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Author: TRANSTROMER, TOMAS Matches Found: 263 Transtromer, Tomas Poet's Biography 263 poems available by this author ABOUT HISTORY First Line: One day in march I go down to the sea and listen Last Line: Just as a memory is slowly transmuted into your own self ABOUT HISTORY First Line: One march day I walked down to the lake shore to listen Last Line: Like an old memory gradually changing into you AFTER A DEATH Poem Text First Line: Once there was a shock Subject(s): Death; Dead, The AFTER A DEATH First Line: Once there was a shock Last Line: The samurai looks insignificant %beside his armor of black dragon scales AFTER A LONG DRY SPELL First Line: The summer is gray now strange evening Last Line: It's all right to live by your own code AFTER DEATH First Line: Once there was a shock Last Line: Beside his armor of black dragon scales AFTER THE ATTACK First Line: The sick boy Last Line: No one notices it AFTER THE ATTACK First Line: The sick boy. %locked in a vision Last Line: He has come nearer. %no one notices it AGITATED MEDITATION First Line: A storm makes the vanes of the mill whiz around Last Line: Goes to sea comes back sturned to stone AIR MAIL Poem Text First Line: On the hunt for a letter-box Last Line: No one makes it his own Subject(s): Letters; Postal Service; Postmen; Post Office; Mail; Mailmen AIR MAIL First Line: On the hunt for a letter-box Last Line: No-one makes it his own Subject(s): Letters; Postal Service ALLEGRO Poem Text First Line: I play haydn after a black day Subject(s): Haydn, Joseph (1732-1809) ALLEGRO First Line: I play hadyn after a black day ALLEGRO First Line: After a black day, I play haydn Last Line: But every pane of glass is still whole ALLEGRO First Line: After a black day, I play haydn Last Line: But every pane of glass is still whole ALONE First Line: One evening in february I came near to dying here Last Line: Everyone is queuing at everyone's door %many %one Subject(s): Automobile Accidents ALONG THE LINES First Line: Sun glints from the frozen river Last Line: That paints them over ANSWERS TO LETTERS First Line: In the bottom drawer of my desk I come across a letter that first arrived Last Line: Mass of the endless text APRIL AND SILENCE First Line: Spring lies abandoned Last Line: At the pawnbroker's ARTIST IN THE NORTH First Line: I, edvard grieg, moved free among men Last Line: Fight to come alive ARTIST IN THE NORTH First Line: I edvard grieg moved like a free man among men AT FUNCHAL First Line: On the beach there's a seafood place, simple, a shack Last Line: Book that can only be read in the dark AT FUNCHAL First Line: On the beach there's a seafood place, simple, a shack thrown Last Line: Grows over after every step. A book that can only be read in the dark AUTUMN IN THE SKERRIES First Line: Suddenly, out walking, he meets the giant Last Line: Froth across the shore BALAKIREV'S DREAM First Line: The black grand piano, the shiny spider Last Line: Droshkies wheeled by swiftly in the night BALAKIREV'S DREAM: 1905 First Line: The black grand piano, the gleamy spider Last Line: Carriages for hire rolled swiftly through the night. %milij balakirev: 1837-1910 %russian composer BALTICS First Line: It was before the time of radio masts Last Line: With the light of all the people carried by the certain wave the certain %wind %our here to their fa BELOW FREEZING First Line: We are at a party that doesn't love us Last Line: The light grows as gradually as our hair BELOW FREEZING First Line: We are at a party that doesn't love us. Finally the party lets the Last Line: For. The light grows as gradually as our hair BELOW ZERO Poem Text Subject(s): Life BERCEUSE Poem Text First Line: I am a mummy at rest in the blue coffin of the forests Last Line: See the cities beneath them glitterring like the gold of the goths Subject(s): Airplane Accidents; Aviation & Aviators; Death; Travel; Air Crashes; Aeronautics - Accidents; Airplane Collisions; Dead, The; Journeys; Trips BERCEUSE First Line: I am a mummy at rest in the blue coffin of the forests Last Line: Will see the cities beneath them glittering like the gold of the goths Subject(s): Airplane Accidents; Aviation And Aviators; Death; Travel BLACK MOUNTAINS First Line: At the next bend the bus broke free of the mountain's cold shadow Last Line: Up in the mountains the blue sea caught up with the sky BLACK POSTCARDS Poem Text First Line: The calendar full, future unknown Subject(s): Death; Dead, The BLACK