eneles, if it's too obvious in some, it should only mean that i have intended it to be like this, of course! i wanted this kind of unreal feeling, like a fantasy world. now i understand that some can disagree with my experiment and call it excessive, but hey, who can please everyone? :-)

    and i think the next post will provide you with the pleasure of nodding "yes, yes, as i was thinking, silly to tell her about moderation" :-P
    (at least with that pleasure, and perhaps a small visual delight at the sight of pearls glimmering in the night :-)

    kind thanks for your Paris greetings, but tell me, don't you think it is a little cruel to do that to me? :-) just asking.

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  22. Thank you for the moments of magique...i like the "atmosfere" created...thank you

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  23. yes,I envy you - not becuase we don't have beautiful woods, but because they are never close to the cities, but faraway in the hills; and cos of my nature of workI'mconstrained to always live close to the downtownof a big metropolis :-(. all around big Indian cities you find ugly satllite towns and the grime and refuse of arbitrary industrialization.
    In LA ofcourse, we had woods running right through the urban sprawl (the canyons off the coast of malibu,and the santa monica mountains with all the recreational parks;and of course hollywood);but much as I enjoyed them, they did not appear as 'pretty' or as pristine or verdant - maybe its your camera work - but I think you also need a particular kind climate to produce these kinds of woods (with varying and pronounced seasons); and an absence of heavy urbanization. After all, human presence ruins everything...

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  24. I apologize, it was not my intention to question your artistic intentions, and judging by the comments you did reach your goal in its entirety

    the very existence of paris is cruel for people who do not live here, I am just a messenger - but yes, I should keep quiet

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  25. Eneles, have you got upset? of course you can question my 'artistic intentions', ahahah, why would you apologize for that? how can you think otherwise?
    perhaps i haven't made myself understood very well, i only meant that i was well aware it was a bit too obvious in some pictures, and that was a choice i had done knowing very well some people would not agree...

    but i was very happy that you wrote and told me what you thought about that, can you doubt that? it would be silly.

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  26. it was just a bit of surprise that an anti-digital crusader like yourself, who would discard a picture just knowing that it is a montage, even though it is not noticable - would use obvious digital manipulation

    doubt is my middle name now, gone are the Nansen years

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  27. but, Eneles, i am buying a digital camera, this can only mean i am also not the one i used to be... :-) i wonder: is this kind of selective exposure impossible to achieve in a classical lab? but anyway, i haven't got anything against collage, it is just a different form of art than what i like to call 'photography' - it's like conceptual vs. intuitive - but i won't go down this road because i am not sure of my 'theories', they are hardly any :-)

    and besides, that adjustment brush has waken lost forgotten painting longings in me, so i like to play like this - sometimes...

    or maybe i need more magic now in my life, to stay alive :-)

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  28. hi, Adelino, thank you for your visit and your kind words...

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  29. yes, i imagine American landscapes are breathtaking... and you are right, Romania used to be an... i think you call this "agrarian land" in english? and it is still very much so, despite Ceausescu's attempt at forced industrializing... and besides, we only have 91 density /km2, which is very few for an European country.

    (all this to say actually: but of course it is only my camera work! :-)

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  30. ps. last answer was for Zuma, i forgot :-)

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  31. Ce locuri frumoase,superbe fotografii!!

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  32. :-)
    multumesc, draga mea Edith

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  33. You, my Love, steal my breath away, with all the expressive beauty that lives within you.

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  34. good, you even anticipate how your theories will be destroyed ;) as for your question - I don't think it can be achieved in the lab, and it has no slightest meaning to me. there is a thin line between believable and unbelievable, and some grey area around it. it is better, to my mind, to stay exactly on the line - maybe moving back and forth for greater effect. there might be times when technique itself should be visible but this isn't one of them ;) I repeat, however, these are very good.

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  35. Plus je regarde ton oeuvre, plus j'ai envie de découvrir ton beau pays, c'est vraiment de toute beauté!!!

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  36. Eneles, i don't think i've crossed that line here, or at least not without moving back quickly, so yes, staying a bit in the grey area, but not too long.

    i humbly thank you for your gracious praise :-)

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  37. et oui, tu devrais nous rendre visite ici une fois, apres tout, la Roumanie n'est pas si loin du Portugal, n'est-ce pas? :-)


    merci, Marc.

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  38. all the darker hues of spring are there ... what a tribute to the " dusking spring paths of the pondering" ....

    (selbst ein grauer Augenblick hat eine Seele)

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  39. fff, ah klar, ohne jeden Zweifel :-)

    i thought the 'darker hues of spring' might be worth pursuing as well :-)

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  40. ah! all this series is fantastic!

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