Umbra vitae: Con 47 xilografías de Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

by Georg Heym

Umbra Vitae (segunda edición, ilustrada por Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1924) contiene los poemas póstumos de Georg Heym. En ellos, plasma una síntesis poética entre la necesidad de expresión artística, la inconformidad con su entorno y la adaptación como base del orden social. Construye un universo poético confinado a paisajes de "distancia inabarcable" y ciudades "desesperantemente estrechas", donde la distinción entre naturaleza y espacio social desaparece para convertirse en un "estancamiento vacío y desierto" (Starre der leeren Öde).
"Estancamiento" y "desierto", leitmotivs de la última fase creativa de Heym, reciben su significado de una conciencia crítica que, en lugar de proponer otras realidades estéticas, enfatiza el aquí y ahora en su forma más grotesca: la destrucción de toda utopía vitalista.

Genres: Poetry

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1912

About the author

Georg Heym was a German writer. He is particularly known for his poetry, representative of early Expressionism.
Heym was born in Hirschberg, Lower Silesia in 1887 to Hermann and Jenny Heym. Throughout his short life, he was constantly in conflict with social conventions. His parents, members of the Wilhemine middle class, had trouble comprehending their son's rebellious behavior. Heym's own attitude towards his parents was paradoxical; on the one hand he held a deep affection for them, but on the other he strongly resisted any attempts to suppress his individuality and autonomy.
In 1900 the Heyms moved to Berlin, and there Georg began unsuccessfully attending a series of different schools. Eventually, he arrived at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Gymnasium at Neuruppin in Brandenburg. He was very unsatisfied, and as a way to achieve some release he began writing poetry. After he graduated and went to study law at Würzburg, he started writing plays as well. However, publishers largely ignored his work.
In 1910 Heym met the poet and writer Simon Guttmann, who invited Heym to join the recently founded Der Neue Club, a descendant of a student society at the University of Berlin. Other members of this Club included Kurt Hiller, Jakob van Hoddis, and Erwin Loewenson (also known as Golo Gangi); often visiting were Else Lasker-Schüler, Gottfried Benn, and Karl Kraus. Although the Club had no actual stated objective, its members all shared a sense of rebellion against contemporary culture and possessed a desire for political and aesthetic upheaval. The Club held "Neopathetisches Cabaret" meetings in which members presented work, and it was here that Heym first gained notice. His poetry immediately attracted praise. In January 1911, Ernst Rowohlt published Heym's first book and the only one to appear in his lifetime: Der ewige Tag (The Eternal Day).
Heym later went through several judicial jobs, none of which he held for long due to his lack of respect for authority. On 16 January 1912, Heym and his friend Ernst Balcke went on a skating trip to the frozen river Havel. They never returned. A few days later their bodies were found. Appearances indicated that Balcke had fallen through the ice and Heym had attempted to save him but fell in as well. Heym remained alive for half an hour, calling out for help. His cries were heard by some nearby forestry workers, but they were unable to reach him.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg...

Reviews

[Maeander81]

" Il dio della città

Sopra un blocco di case sta seduto,
Gli cingono la fronte i venti neri,
E guarda irato ove laggiù, sperduti,
Si confondono gli ultimi quartieri.

Accende il rosso ventre, a Baal, la sera,
E le grandi città stanno in ginocchi
A lui d'intorno. Innumeri rintocchi
Salgon dalla marea di torri nera.

Danza di coribanti per le strade
Rimbomba il ritmo della folla. Denso
Di ciminiere e fabbriche a lui sale
Il fumo, come nuvola d'incenso.

Sulle sue sopracciglia il tempo abbuia.
Nella notte sprofonda ormai la sera.
Intorno alla sua chioma, irta di furia,
Come avvoltoio rotea la bufera.

Nel buio tende il pugno suo massiccio.
Lo scuote. Un mar di fuoco avvampa intorno
Per una via. Crepita il fumo arsiccio
E la divora, finché spunta il giorno".

(" Der Gott der Stadt

Auf einem Häuserblocke sitzt er breit.
Die Winde lagern schwarz um seine Stirn.
Er schaut voll Wut, wo fern in Einsamkeit
Die letzten Häuser in das Land verirrn.

Vom Abend glänzt der rote Bauch dem Baal,
Die großen Städte knien um ihn her.
Der Kirchenglocken ungeheure Zahl
Wogt auf zu ihm aus schwarzer Türme Meer.

Wie Korybanten-Tanz dröhnt die Musik
Der Millionen durch die Straßen laut.
Der Schlote Rauch, die Wolken der Fabrik
Ziehn auf zu ihm, wie Duft von Weihrauch blaut.

Das Wetter schwelt in seinen Augenbrauen.
Der dunkle Abend wird in Nacht betäubt.
Die Stürme flattern, die wie Geier schauen
Von seinem Haupthaar, das im Zorne sträubt.

Er streckt ins Dunkel seine Fleischerfaust.
Er schüttelt sie. Ein Meer von Feuer jagt
Durch eine Straße. Und der Glutqualm braust
Und frißt sie auf, bis spät der Morgen tagt".)

[nonegloga]

(...)
Perché indugia il Signor? La casa è piena,
Le tende intorno al caravanserraglio,
La gran fiera dei morti, ove le ossa
Verso il deserto stridule sferragliano.

Perché non viene? Indosso abbiamo i panni
E scarpe per i morti. E siamo sazi.
Dov’è il duce che marci a noi davanti,
Con lo stendardo che ci guidi i passi?

Dove echeggerà forte la sua voce?
Verso quale tramonto è il nostro volo?
Condannato ciascuno ad esser solo
Di quale vuoto cielo inganno atroce

[Alessandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Saremo come una parola che nessuno ascolta?
O un fumo che volteggia nello spazio della sera?
O un pianto che all'improvviso disturba chi è felice?
O un lume per la notte? O un sogno?

Oppure - non verrà nessuno?
E lentamente cadremo a pezzi
tra le risate della luna
che sibila alta sulle nubi
ci sbricioleremo in nulla,
- un bimbo stringerà
un giorno la nostra grandezza
in un misero pugno."