POSTCARDS First Line: The calendar full, future unknown Last Line: Sewn in the silence Subject(s): Death BLACK POSTCARDS First Line: The calendar all booked up, the future unknown Last Line: The visit. Life goes on. But someone is sewing %the suit in the silence BLUE ANEMONES First Line: To be enchanted - nothing is easier. It is one of the oldest tricks Last Line: Open a secret passage to the real celebration, which is quiet as death BLUE WIND-FLOWERS First Line: To be spellbound -- nothing's easier. Last Line: Real celebration, which is quiet as death BOOKCASE First Line: It was brought from the dead woman's apartment Last Line: And you must not turn your head away BOOKCASE First Line: It was moved out of the apartment after her death. It stood Last Line: River that the room has to see its own face in. And turning the %head is not allowed BREATHING SPACE JULY Poem Text First Line: The man who lies on his back under huge trees Subject(s): Transience; Impermanence BREATHING SPACE JULY First Line: The man who lies on his back under huge trees Last Line: As the islands crawl like huge moths over the globe Subject(s): Transience BREATHING SPACE JULY First Line: The man who lies on his back under huge trees Last Line: As the islands crawl like huge moths over the globe BRIEF PAUSE IN THE ORGAN RECITAL First Line: The organ stops playing and it's deathly quiet in the church, Last Line: A wake washes through the whole text, it's followed by the next wave, and %then the next BY THE RIVER First Line: Talking with contemporaries I saw heard behind their faces Last Line: Buried in the greenery -- only the horns %stuck up C MAJOR First Line: When he came down to the street after the rendezvous Last Line: Behind turned-up collars everyone was smiling CALLING HOME First Line: A telephone call flowed out into the night, and it gleamed here Last Line: He runs with heart pounding CAPRICHOS First Line: Twilight in huelva: sooty palm trees Last Line: A new constellation which I name 'the horse' CARILLON First Line: Madame despises her guests because they want to stay at her shabby hotel Last Line: Written, my preface to silence and my inside-out psalm CITOYENS First Line: The night after the accident I dreamt of a pockmarked man Last Line: The waiting-room where we all CITOYENS First Line: The night after the accident I dreamt of a pockmarked man Last Line: The waiting room where we all CLEARING First Line: Deep in the forest there's an unexpected clearing which can be reached only Last Line: Packed by an expert CLEARING First Line: In the middle of the forest there's an unexpected clearing that Last Line: As ingeniously as a parachute packed by an expert CODEX First Line: The men of the footnotes, not the headlines Last Line: That is taken in silence, to walk across the border and no one notices COUPLE First Line: They turn the light off, and its white globe glows Last Line: A mob of people with blank faces COUPLE First Line: They turn the light off, and its white globe glows Last Line: A mob of people with blank faces CRESTS First Line: With a sigh the elevators start rising Last Line: Swarm in the parks there ashore CUCKOO First Line: A cuckoo sat cooing in a birch just north of the house. The sound Last Line: Carry me just as loyally as susi and chuma carried livington's %mummified body all the way through a CUCKOO First Line: A cuckoo sat cooing in a birch just north of the house. The Last Line: Mified body all the way through africa DARK SHAPE SWIMMING First Line: A stone age painting Last Line: And join his shadow again DECEMBER EVENING 1972 First Line: Here I come, the invisible man, perhaps employed Last Line: Against our work by day and against our beds by night. The war DECEMBER EVENING, '72 First Line: Here I come the invisible man, perhaps in the employ Last Line: Pulling us toward work in the dark and the bed at night. The war DEEP IN EUROPE Poem Text First Line: I a dark hull floating between two lock-gates Last Line: The blackened cathedral, heavy as a moon, causes ebbs and flows Subject(s): Cities; Europe; Streets; Travel; Urban Life; Avenues; Journeys; Trips DEEP IN EUROPE First Line: I a dark hull floating between two lock-gates Last Line: The blackened cathedral, heavy as a moon, causes ebb and flow Subject(s): Cities; Europe; Streets; Travel DOWNPOUR OVER THE INTERIOR First Line: The rain is hammering on the car roofs Last Line: Perhaps from inside himself DREAM SEMINAR First Line: Four thousand million on earth Last Line: And glances