Snow Part by Paul Celan
"Snow Part" is a poignant collection of poetry by Paul Celan, representing the author's final work and his profound grappling with themes of language, silence, and the Holocaust. Written during a time of personal turmoil, the poems delve into complex philosophical and psychological questions, reflecting Celan's struggles with coherence in a world marked by trauma. Although some poems were not initially authorized for publication, they were released posthumously by Celan's son, allowing readers access to these significant yet challenging reflections.
The collection, translated into English by Ian Fairley, includes selections from Celan's earlier work "Schneepart" and additional previously unpublished poems. The poems are characterized by dense, terse language and intricate syntax, which can make them difficult to interpret but rewarding for those who engage deeply with them. Notably, the extensive poem "Was Naht" ("What Knits") explores themes of connection and transformation amid the abyss, hinting at a fragile hope for renewal despite the weight of despair.
While some poems convey a sense of optimism, others may appear more elusive to readers unfamiliar with Celan's style. Fairley's translation aims to bridge this gap, providing context that aids understanding of the historical and emotional landscape that informs Celan's work. Ultimately, "Snow Part" stands as a testament to Celan's enduring literary legacy, offering a space for reflection on profound human experiences in the face of unimaginable loss.
Snow Part by Paul Celan
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published:Schneepart, 1971 (English translation, 2007)
Type of work: Poetry
The Work
Snow Part represents Celan’s last work and shows his most difficult struggles with language and silence. Some of these poems were not authorized by their writer for publication, but Celan’s son allowed them to be published. This collection is for those who wrestle with philosophical and psychological questions surrounding the Holocaust. These are Celan’s last words on the subject, and their knotted, gnarled syntax, their effaced narrators, and their ambiguities make them difficult to enter but rewarding of study. They are shadowed by Celan’s suicide, which took place shortly after the last poems were written, but they should not be read exclusively in the light of his death, as some of them show signs of hope.
The English translation by Ian Fairley is mostly comprised of the poems included in the poetry collection Schneepart, which Celan wrote around the time of his 1967 breakdown. The poems show the breakdown, the falling away, of any constructed coherence the poet had brought to or read into his shattered world. Most of the poems are short, terse, and dense. A few poems express a kind of distant optimism—a shaky faith that sometime, somehow, all will be well. In addition to the poems in Schneepart, Fairley also has translated and included some previously uncollected and unpublished poems as part of this collection.
The most extensive poem here and perhaps the most optimistic is “Was Naht” (“What Knits”). The poem asks what “this voice” is knitting, or drawing together, on “this side and on that,” maybe the abyss of the Holocaust, maybe death and life. The “snow needle” springs from the “chasms” and the “you” addressed in the poem is asked to come forth:
…tumuli, tumuli,
“Hill” is used here as a verb, and this transformation is Celan’s, who invents the word “hugelst,” the familiar form of the nonexistent verb “to hill.”
The poem works toward some transformation and resurrection; though “worms/ inweb you,” still the globe gives you “safe passage,” and there is “a word, with all its green” that you are told to follow. (Translation by Ian Fairley.) The poem is somewhat spooky, suggesting that the dead are coming alive, being reborn into the unimaginable. Yet, it is a rebirth. Beetle and worms are weighted against words, a tree, green. The green concludes, suggesting at least a possibility of renewal.
Other poems are less accessible, and Fairley’s translations do not always open them to readers unfamiliar with Celan, as he uses words not familiar to many, such as “grimpen” for “marshy,” and “thole” for “endurance.” Nevertheless, these last poems will be part of the Celan canon, and the explanations that Fairley provides of their sources help the student who is unfamiliar with German history to enter into their world.
Review Source
Library Journal 132, no. 12 (July 1, 2007): 95-96.