Paul Celan, Todesfuge [Death Fugue]

Adrian Del Caro (University of Tennessee, Knoxville)
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“Death Fugue”

Black milk of dawn we drink it evening we drink it noon and morning we drink it night we drink and drink we shovel a grave in the breezes there we lie far apart A man lives in the house he plays with the snakes he writes he writes when it gets dark to Germany your golden hair Margarete he writes it and steps in front of the house and the stars sparkle he whistles his mastiffs to him he whistles his Jews to assemble has them shovel a grave in the earth he commands us to start playing for the dancing

Black milk of dawn we drink it evening we drink it noon and morning we drink it night we drink and drink we shovel a grave in the breezes there we lie far apart A man lives in the house he plays with the snakes he writes he writes when it gets dark to Germany your golden hair…

1874 words

Citation: Del Caro, Adrian . "Todesfuge". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 June 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35010, accessed 12 October 2024.]

35010 Todesfuge 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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