down on us EARLY MAY STANZAS Poem Text First Line: A may wood. The invisible removal load Last Line: The load is burning with chilly flames Subject(s): Birds; May (month); Poetry & Poets; Singing & Singers EARLY MAY STANZAS First Line: A may wood. The invisible removal load Last Line: The load is burning with chilly flames Subject(s): Birds; May (month); Poetry And Poets; Singing And Singers ELEGY First Line: I open the first door Last Line: Experience, its beautiful slag ELEGY First Line: At the starting point. Our spruce-clad coastline Last Line: Where rollers break and ebb away, break %and ebb away ELEGY First Line: I open the first door Last Line: Experience, its beautiful slag EPIGRAM Poem Text First Line: The buildings of capital, the hives of the killer bees Last Line: And flew when no one was looking. He had to have his life again Subject(s): Life EPIGRAM First Line: The buildings of capital, the hives of the killer bees Last Line: And flew when no-one was looking. He had to live his life again Subject(s): Epigram (as Literary Form); Life EPIGRAM First Line: Buildings of capital, killer bee hives, honey for the few Last Line: And flew when no one watched. He must live his live over EPILOGUE First Line: December. Sweden is a hauled-up Last Line: The lantern's slender beam is the signal ESPRESSO First Line: Black coffee at sidewalk cafes Last Line: The courage to open our eyes EVENING - MORNING First Line: The moon-mast has rotted, and the sail crinkled Last Line: Near the earth. Half-suffocated summer gods grope in the sea mist FACE TO FACE First Line: In february living stood still Last Line: The earth and I sprang towards each other FEMALE PORTRAIT, 19TH CENTURY Poem Text First Line: Her voice is stifled in the clothing. Her eyes Subject(s): Pictures; Portraits FEMALE PORTRAIT, 19TH CENTURY First Line: Her voice is stifled in the clothing. Her eyes Last Line: A gilt frame %strangles the picture Subject(s): Pictures; Portraits FEW MINUTES First Line: The squat pine in the swamp holds up its crown: a dark rag Last Line: As the brightly clad runners in a stadium where the darkness streams down FEW MOMENTS First Line: The dwarf pine on marsh grounds holds its head up: a dark rag Last Line: As the runners in white circling the track as the night comes misting in FIRE SCRIPT First Line: During the heavy months my life caught fire only when Last Line: We stole milk from the cosmos and survived FIRESCRIBBLING First Line: During the siamal months, my life sparkled only when I made love with you Last Line: By stealth we milked the cosmos and survived FIRST WIND OF AUTUMN Poem Text First Line: There is a wind blowing Subject(s): Wind; Autumn; Fall FIVE STANZAS TO THOREAU First Line: One more has fled the heavy city Last Line: How to vanish deep into your own greenwood %crafty and hopeful FOR MATS AND LAILA First Line: The international date line lies motionless between samoa and tonga Last Line: Somebody keeps pulling on my arm each time I try to write FOR MATS AND LAILA First Line: The international date line lies motionless between samoa Last Line: Somebody keeps pulling on my arm each time I try to write FORGOTTEN CAPTAIN First Line: We have many shadows. I was walking home Last Line: That too is a game, made heavy %with what is to come Subject(s): Battleships; Boats; Bombs; Death; Sailors And Sailing; Sea; War FORGOTTEN COMMANDER First Line: We have lots of shadows. I was walking home Last Line: From the weight of what is to come FOUR TEMPERAMENTS First Line: The scanning eye turns sunbeams into billy clubs Last Line: All the rolling wheels that contradict death FROM AN AFRICAN DIARY (1963) Poem Text First Line: In the painting of the kitsch congolese artists Variant Title(s): An African Diary (1963), Sels Subject(s): Diaries FROM AN AFRICAN DIARY (1963) First Line: In the painting of the kitsch congolese artists Last Line: The one who has arrived has a long way to go Variant Title(s): An African Diary (1963), Sel Subject(s): Diaries FROM AN AFRICAN DIARY: 1963 First Line: In the painting of the kitsch congolese artists Last Line: The one who has arrived has a long way to go FROM MARCH '79 First Line: Tired of all who come with words, words but no language Last Line: Language but no words FROM MARCH 79 First Line: Being tired of people who come with words, but no speech Last Line: Speech but no words FROM THE MOUNTAIN First Line: I stand on the mountain and look across the bay Last Line: So say the white sails FROM THE THAW OF 1966 First