The Thousandth Regiment - 32. "You crimson butterfly, how you've kissed me"

...god, how this poem is not already world-famous, I shall never comprehend...

In writing about the agony of a wounded man on the battlefield - bloody, hurt and helpless - he speaks for the millions of casualties in senseless wars everywhere across time. He holds on to life by its thin threads, and your translation vividly captures the image and his pain. 

13 hours ago, AC Benus said:

...god, how this poem is not already world-famous, I shall never comprehend...

My opinion is, it's not because of who wrote it ... not just a soldier but a German.  But he speaks for all, not just his own countrymen. Something which maybe people don't understand. 

On 10/9/2019 at 1:21 PM, Parker Owens said:

In writing about the agony of a wounded man on the battlefield - bloody, hurt and helpless - he speaks for the millions of casualties in senseless wars everywhere across time. He holds on to life by its thin threads, and your translation vividly captures the image and his pain. 

Thank you, Parker. It's good to hear the situation of what's happened is coming through the translation. Almost embarrassingly, I'll admit I used to think the poem was about seeing a red butterfly come from the woods, and thus associating it with the concluding moment of All Quiet on the Western Front. It's only when Hans talked about growing pale and languid do the metaphors fall in place for me. The mention of his mother's linens as a foreshadowing of a shroud for him chokes me up every time.

Thanks once more, and always, for reading these and supporting my efforts. Muah  

On 10/9/2019 at 9:28 PM, MichaelS36 said:

My opinion is, it's not because of who wrote it ... not just a soldier but a German.  But he speaks for all, not just his own countrymen. Something which maybe people don't understand. 

Thank you, Mike. I appreciate the dialogue on this, and your comment has had me thinking. Having read a tremendous amount of WW1 poetry in recent weeks, there is a clear editorial difference in what was allowed to be published in the English language (even decades after the war) versus the freedom of expression Germans enjoyed. You hint that Hans' current obscurity might be due to his nationality, but that does not explain how his work has been ignored in German letters too. A part of me really does believe it has to do with his out status; the evidence, if you want to call it that, is the disrespectful way his partnership with Wilhelm Murnau is belittled in print. As recently as 2016, a book written in English treats the love the boys had for one another as a state of being "smitten." And believe it or not, this book can be considered progressive on the matter because it at least acknowledges the men were together. Most biographical sketches of Erhenbaum or Murnau totally ignore the other's partner. If at all mentioned, because their financial and will-and-trust endowments for one another, they are converted to the slap-in-the-face status of "just friends."   

The German wiki page on Hans states very bluntly when the guys met and they were partners. However, there is generally little difference in the "friends" degrading of the couple between the English and German biographical sketches. 

As for Hans being ignored for his war poetry because he was German, the period circumstance to refute this comes in the form of the WW1 novel All Quiet on the Western Front. Immediately after its publication in 1929, it was an instant hit, being translated into 40 languages. Still required reading in US high schools, Hollywood bought the film rights as early as 1930. The book presenting the war from the German side was not an issue for the readers of the time.

Thanks for this, Mike, and sorry I do go a bit

For over a week, I think about what to comment to this particular sonnet and the question connected to it in the comments. Still, I have the feeling, I can not answer it properly. Either I will start and it will be a very very very long track of thoughts, or I will keep it short and leave out too much.

But maybe to notice that is just enough. Obviously this sonnet moves me and the history is too complex to be talked about easily. But your work and question raised a long thinking process and I mean this as big compliment. Again thanks for your great work. Muha

Each time i read this ... i still cannot properly explain how i feel. In itself it is sad, beautiful, haunting, frightening ... and i feel hands around my heart which squeeze until i cannot breathe and tears sit in my eyes. i feel sadness, fear and loss.

