Les Globes By Paul Celan

1384 Words6 Pages
Les Globes is a poem that on initial reading gives us only a vague idea of what it is about - loss. A little delving into the meaning of the poem, however, reveals a train of thought that seeks to assuage a specific loss, the loss of a loved one. The poem endeavours to explain the journey that a mourner makes after the death takes place, following a path that ultimately leads to acceptance. The tone and the word choices in the text work toward making the poem a consolatory one. By modulating the tone of the poem as it progresses, Celan attempts to console the griever, guiding him or her out of the turmoil that arises from the death with the promise of acceptance. Translated from German by Michael Hamburger, Les Globes traces the process of a death, noting the unfailing eventuality of the physical death of an individual, the interim period of grief and strong memories remaining within the mourners, and their inevitable 'moving on' or progression from the emotional turn caused by the passing of a known person. The very first line of the poem could be an address to the griever, the person left adrift. The words read there form a command or a beckon to the person with the awry eyes. It could also be a way of pointing out to the reader that the eyes act as a window to an individual's feelings, and that the expression in the griever's eyes can be read to surmise the depth of the turmoil felt due to the loss.The use of the word awry indicates the sense of the world as seen through the eyes of the addressee as being askew without the presence of the mourned person. The word used by Celan, verfahrenen, literally translates from German to 'muddled'. While awry implies that something is amiss, 'muddled' indicates confusion and a certain aimlessness in the behaviour of the mourner. Here, the tone of the poem indicates that the poet is acknowledging the whirlpool of emotions
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