Line: Headlong headlong waters; roaring; old hypnosis Last Line: The bridge: a big iron bird sailing past death FROM THE WINTER OF 1947 First Line: Daytime at school: the somber swarming fortress Last Line: Sent me each morning off to sleep FROM THE WINTER, 1947 First Line: In the daytimes in school the dull swarming fortress Last Line: That rang me to sleep FURTHER IN First Line: It's the main highway leading in Last Line: Look at it - touch it FURTHER IN First Line: It's the main highway leading in Last Line: Look at it...Touch it GALLERY First Line: I stopped over at a motel on e3 Last Line: It is his life, it is his labyrinth GALLERY First Line: I stayed overnight at a motel by the e3 Last Line: It's his life, it's his labyrinth GOGOL Poem Text First Line: Jacket worn and shabby like a pack of wolves Subject(s): Fireflies; Glowworms GOGOL First Line: Jacket worn and shabby like a pack of wolves Last Line: So mount your chariot of fire and leave the country Subject(s): Fireflies GOING WITH THE CURRENT First Line: Talking and talking with friends I saw heard behind their faces the current Last Line: Buried in the bushes - only the horns stood up GOLDEN WASP Poem Text First Line: The blindworm that legless lizard flows along the porch step Last Line: The dark bat has left my face and is scissoring around in summer's bright space Subject(s): Insects; Bats GOLDEN WASP First Line: The blindworm that legless lizard flows along the porch step Last Line: The dark bat has left my face and is scissoring around in summer's bright space Subject(s): Wasps GRIEF GONDOLA #2 First Line: Two old guys, father-in-law, liszt and wagner %live on the grand canal Last Line: It was impossible to know which was the teacher GUARD DUTY First Line: I'm order out to a big hump of stones Last Line: One by one. I am the turnstile GUARD DUTY First Line: I'm ordered out to a big hump of stones Last Line: One by one. I am the turnstile HALF-FINISHED HEAVEN First Line: Despondency breaks off its course Last Line: The water is shining among the trees. %the lake is a window into the earth Subject(s): Scottish Translations HALF-FINISHED HEAVEN First Line: Cowardice breaks off on its path Last Line: The lake is a window into the earth HOMEWARDS Poem Text First Line: A telephone call ran out in the night and glittered Subject(s): Home HOMEWARDS First Line: A telephone call ran out in the night and glittered Last Line: With a thumping heart Subject(s): Home HOMMAGES First Line: Walked along the antipoetic wall Last Line: White gulls were eating black cherries HOW THE LATE AUTUMN NIGHT NOVEL BEGINS First Line: The ferryboat smells of oil and something rattles all the time Last Line: Monsters which I love HOW-THINGS-HANG-TOGETHER First Line: See that gray tree. The heavens have run Last Line: Through the norns' blood and beyond ICELANDIC HURRICANE Poem Text First Line: No earth tremor, but a skyquake. Turner could have painted it, secured by rope Subject(s): Hurricanes ICELANDIC HURRICANE First Line: Not a shuddering of the earth but a skyquake. Last Line: I sit behind the glass, still, my own portrait IN THE NILE DELTA First Line: The young wife cried right in her food Last Line: There is one who can see without hating INDOORS IS ENDLESS First Line: It's spring in 1827, beethoven %hoists his death-mask and sails off Last Line: The gentle downward slope gets steeper %and imperceptibly becomes an abyss Subject(s): Beethoven, Ludwig Van (1770-1827); Composers; Death; Music And Musicians; Soul INDOORS IS INFINITE First Line: It's the spring of 1827. Beethoven Last Line: The gentle slope begins to fall away %and quietly transforms to abyss ISLAND LIFE, 1860 First Line: Down at the dock she was washing clothes one day Last Line: This moment's wound that bleeds in for eternity IZMIR AT THREE O'CLOCK Poem Text First Line: Just ahead in the almost empty street Subject(s): Scottish Translations IZMIR AT THREE O'CLOCK First Line: Just ahead in the almost empty street Last Line: The city lay crawling at the sea's door %gleaming in the vulture's telescopic sight Subject(s): Scottish Translations JOURNEY First Line: On the subway platform Last Line: Have opened their windows JOURNEY'S FORMULAE First Line: A murmur of voices behind the ploughman Last Line: He travels, at the same time eagle and mole KINGDOM OF UNCERTAINTY First Line: The department head leans forward and draws an x Last Line: The mother turtle escapes flying under the water KINGDOM OF UNCERTAINTY First Line: The department