On 10/11/2019 at 11:36 AM, AC Benus said:

Thank you, Mike. I appreciate the dialogue on this, and your comment has had me thinking. Having read a tremendous amount of WW1 poetry in recent weeks, there is a clear editorial difference in what was allowed to be published in the English language (even decades after the war) versus the freedom of expression Germans enjoyed. You hint that Hans' current obscurity might be due to his nationality, but that does not explain how his work has been ignored in German letters too. A part of me really does believe it has to do with his out status; the evidence, if you want to call it that, is the disrespectful way his partnership with Wilhelm Murnau is belittled in print. As recently as 2016, a book written in English treats the love the boys had for one another as a state of being "smitten." And believe it or not, this book can be considered progressive on the matter because it at least acknowledges the men were together. Most biographical sketches of Erhenbaum or Murnau totally ignore the other's partner. If at all mentioned, because their financial and will-and-trust endowments for one another, they are converted to the slap-in-the-face status of "just friends."   

The German wiki page on Hans states very bluntly when the guys met and they were partners. However, there is generally little difference in the "friends" degrading of the couple between the English and German biographical sketches. 

As for Hans being ignored for his war poetry because he was German, the period circumstance to refute this comes in the form of the WW1 novel All Quiet on the Western Front. Immediately after its publication in 1929, it was an instant hit, being translated into 40 languages. Still equired reading in US high schools, Hollywood bought the film rights as early as 1930. The book presenting the war from the German side was not an issue for the readers of the time.

Thanks for this, Mike, and sorry I do go a bit

   

 

I'd call it evidence. You know, and maybe I should think about this more, but being Gay is so just normal to me, I forget that it's not considered normal. And I'd be pissed if someone said to me that tim and are just friends. Smitten? Well, I remain smitten with my husband, which is a good thing, but I understand what you mean and how they mean it.  Yeah, tim is just my lil buddy. 

Hans' war poetry does not scream GAY at me. But maybe if there was scuttlebutt around about it and them .. but yes, I see where you are going here, AC.

I am tired of hearing about our Gay heroes lives in sneaky, dirty whispers. All these talented men and women who wrote about their desire and lovers. Who just wrote, painted, sculpted etc.  How many of them were Gay, or Bi or more?  The world would be such a dull fucking place without us. 

On 10/25/2019 at 3:57 AM, Lyssa said:

For over a week, I think about what to comment to this particular sonnet and the question connected to it in the comments. Still, I have the feeling, I can not answer it properly. Either I will start and it will be a very very very long track of thoughts, or I will keep it short and leave out too much.

But maybe to notice that is just enough. Obviously this sonnet moves me and the history is too complex to be talked about easily. But your work and question raised a long thinking process and I mean this as big compliment. Again thanks for your great work. Muha

Thank you, Lyssa. As you well know, the Regiment poems exhibit Hans' love of double word play. Perhaps comparing his war poems to a work like All Quiet on the Western Front is unfair for a single reason: Remarque's novel is a product of a free, democratic Germany. Published in 1929, it could be candid in subjects where Hans had to be cautious 14 years earlier and rely on methods of sarcasm to be critical. This could have lead to some differing opinions on his POV, but Murnau and Zech made sure Hans' liberal mindset was well documented with the Regiment poems' introduction. So why this man and his poetry has received little study even in German is not clear, despite reprints of his work appearing in the 1970, '80s, and 90s, although in very limited supply. 

Another option to consider for Hans' obscurity is that his poems are too good. They too intense and a struggle to get through because Hans made himself human to the reader, and the reader must inevitably know of the soldier-poet's fate. 

On 10/25/2019 at 4:19 AM, Mikiesboy said:

Each time i read this ... i still cannot properly explain how i feel. In itself it is sad, beautiful, haunting, frightening ... and i feel hands around my heart which squeeze until i cannot breathe and tears sit in my eyes. i feel sadness, fear and loss.

Thank you, Tim, for sharing your thoughts on this emotionally rough poem. I think part of the artistry evident in Hans' collection is how they are arranged so we get to know him as an individual; we begin to care about him. This makes it hard for us to see him hurt and suffering. It is a great skill to draw another's humanity into his suffering, and these poems are great partly due to the success of Hans' ability to make us feel for him and his universal "we."