Abstract
themanfrom thesea they find himina tailcoat ofsalt andsand,a passport ofalgae,anensemble ofseagulls behind him.thefog. hedoesn't saya word, instead hemakesthefelt breakers roll, surge through thepiano'sframe, others marvel, handslaid,like heavyepaulettes, onhisshoulders; thehourofglory, theeraofpills, theautumn nights: inthecorridors nurses drift past likeicebergs, beneath thewalls oftheclinic's garden, thelastleavesflutter, insideanoldshed covered with ivy, themuffled sound ofa piano,sometimes taken for chopin. afterthethousandand first night "Thejoyspreadthrough theking'scastle, andevenstreamed through thewhole city. Thatnight didnotcountas earthly life ..." thewarmth carried thescent ofreseda intothebedchamber, as Scheherazade stirred, thefirst morning ofallthedays tocome;a stuffed tiger, a spinning topanda jumping jackbythebed, andoutside a suntoolazytorise, donkeys aredonkeys, goatsarestill goats, from dateseedsgrowdatepalms. itisthemorning after thecannon salute, onlya coupleofnewsagents squatpale intheir aviaries, inthecourtyard, thewhining andclanging ofthecistern: oneortwoslaves, whoknows, hauling a bucket offresh wetness for flowers orfor thegrindstone. Translations from theGerman ByChenxin Jiang Jan Wagner(b. 1971, Hamburg) lives in Berlin.Poet, translatorof Englishpoetry, literarycritic,co-editor of the international literaturebox Die Aussenseitedes Elementesand the comprehensive anthology ofyoung German-language poetry Lyrik vonJetzt, he has published fourpoetrycollections, most recentlyAchtzehn Pasteten(2007; Eighteen pies) and Australien(2010), and received various literary awards, among them the Anna Seghers Award (2004), the ErnstMeisterAward forPoetry(2005), and the WilhelmLehmann Award (2009). ChenxinJiangis a recent graduate of PrincetonUniversity's undergraduate creative writingprogram. She presentlylives and works in London, where she has led workshops on Taiwanese poetryforthe PoetryTranslationCentre. Her translations ofWagner's poems are also forthcominginPoetryLondon. 181WorldLiterature Today ^9 t I z o Ï ...
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