head leans forward and draws an x Last Line: The mother turtle escapes flying under the water KYRIE First Line: Sometimes my life opened its eyes in the dark Last Line: And the doors of darkness open KYRIE First Line: At times my life suddenly opens its eyes in the dark Last Line: And the doors of darkness open LAMENTO First Line: He put the pen down Last Line: And pale telegrams from the world LAMENTO First Line: He put the pen down Last Line: Small pale telegrams from the world LAMENTO First Line: He put down his pen Last Line: Small pale telegrams from the world LATE MAY First Line: Apple trees and cherry trees in flower help the town to float Last Line: Not to forget, but to remember LATE MAY First Line: Apple and cherry trees in bloom help the own to float Last Line: Not to forget but to remember LEAFLET First Line: The silent rage scribbles on the wall inwards Last Line: And become milder and wilder than here Subject(s): Leaves; Spring LONELINESS Poem Text First Line: One evening in february I came near to dying here Subject(s): Solitude MADRIGAL Poem Text First Line: I inherited a dark wood where I seldom go. But a day will come when Last Line: Shift on the clothesline Subject(s): Spring MADRIGAL First Line: I inherited a dark wood where I seldom go. But a day will come when Last Line: And am as empty-handed %as the shirt on the washing-line Subject(s): Spring MAN AWAKENED BY A SONG ABOVE HIS ROOF First Line: Morning, may rain. The city is silent still Last Line: To grope for the tool of his consciousness - %almost in space MAN FROM BENIN First Line: When darkness fell I was still Last Line: To see himself in me MAN WHO AWOKE WITH SINGING OVER THE ROOFS First Line: Morning. May-rain. The city is still quiet Last Line: Groping for attention's instruments -- almost in space MEDIEVAL MOTIF First Line: Beneath our spell-binding play of faces there waits Subject(s): Games; Poetry & Poets; Time; Recreation; Pastimes; Amusements MEDIEVAL MOTIF First Line: Beneath our spell-binding play of faces there waits Last Line: In the rainbow's silence Subject(s): Games; Poetry And Poets; Time MEMORIES WATCH ME First Line: A morning in june when it's too early yet Last Line: Although the singing of birds is deafening MIDNIGHT TURNING POINT First Line: Unmoving, the ant in the forest looks into Last Line: A bird screams! At last. Slowly the cloud cart %begins to roll MOLOKAI First Line: We stand at the edge of the cliff and in the depths beneath us gleam Last Line: The face of the sphinx MORNING AND ENTRANCE First Line: The black-backed gull, the sun-skipper, steers his course Last Line: Upraised arms -- like a figure %from primitive art MORNING BIRD SONGS First Line: I wake up my car; %pollen covers the windshield Last Line: It has shoved me out of the nest. %the poem is finished MORNING BIRDS First Line: I wake my car Last Line: It throws me out of the nest NAME First Line: I got sleepy while driving and pulled in under a tree at the side of the Last Line: Nothingness, a few feet from a major highway where the cars slip past with %their lights on NAME First Line: I got sleepy while driving and pulled in under a tree at the side Last Line: Cars slip past with their lights on NATIONAL INSECURITY Poem Text First Line: The under secretary leans forward and draws an x Subject(s): Politics & Government NIGHT DUTY First Line: Tonight I am down among the ballast Last Line: With his fist in front of him -- bell-ringing NIGHT DUTY First Line: During the night I am down there with the ballast Last Line: His fist thrown forward. Church bells NIGHTINGALE IN BADELUNDA First Line: In the green midnight at the nightingale's northern limit Last Line: The raw resonant notes that whet nthe night sky's gleaming scythe Subject(s): Birds; Nightingales NIGHTINGALE IN BADELUNDA First Line: In the gree midnight at the nightingale's northernmost Last Line: The nightingale's voice, the raw vibrant tones that %whet the night sky's brilliant scythe NINTEEN HUNDRED AND EIGHTY First Line: He glances fitfully over the newspaper page Last Line: Jihad! Two who shall never meet take charge of the world NOCTURNE First Line: I drive through a village at night, the houses step out Last Line: A large letter tries to get in without quite succeeding NOCTURNE First Line: I drive through a village at night, the houses step out Last Line: A large letter tries to get in without quite succeeding NOVEMBER LUSTER OF PRECIOUS FURS First Line: Precisely because the sky is gray Last Line: And