Ausgewhlte Gedichte

An ambitious bilingual anthology of postwar German poetry.

In Haiku, the Gentle Art of Disappearing, a renowned Irish poet shows us how haiku may be used as a powerful tool for spiritual interpenetration. This implies that we divest ourselves of the ever-chattering mind, shed the voracious ego and enjoy momentary glimpses of unity with natural phenomena. In the companion volume, Haiku Enlightenment, he further explores these thoroughly delightful experiences and invites us to disappear! Haiku is dynamically focussed on the present, from season to season, from day to day, from hour to hour, from second to second. But how illusory, how fleeting is that present moment? How caught up is it with the past, with the future? Can we stop its flow? Are there more ways than one of experiencing its essence? If we experience a moment intensely enough, might we disappear? Surprises await those readers who may have considered haiku to be nothing more than an innocuous three-line poem. A renowned poet shares his experience of haiku and its potential to surprise us again and again into a sudden awakening and thus to a deeper sense of what it is to be truly alive. His remarkably refreshing insights have delighted confreres around the world.

Designed to provide English readers of German literature the opportunity to familiarize themselves with both the established canon and newly emerging literatures that reflect the concerns of women and ethnic minorities, the Encyclopedia of German Literature includes more than 500 entries on writers, individual work, and topics essential to an understanding of this rich literary tradition. Drawing on the expertise of an international group of experts, the essays in the encyclopedia reflect developments of the latest scholarship in German literature, culture, and history and society. In addition to the essays, author entries include biographies and works lists; and works entries provide information about first editions, selected critical editions, and English-language translations. All entries conclude with a list of further readings.

With the publication of his Gedichte in November of 1902, Hermann Hesse "arrived" as a literary figure in the German-speaking world. However, relatively little is known about the years immediately preceding this breakthrough. Through a great deal of "detective" work the author has succeeded in personally locating dozens of Hesse's previously unknown letters and manuscripts. These have been skillfully interwoven in this book along with a lively and most readable account of this crucial phase of Hesse's life from ca. 1899 to 1903. During this period Hesse worked as a bookseller in Basel, where he formed important friendships and creative alliances with writers, publishers, and journalists, described here for the first time. Moreover, during those years he devoted himself almost exclusively to the composition of "neo-Romantic" poetry, most notably his Notturni, handwritten sets of eight or more poems which he sold as unique collections. Two dozen of these poems are published here for the first time in the original.

First Published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.