The Metaphysics of Language in Emily Dickinson (As Translated by Paul Celan)

Abstract

This poem by Emily Dickinson clearly falls within the traditions of mystical discourse. Its eschatological focus, its transcendent yearning, its vision of arrival after long wandering, of union after separation, are all distinctively mystical. Within the context of the translation of the poem by Paul Celan, the mystical discourse of the text emerges even more forcefully, and does so especially in terms of the linguistic assertion and implications deeply inscribed within mystical tradition — something Celan’s work persistently probes. Thus, the ‘stillest night’ (stillste Nacht) evokes both silence and immobility: that is, atemporality, as cessation of all sound and temporal motion. ‘Too near’ (zu nah) invokes that absolute inwardness invariably inscribed in western mystical experience as a crucial marker. And ‘Too tender, to be told.’ (zu sanft, genannt zu sein)announces that inexpressibility which has through centuries served as ultimate signifier for transcendence. In a persistent mystical paradox, negating language serves as ultimate assertion. Language at this point is more than another trope for surpassing temporal reality; rather, transcendence fundamentally is conceived as the transcendence of language as such.

Let down the Bars, Oh Death —

The tired Flocks come in

Whose bleating ceases to repeat

Whose wandering is done —

Thine is the stillest night

Thine the securest Fold

Too near Thou art for seeking Thee

Too tender, to be told.¹

[Fort mit der Schranke, Tod!

Die Herde kommt, es kommt

wer blökte und nun nimmer blökt

wer nicht mehr wandert, kommt.

Dein ist die stillste Nacht

der sichre Pferch ist dein.

Zu nah bist du, um noch gesucht

zu sanft, genannt zu sein.²]