Absalom

Die große Verfolgung hat begonnen, Absalom!
Bald wird greifen dein schönes, schönes Haar
Die Hand der neigenden Trauerweide.
Aber eh’ dein Verfolger dich faßt,
Dein König, Absalom, der du selbst bist,
Ist deinem Mund gegönnt ein Gesang,
Deinem Mund eine liebliche Herzfreude.

Innehältst du in deinem Lauf.
Verschwunden die Nebengedanken Hunde...
Die Meute zupft deinen Mantel nicht mehr.
Du stehst in deinem Lächeln! Woher,
Wohin lebt dein Lied im Morgen?:
„Unter den Menschen ist Freude.“

Absalom

The great pursuit has begun, Absalom.
Soon the hand of the bending weeping willow 
Will grab your lovely, lovely hair.
But before your pursuer catches you,
Your king, Absalom, which thou art yourself,
Has granted from your mouth a song,
From your mouth a sweet inner joy.

You break off from your run.
Gone are the side thoughts of dogs...
The pack no longer tugs at your coat.
You stand in your smile. Where from,
Where to lives your song in the morning?:
“Among the people is joy.”

Note: Franz Werfel’s rereading of the fate of Absalom and the aftermath Battle of Ephraim’s Wood departs only a little from the story told in the Second Book of Samuel (the renegade prince seems on foot rather than muleback, the tree in which he is ensnared is a willow rather than an oak). This is to intensify the irony of the self-deception of one who styled himself a man of the people, the misanthropy of the philanthropist (cf. Weltfreund).

James Reidel | Gewaltige Mutter > Almighty Mother
Contents | Mudlark No. (2015)