Poet life
Poetenleben is a volume of short stories of the Swiss writer Robert Walser , May 1917 written at the end , and in November of the same year at Huber & Co. in Frauenfeld appeared.
In this psychogram of a society that accepts the poet as a mere appendix, the author reports ironically - parodistically from everyday life as a poet.
Hike
The hike is about the wonderful, terrifying magic of natural wastes . Some of the 25 stories in this volume could be under the motto harmless joys are real joys . Of course, there have vagrant vagrants not easy on her walks. The Landjäger , declared opponent of the wandering boy , stands in the way and, in a dark voice, demands the valid legitimation paper. But a happy wanderer accepts such a handicap. He will be compensated for by nature . This is so mysteriously inexhaustible that the wandering poet is already suffering from it . That's just the way it is, because happiness in the world is usually mixed with pain .
The poet is also at home in the middle of the city. In the park he brazenly addresses the Indian woman to take her for a walk. He is not given a basket, he soon disappears with her in the black of the night and is allowed to row. The wanderer does not allow himself any rest. A single, noble, noble rich lady is already waiting for him in a graceful hunter's castle . From then on, the world appears to the couple as a dream. When the woman asks whether the poet wants to be her son, the interviewee runs away - walks on and on like a Lebebaron to enjoy the world to some extent, into it.
Dauthendey
In the summer of 1901, the poet set off from Munich on a foot trip to Würzburg . The flutter runs with him. In the episcopal city on the Main , he meets his friend, the poet Dauthendey , lying in bed in the bright morning. Late riser Dauthendey jumps out of bed, tears open the wardrobe and first of all dresses the traveling poet, who is dressed in Mediterranean style, in a middle-class style. Now the poet is no longer uncomfortable at all while walking over the old, imposing, statue-adorned Main Bridge and up to the Prince-Bishop 's Palace . Although Dauthendey is short of money, he gives the poet some of the little. Eight lovely summer days are spent with the host through Würzburg's old town and vineyards. The poet finally assaults Dauthendey, a pedestrian lost in thought, asking for twenty marks , gets the money for a ticket and leaves for Berlin the next day.
Marie
Back at home in Switzerland, the poet resides and lodges under the roof of the very clever Mrs. Bandi , who shows clear traces of former loveliness . The landlady, who writes occasionally, makes a deeply dissatisfied impression on the poet . Of course, the property is again surrounded by a high forest . The poet's walks in the profound green are offered and carried out. And who will meet the poet of the evening behind the protruding undergrowth ? The tall female figure appears. Without further ado, you take a seat next to each other on the modest forest floor and enjoy a magic hour in the sweet, gloomy forest . The rendezvous on the delicious moss cookie is repeated. Marie , that's the name of the tall woman, says of herself that she comes from the Emmental . You get closer. The poet takes Marie's kind-hearted chest as the softest pillow . Marie's encounter with Mrs. Bandi. The landlady looks dismissively at Marie , the good child of nature, whose appearance she thought she should disapprove of . Marie then disappears, never to be seen again, from the field of vision of the poet wandering on.
Starvation
Of course, the poet doesn't just stay under tall trees. His second home is naturally the desk . He finds it at Frau Wilke , his next landlady. He sits down at the old, noble furniture and even wants to write short stories that could be published quickly in the 'Beijing Latest News' . These are all figments. The reality looks different. The poet is unsuccessful , and Frau Wilke has nothing to eat either . So it fades.
In The Room Piece and The Speech to an Oven , the poet tries in vain to find a suitable material outside of nature - for example under the bed . The most beautiful topic can not be found. The writer sees the stove smiling sardonically in its stovepipe calm .
Poet life
Last but not least, in the title story Poetenleben , the author gives the poet, an admirer of Holderlin , the well-known applicant figure in the central commercial agency , a real indictment. Without exception, the superiors are happy when they can release the young office worker into proletarian poet life . None of the directors would like to occupy a poet longer than necessary. That is why the superior parted with the poet as quickly as possible, for he heartily indulged the assistant bookkeeper with his good-for-nothing pleasure down there on the street.
Quote
Anyone who has to work hard ... is spoiled for joy ...
Twists
- In Aus Tobold's Life , the count's face is genuinely aristocratic ugliness .
- The night watchman chats in a smoky voice.
- The most inconspicuous inconspicuous .
reception
- In 1917, Hesse wrote in a review on Poetenleben: If poets like Walser were to be among the “leading spirits”, there would be no war .
- Loerke reviews the life of a poet: Robert Walser invented storytelling in itself, as it were, without an object. With things that no one else would consider of reporting worthy captivates ... he ... Apparently purpose and pointenlos chatting, he is dominated ... .
- Sprengel emphasizes the ironic, parodic aspect of that short prose.
literature
source
- Jochen Greven (Ed.): Robert Walser: Poetenleben . With an afterword by the editor. Zurich 1986. ISBN 3-518-37608-X
Secondary literature
- Volker Michels (Ed.): Hermann Hesse: A literary history in reviews and essays. Pp. 460-461. Frankfurt am Main 1975. ISBN 3-518-36752-8
- Peter Sprengel: History of German-Language Literature 1900-1918 . S. 222. Munich 2004. ISBN 3-406-52178-9
- Gero von Wilpert : Lexicon of world literature. German authors AZ . S. 648. Stuttgart 2004. ISBN 3-520-83704-8
- Matthias Sprünglin: Poet Life (1917; Imprint 1918) . In: Lucas Marco Gisi (ed.): Robert Walser manual. Life - work - effect , JB Metzler, Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-476-02418-3 , pp. 158–162.