flees into the forest like nils dacke OKLAHOMA First Line: The train stalled far to the south. Snow in new york Last Line: I let myself sink to my midpoint ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF WORK First Line: In the middle of work Last Line: And the mushrooms are as numerous as the stars OPEN AND CLOSED ROOMS First Line: A man touches the world with his trade for a glove Last Line: Stand still. %no, fly on Subject(s): Gloves; Human Rights; Sky; Wind OPEN AND CLOSED SPACE First Line: With his work, as with a glove, a man feels the universe Last Line: Do not move. %no, they are moving OPEN AND CLOSED SPACES First Line: A man feels the world with his work like a glove Last Line: Are standing still %no, are flying OPEN WINDOW First Line: I shaved one morning standing Last Line: My sight was divided %like a horse's OPEN WINDOW First Line: I shaved one morning standing Last Line: My sight was divided %like a horse's OUT IN THE OPEN First Line: Late autumn labyrinth Last Line: Moving at tremendous speed OUT IN THE OPEN First Line: Late autumn labyrinth Last Line: Moving at tremendous speed OUTPOST First Line: I'm ordered out in a heap of stones Last Line: They want in. Why? They're coming %one by one. I am the turnstile Subject(s): Scottish Translations OUTSKIRTS Poem Text First Line: Men in overalls the same color as earth rise from a ditch OUTSKIRTS First Line: Men in overalls the same color as earth rise from a ditch Last Line: Like the land bought with judas' silver: 'a potter's field for burying strangers' OUTSKIRTS First Line: Men in overalls the same color as earth rise from a ditch Last Line: Like the land bought with judas' silver: 'a potter's field for burying strangers.' PALACE First Line: We went in. An enormous hall Last Line: And I eat the silence here PART OF THE FOREST First Line: On the way there a pair of frightened wings clattered up Last Line: It's so mild in the forest PLACE IN THE WOODS First Line: On the way there a couple of startled wings fluttered, and that Last Line: Light around the terrifying trophies. Woods are mild that way POSTLUDIUM First Line: I drag over the floor of the world like a grappling hook Last Line: Through a forest of empty armor PRELUDE Poem Text First Line: Awakening is a parachute jump from the dream. Subject(s): Skydiving PRELUDE First Line: Awakening is a parachute jump from the dream Last Line: Will light's great chute spread over his head PRELUDES First Line: I flinch from something that shuffles slantwise through sleet Last Line: Heard but the pigeons of the backyards, their cooings PRELUDES First Line: I shy from something that comes scraping crossways through the blizzard Last Line: Are the doves in the backyard, their cooing REPLY TO A LETTER Poem Text First Line: In the bottom drawer I find a letter which arrived for the first time twenty- six years ago Subject(s): Letters; Time ROMANESQUE ARCHES Poem Text First Line: Inside the huge romanesque church the tourists jostled in the half-darkness Last Line: And inside each of them vault opened behind vault endlessly Subject(s): Churches; Rome, Italy; Tourists; Travel; Cathedrals; Journeys; Trips ROMANESQUE ARCHES First Line: Inside the huge romanesque church the tourists jostled in the half-darkness Last Line: And inside them all vault opened behind the vault endlessly Subject(s): Churches; Rome, Italy; Tourists; Travel ROMANESQUE ARCHES First Line: Tourists have crowded into the half-dark of the enormous Last Line: Within each of them vault after vault opened endlessly SAILOR'S YARN First Line: There are bare winter days when the sea is kin Last Line: To the music of those frozen to death SCATTERED CONGREGATION First Line: We got ready and showed our home Last Line: Don't know. But that's where we're going Subject(s): Churches; Men SCATTERED CONGREGATION First Line: We got ready and showed our home Last Line: Don't know. But that's where we're going SCHUBERTIANA First Line: In the evening darkness at a place outside new york, an outlook where Last Line: The persistent humming that follows us this very moment %up %the depths SCHUBERTIANA First Line: Outside new york, a high place where with one glance you Last Line: The stubborn humming sound that this instant is with us %upward into %the depths SECRETS ON THE WAY First Line: Daylight struck the face of a man who slept Last Line: Its impatient brushes were painting the world SEEING THROUGH THE GROUND First Line: The white sun melts away in the smog Last Line: Cockpits and