Poems by Hermann Hesse by Hermann Hesse
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
If you're like me, you may not have realized that this German author, known for short philosophical novels such as "Siddhartha," " Steppenwolf," and "Demian," was also a poet. This bilingual edition consists of a selection of 31 poems picked and translated by the Pulitzer Prize winning poet, James Wright. The poems are short form poems that range from less than a page to three pages, and thus even with the inclusion of the original German verse, the book is only 80 pages.
It's hard to imagine a more skilled editor / translator than James Wright, who was considered one of the best American poets of his time. When I was reading up on Wright, I saw that major themes in his poems were "loneliness and alienation," and those themes are certainly seen in this selection, though I cannot tell you if they're representative of Hesse's poetry over all or not. The philosophical outlook of Hesse's fiction certainly shines through in places, as does the sparse, imagery-centric approach seen in Eastern (e.g. Zen) poetry - a style that tries to keep the poet out of it by presenting scene devoid of analysis or judgment.
Though it didn't do me much good, owing to my inability to speak or even properly pronounce German, I like that the original poems in German are included. An Italian proverb compares poetry translations to women - i.e. the more beautiful, the less faithful. So, it's always nice for those with bilingual fluency to be able to look at them side-by-side (which is how they are printed.) Sometimes even hearing the poem without understanding meaning can give one insight into the musicality of the verse.
I enjoyed this selection of poems, and while I can't say how much is Hesse and how much Wright, either way they were well-composed and pleasant to read. I would highly recommend this selection for poetry readers.
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