Georg Trakl (1887-1914) was an Austrian expressionist poet. During his short life he wrote and published numerous poems, many of them in the influential literary magazine Der Brenner. He is best known for his later works, in which he processed some of the horrific events he witnessed as a field apothecary during the early stages of World War I, shortly after which, having struggled with anxiety and depression for most of it, he took his own life. The poem I selected, a sonnet (original title: Verfall), was written in 1913, and is emblematic for the themes Trakl explores throughout most of his work, among them its title: Decay. Almost all of Trakl's poetry is set in autumn, his favorite season, in which mother nature displays all her awesome power in a flurry of color in preparation for her own funeral. His poetry relies on vivid imagery, both beautiful and melancholy, sometimes outright disturbing, often employed in rapid succession. His works are also filled with neologisms, as well as unorthodox syntactic structures, which can sometimes be challenging (especially if you're a translator). The following poem is rather tame in both regards, only the word "dämmervoll" (literally translating to something like "twilight-rich") is not a standard German word that you would find in a dictionary. I tried to do something similar by translating it as "gloaming", used as a verb, instead of the noun that it would ordinarily be (it really should be a verb too, though). And now, without further ado, here is my translation, enjoy: Georg Trakl Decay In the evening, when the bells ring peace, I follow the wondrous flight of birds that flocked at length like pious pilgrim’s rows, vanish into autumn’s clear expanse. Promenading through the gloaming gardens, their lighter destinies I dream, and feeling barely move the hour’s hands, above the clouds attend their passage. A breeze then makes me quake before decay. The blackbird wails on barren branches. Red grapes are swaying on a rusty grate. And like some pallid children’s dance of death, round dingy brims of weathered wells, blue asters slant, and shiver in the wind.
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