Hermetic poetry

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Hermetic lyric poems are called poems whose semantic level eludes an immediate understanding . This term is derived from Hermes Trismegistos (Greek Ἑρμῆς Τρισμέγιστος, "three times the greatest Hermes"), the legendary author of the Hermetic writings and forefather of alchemy .

In the hermetic poem, the author breaks away from conventional language structures. He encrypts the language and at the same time shapes it according to the principles of poetry. The central concept of Hermetic Poetry is therefore the cipher , which introduces additional levels of meaning. Their "new", mostly opaque semantics , which deviate from the everyday use of the words due to modifications, shifts or new additions by the author, are not immediately apparent to the reader and sometimes even remain completely closed, which is why the hermetic lyric poetry is often self-reflective Poetry is attributed. In any case, reading hermetic poetry requires a special effort on the part of the reader not only with regard to the formal properties of the text, but also on the semantic level, a conscious “deciphering effort” precedes the understanding of the poem. A famous example of hermetic poetry is Paul Celan's death fugue , which begins with the words “Black Milk of the Morning”.

This form of poetry emerged in the period after 1945 and has its origins in the succession of French symbolism and the general skepticism of language in modern times and the experience of National Socialism . The conventional poem forms (as “beautiful” poems) appeared to the authors to be impossible (cf. Theodor W. Adorno's verdict: “ To write a poem after Auschwitz is barbaric ”), as they do not reflect the experience of National Socialism and especially the Holocaust could process. With their consciously distant use of language, the Hermetic poets also criticized the language of National Socialism and its continuity in the post-war period.

Eminent authors

  • Rose Ausländer (1901–1988): Blind Summer (1965)
  • Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973): The deferred time (1953), Invocation of the great bear (1956)
  • Gottfried Benn (1886–1956): Static Poems (1948)
  • Paul Celan (1920–1970): Poppy and Memory (1952, including the death fugue ), The No Man's Rose ( 1963), Fadensonnen (1968)
  • Ernst Meister (1911–1979): Numbers and Figures (1958), Sign by Sign (1968), Sage of the Whole Sentence (1972) and other works
  • Nelly Sachs (1891–1970): In the Apartments of Death (1947), Star Darkening (1949)
  • Johannes Bobrowski (1917–1965): Sarmatian Period (1961), Shadowland Streams (1962), Weather Signs (1966)

literature

  • Rolf Bachem: Is “Hermetic Poetry” worth reading? An exploratory attempt . In the S. (Ed.): Poetry and Politics. Language analysis . Loon Verlag, Bonn 2009, pp. 13-20, ISBN 978-3-9808973-8-9 .
  • Christine Waldschmidt: “Something dark to say”. German-language hermetic poetry in the 20th century . Winter, Heidelberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-8253-5936-2 (also dissertation, University of Mainz 2010).

See also