into peapods SEEING THROUGH THE GROUND First Line: The white sun melts away in the smog Last Line: Cockpits and into peapods SIESTA First Line: Whitsuntide of the stones. And with crackling tongues Last Line: Eternity's lock-up and pounding fists SIX WINTERS Poem Text First Line: In the black hotel a child is asleep Subject(s): Cemeteries; Death; Memory; War; Graveyards; Dead, The SIX WINTERS First Line: In the black hotel a child is asleep Last Line: On the way home. Bewitched avenue Subject(s): Cemeteries; Death; Memory; War SKETCH IN OCTOBER First Line: The towboat is freckled with rust. What's it doing here so far inland Last Line: We are the earth's SKETCH IN OCTOBER First Line: The towboat is freckled with rust. What's it doing here so far inland? Last Line: We are the earth's SLOW MUSIC First Line: The building is closed. The sun crowds in through Last Line: Stones which slowly migrated backwards up %out of the waves SLOW MUSIC First Line: The building not open today. The sun crowds in through the windowpanes Last Line: The stones have been gradually walking backwards out of the sea SNOW-MELTING TIME, '66 First Line: Massive waters fall, water-roar, the old hypnosis Last Line: I am on a large iron bird sailing past death SOLITARY SWEDISH HOUSES First Line: A tangle of black spruce Last Line: Coiled up in the dark SOLITUDE Poem Text First Line: Right here I was nearly killed one night in february Subject(s): Automobile Accidents; Solitude; Loneliness SOLITUDE First Line: Right here I was nearly killed one night in february Last Line: Millions. %one Subject(s): Automobile Accidents; Solitude SOLITUDE First Line: Right here I was nearly killed one night in february Last Line: We all line up to ask each other for help. %millions. %one STANDING UP First Line: In a split second of hard thought, I managed to catch her. Last Line: Precisely: rhetoric is impossible here. The canoe glides ou t over the water STANDING UP First Line: In a split second of hard thought, I managed to catch her. I Last Line: Hind. Precisely: rhetoric is impossible here. The canoe glides out over the water START OF A LATE AUTUMN NOVEL First Line: The boat has the smell of oil, and something whirrs all the time Last Line: With faces. The forest is full of monsters that I love left behind %when the ship sailed STATION First Line: A train has rolled in. Carriage after carriage stands Last Line: Everything is singing. You will remember this. Proceed STONES First Line: Stones that we have thrown I hear Last Line: To no bottom %except within ourselves STORM Poem Text First Line: The man on a walk suddenly meets the old Subject(s): Storms STORM First Line: Suddenly, here, the wanderer meets the ancient Last Line: Constellations stamping in their stables high over oak tree STORM First Line: The man on a walk suddenly meets the old Last Line: Hears the constellations far above the oak %stamping in their stalls STREET CROSSING First Line: Cold winds hit my eyes, and two or three suns Last Line: But for a second I am lit. It sees me STREET CROSSING First Line: Cold wind hits my eyes, and two or three suns Last Line: But for a second I am lit. It sees me STREETS IN SHANGHAI Poem Text First Line: The white butterfly in the park is read by many Last Line: Wounds we don't know about Subject(s): Shanghai, China STREETS IN SHANGHAI First Line: Many in the park are reading the white butterfly Last Line: We know nothing about STREETS IN SHANGHAI First Line: The white butterlfy in the park is read by many Last Line: We look almost happy out in the sun, while we are bleeding fatally from %wounds we don't know about Subject(s): Ferry Boats; Shanghai, China; Travel STROPHE AND ANTISTROPHE First Line: The outermost circle is the myth's. There the helmsman sinks upright Last Line: Travels over the snow %reaches the woods SUMMER GRASS First Line: So much has happened Last Line: I go and check in SUMMER MEADOW First Line: There's so much we must be witness to Last Line: I report to him SWIMMING DARK FITURE First Line: A prehistoric painting Last Line: And be one with his own shadow SYROS Poem Text First Line: In syros' harbor leftover cargo steamers lay waiting Subject(s): Ships - Abandoning Of; Syros Island, Greece SYROS First Line: In syros' harbor abandoned merchant ships lay idle Last Line: What a powerful fleet, what splendid connections Subject(s): Ships - Abandoning Of; Syros Island, Greece THE BLUE HOUSE Poem Text First Line: It is night with glaring sunshine. I stand in the woods and