Fascinating, I wonder when this was written? 1937??

catterel's avatarPoems of Nelly Sachs in English

When the great terror came
I became mute –
Fish turned
dead-side up
Air bubbles paid the price of battling breath
All words fugitives
in their immortal hiding places
where the life force
has to spell out their
starbirths
and time loses its knowledge
in the enigma of light –

ALS DER GROSSE SCHRECKEN KAM
wurde ich stumm –
Fisch mit der Totenseite
nach oben gekehrt
Luftblasen bezahlten den kämpfenden Atem
         Alle Worte Flüchtlinge
in ihre unsterblichen Verstecke
wo die Zeugungskraft ihre
Sterngeburten
buchstabieren muß
und die Zeit ihr Wissen verliert
in die Rätsel des Lichts –

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One response

  1. catterel Avatar

    Presumably following her interrogation by the Gestapo, when she was unable to speak at all for some time.

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