Austria, (b. 1931)
original German:
Neuerdings ruft ein Schwein
- Neuerdings ruft ein Schwein
- ein richtiges Speckschwein
- täglich bei mir an
- Grunzend erzählt es mir sein Leben
- wühlt
- metaphorisch gesprochen
- im eigenen Schlamm
- Gewiß liegt es rosig da
- den Hörer am Schweinsohr
- die Beinchen von sich gestreckt
- heutzutage haben auch Schweine ihren Privat-
- anschluß
- im eigenen Koben
- ein fortschrittlicher Landwirt
- läßt es den Tieren an nichts fehlen
- Seit gestern duzt es mich
- ich duze zurück
- eingedenk des Schlachtmessers
- und des Schinkens
- Da haben wirs doch noch besser
- uns fressen höchstens die Würmer
- dafür können wir
- Kontinente in die Luft jagen
- und Klavier spielen
English translation:
Recently a Pig is Phoning
- A pig
- a real porker
- has recently been phoning me daily
- He grunts out his life
- wallowing
- as it were
- in his own swill
- There he reclines
- holding the phone to his pink ear
- stumpy legs in the air
- these days even pigs have a private phone
- in their sties
- trendy farmers attend to their every need
- Since yesterday he calls me his chum
- I’m chummy back
- mindful of the butcher’s knife
- and the bacon
- We’re better off though
- worms are all that eat us
- and we
- in return
- can explode continents
- and play the piano
Editor’s Note:
The English translation above is by Brendel himself in collaboration with Richard Stokes. Stokes collaborated on Brendel’s Collected Poems: Playing the Human Game (2011).
Alfred Brendel. Kleine Teufel: neue Gedichte. München: Hanser (1999).
About the Poet:
Alfred Brendel, Austria, (b. 1931) is a pianist, poet and author, known particularly for his interpretations of Mozart, Schubert, Schoenberg, Liszt and especially Beethoven. Brendel writes his poetry in German, the language he says he still dreams in. [DES-11/19]