At evening the autumn woodlands ring
With deadly weapons. Over the golden plains
And lakes of blue, the sun
More darkly rolls. The night surrounds
Warriors dying and the wild lament
Of their fragmented mouths.
Yet silently there gather in the willow combe
Red clouds inhabited by an angry god,
Shed blood, and the chill of the moon.
All roads lead to black decay.
Under golden branching of the night and stars
A sister's shadow sways through the still grove
To greet the heroes' spirits, the bloodied heads.
And softly in the reeds Autumn's dark flutes resound.
O prouder mourning! - You brazen altars,
The spirit's hot flame is fed now by a tremendous pain:
The grandsons, unborn.
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Comments2Just finishd reading Grodek by Georg Trakl. It was haunting, raw, but at the same time beautifully written. The line 'Under golden branching of the night and stars' particularly stands out. But who's the sister mentioned in that verse? Kinda confusin there.
Just got done with a piece by Georg Trakl for my literature homework. It's insanely deep and chilling, really paints a bleak image of war and aftermath. His use of autumn references are intriguing as well. Anyone else notice how Trakl's autumn isn't about nature's death but the death of soldiers? Quite profound!