TWO POEMS

by

Hans Magnus Enzensberger

translated by Anthony Weir

 

 

1. THE VISIT

When I looked up from the blank page in front of me
there was an angel in the room.
A rather ordinary angel -
presumably from the lower échelons.
You cannot imagine (he said)
how dispensable you are.
Of the fifteen thousand shades of blue,
(he said) each one makes more of a difference
than anything you may do
or not do -
not to mention uranium
and the Great Magellanic Cloud.
Even the most common lichen, unassuming
as it is, would leave a gap. Not you.
I could tell from the gleaming of his eyes -
that he was hoping for a nice long, bitter argument.
I did not move. I sat in silence
until he left.

 

 

2. THIRTY-THREE YEARS OLD

It was all so different from what she had expected.
Always these rusting Volkswagens.
Way back, she'd almost married a baker.
First she'd read Hesse, then she read Handke.
She does crosswords in bed quite a lot now.
Men don't take liberties with her.
For years she was a Trotskyist, but in her fashion.
She's never had to use a ration card.
When she thinks of Cambodia she feels quite sick.
Her last lover - the professor - wanted her to beat him.
Greenish batik dresses, a bit too wide.
Greenfly on her Sparmannia.
Really, she wanted to paint, or emigrate.
Her thesis, Class Struggles in Ulm 1500
to 1512 and References to them in Folk Songs:
Grants, beginnings and a suitcase full of notes
not Legal Tender, of course - this is sent
to her from time to time by her grandmother.
Timorous dances in her bathroom, little grimaces,
cucumber-juice for hours in front of the mirror.
She says Whatever happens I shan't starve.
When she weeps she looks nineteen.

 

 

On poemhunter.com
I found this excellent unattributed translation.

A SONG FOR THOSE WHO KNOW

Something must be done right away
that much we know
but of course it's too soon to act
but of course it's too late in the day
oh we know
we know that we're really rather well off
and that we'll go on like this
and that it's not much use anyway
oh we know
we know that we are to blame
and that it's not our fault if we are to blame
and that we're to blame for the fact that it's not our fault
and that we're fed up with it
oh we know
and that maybe it would be a good idea to keep our mouths shut
and that we won't keep our mouths shut all the same
oh we know
oh we know
and we also know that we can't help anybody really
and that nobody really can help us
oh we know
and that we're extremely gifted and brilliant
and free to choose between nothing and naught
and that we must analyze this problem very carefully
and that we take two lumps of sugar in our tea
oh we know
we know all about oppression
and that we are very much against it
and that cigarettes have gone up again
oh we know
we know very well that the nation is heading for real trouble
and that our forecasts have usually been dead right
and that they are not of any use
and that all this is just talk
oh we know
that it's just not good enough to live things down
and that we are going to live them down all the same
oh we know oh we know
that there is nothing new in all this
and that life is wonderful
and that's all there is to it
oh we know all this perfectly well
and that we know all this perfectly well
oh we know that too
oh we know it
oh we know

 

>> Six translations of a poem by Rilke >>

>> More translations from the German >>