Earish
In 2002 I was asked to contribute to Alec Finlay’s edition of translations
by several hands of Paul Celan’s poem “Irisch.” While working on my
translation (which duly appeared in the second volume, Irish (2),
Edinburgh 2002), I began to work on other dimensions of the poem,
then of other Celan poems. The present homeophonic translations are
one result. By homeophonic translation I mean: listening to the sound
of the [in this case German] poem until you can hear it as English – the
result, the poem heard, no doubt ‘says’ a ‘different’ thing from the
‘original.’ Those quoted words are all questionable, more question than
answer, I mean. So here are some of my hearings of Celan poems. They
are, in effect, translations into Earish.
A reference in italics at the foot of the page identifies the book
in which appears the German original text here heard heading
towards English:
at = Atemwende
f = Fadensonnen
licht = Lichtzwang
schn = Schneepart
zeit = Zeitgehöft
