Black
By Paul Celan
Translated By Pierre Joris
Black,
like the memory-wound,
the eyes dig toward you
in the by heart-teeth light-
bitten crownland,
that remains our bed:
through this shaft you have to come—
you come.
In seed-
sense
the sea stars you out, innermost, forever.
The namegiving has an end,
over you I cast my lot.
Copyright Credit: Paul Celan, "Black" from BREATHTURN INTO TIMESTEAD: THE COLLECTED LATER POETRY A BILINGUAL EDITION by Paul Celan, translated by Pierre Joris. Translation copyright © 2014 by Pierre Joris. Used by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC. http://us.macmillan.com/fsg
Source: Breathturn Into Timestead (Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2014)