from Part II - Der neuen Gedichte anderer Teil / The New Poems: The Other Part
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2016
For such an inner place, where is
an outer? Name the wound or ache
on which such linen lays
its bandage. In its mirror lie what skies,
deep in that inland lake
of opened and unworried roses —
These beings? See how slack,
how loose, are all their poses?
Relaxed, they're lying back
as if no single trembling hand could spill them.
They hold back at their own full brim,
but barely; many let their cup
flow spilling over, filling up,
with all this inner room,
the days, which keep on closing in
completely, filled up to the top,
till all the summer is a room within
a dream — a room within a dream.
Damen-Bildnis aus den Achtziger-Jahren
Wartend stand sie an den schwergerafften
dunklen Atlasdraperien,
die ein Aufwand falscher Leidenschaften
über ihr zu ballen schien;
seit den noch so nahen Mädchenjahren
wie mit einer anderen vertauscht:
müde unter den getürmten Haaren,
in den Rüschen-Roben unerfahren
und von allen Falten wie belauscht
bei dem Heimweh und dem schwachen Planen,
wie das Leben weiter werden soll:
anders, wirklicher, wie in Romanen,
hingerissen und verhängnisvoll, —
daß man etwas erst in die Schatullen
legen dürfte, um sich im Geruch
von Erinnerungen einzulullen;
daß man endlich in dem Tagebuch
einen Anfang fände, der nicht schon
unterm Schreiben sinnlos wird und Lüge,
und ein Blatt von einer Rose trüge
in dem schweren leeren Medaillon,
welches liegt auf jedem Atemzug.
Daß man einmal durch das Fenster winkte;
diese schlanke Hand, die neuberingte,
hätte dran für Monate genug.
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