look towards my hous Subject(s): Houses; Time THE COUPLE Poem Text First Line: The under secretary leans forward and draws an x Subject(s): Love THE FORGOTTEN CAPTAIN Poem Text First Line: We have many shadows. I was walking home Subject(s): Battleships; Boats; Bombs; Death; Sailing & Sailors; Sea; War; Dead, The; Ocean THE HALF-FINISHED HEAVEN Poem Text First Line: Cowardice breaks off its path Subject(s): Scottish Translations THE INDOORS IS ENDLESS Poem Text First Line: It's spring in 1827, beethoven / hoists his death-mask and sails off Subject(s): Beethoven, Ludwig Van (1770-1827); Composers; Death; Music & Musicians; Soul; Dead, The THE NIGHTINGALE IN BADELUNDA Poem Text First Line: In the green midnight at the nightingale's northern limit Subject(s): Birds; Nightingales THE OUTPOST Poem Text First Line: I'm ordered out in a heap of stones Subject(s): Scottish Translations THE SCATTERED CONGREGATION Poem Text First Line: We got ready and showed our home Subject(s): Churches; Men; Cathedrals THERE IS PEACE IN THE SURGING BOW First Line: On a winter morning you feel how this earth Last Line: Insect wings above your head THREE STANZAS First Line: The knight and his lady Last Line: And swordbelts rusting THROUGH THE FOREST First Line: A spot they call jacob's marsh Last Line: Is drinking the shadow of the rain TO FRIENDS BEHIND A FRONTIER Poem Text First Line: I wrote so meagerly to you. But what I couldn't write Subject(s): Freedom; Letters; Liberty TO FRIENDS BEHIND A FRONTIER First Line: I wrote so meagerly to you. But what I couldn't write Last Line: And can at last sleep, become trilobites Subject(s): Freedom; Letters TRACK First Line: 2 a.M.: moonlight. The train has stopped Last Line: 2 o'clock: strong moonlight, few stars TRACKS Poem Text First Line: Night, two o'clock: moonlight. The train has stopped Variant Title(s): Track Subject(s): Railroads; Railways; Trains TRACKS First Line: Night, two o'clock: moonlight. The train has stopped Last Line: Two o'clock: full moonlight, few stars Variant Title(s): Trac Subject(s): Railroads TRAFFIC First Line: The long-distance truck with its trailer pushes through fog Last Line: Breaks and is mended again, over and over TRAFFIC First Line: The semitrailer crawls through the fog Last Line: The chain breaks and grows back together all the time TREE AND THE SKY First Line: The tree is walking around in the rain Last Line: When snowflakes will throw themselves out in space TWO CITIES Poem Text First Line: There is a stretch of water, a city on each side Subject(s): Swimming & Swimmers TWO CITIES First Line: There is a stretch of water, a city on each side Last Line: It's a friend's voice; 'take up your grave and walk UNDER PRESSURE Poem Text Subject(s): Solitude; Loneliness UNDER PRESSURE First Line: The blue sky's engine-drone is deafening Last Line: Society's dark hull drifts further and further away UNDER PRESSURE First Line: Powerful engines from the blue sky Last Line: The dark hull of society keeps on going VERMEER Poem Text First Line: No protected world - just behind the wall the noise begins Last Line: I am not empty, I am open Subject(s): Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675); Walls VERMEER First Line: No sheltered world - on the other side of the wall the noise begins Last Line: I am not empty, I am open VERMEER First Line: No protected world - just behind the wall the noise begins Last Line: I am not empty, I am open Subject(s): Scottish Translations VERMEER First Line: It's not a sheltered world. The noise begins over there, on the Last Line: I am not empty, I am open.' WEATHER PICTURE First Line: The october sea glistens coldly Last Line: The tree and drops of its own accord WINTER NIGHT First Line: The storm puts its mouth to the house Last Line: That the storm will blow us empty WINTER NIGHT First Line: The storm puts its lips to the house Last Line: The storm will blow everything inside us away WINTER'S FORMULAE First Line: I went to sleep in my bed Last Line: The whole world would be obliterated WINTER'S GAZE Poem Text First Line: I lean like a ladder and with my face Subject(s): Winter WINTER'S GAZE First Line: I lean like a ladder and with my face Last Line: And a weak light falls. %we look up: the starry sky through the grating Subject(s): Scottish Translations WINTER'S GLANCE First Line: Like a ladder I lean over and put Last Line: We look upwards, the starry sky through the grating of the sewer |
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