POEMS BY HERMANN HESSE

by Hermann Hesse ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1970

These brief poems, written by the German novelist, in the main in the first two decades of the 20th century, have been selected by poet-translator James Wright who in a pleasant preface, admits his own infatuation with Hesse's ""homesickness"" theme. He quotes, appropriately, from Steppenwolf: ""Ah, Harry, we have to stumble through so much dirt and humbug before we reach home. And we have no one to guide us. Our only guide is our homesickness."" Throbbingly romantic, in a cosmic solitude, Hesse pursued his post-Wordworthian way--through nature, a song overheard (""in seliger Pein""), memory ghosts, dark nights. And ""Only on me, the lonely one,/ The unending stars of the night shine."" Mr. Wright's translations may irk those whose rudimentary knowledge of German sees only the breaches rather than the unions in the renditions. But he has preserved the core of a lyrical imagination that has made alienation a stance of splendor for all time. German originals given on facing pages--a fine contribution to Hesse translations.

Pub Date: June 15, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION