© by Paul Antschel (1920 - 1970), as Paul Celan
Translation by John Felstiner (1936 - 2017)
Black milk of daybreak we drink it at...
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
Black milk of daybreak we drink it at evening we drink it at midday and morning we drink it at night we drink and we drink we shovel a grave in the air where you won’t lie too cramped A man lives in the house he plays with his vipers he writes he writes when it grows dark to Deutschland your golden hair Margareta he writes it and steps out of doors and the stars are all sparkling he whistles his hounds to stay close he whistles his Jews into rows has them shovel a grave in the ground he commands us play up for the dance Black milk of daybreak we drink you at night we drink you at morning and midday we drink you at evening we drink and we drink A man lives in the house he plays with his vipers he writes he writes when it grows dark to Deutschland your golden hair Margareta your ashen hair Shulamith we shovel a grave in the air He shouts dig this earth deeper you lot there you others sing up and play he grabs for the rod in his belt he swings it his eyes are so blue stick your spades deeper you lot there you others play on for the dancing Black milk of daybreak we drink you at night we drink you at midday and morning we drink you at evening we drink and we drink a man lives in the house your goldenes Haar Margareta your aschenes Haar Sulamith he plays with his vipers He shouts play death more sweetly this Death is a master from Deutschland he shouts scrape your strings darker you’ll rise up as smoke to the sky you’ll then have a grave in the clouds where you won’t lie too cramped Black milk of daybreak we drink you at night we drink you at midday Death is a master aus Deutschland we drink you at evening and morning we drink and we drink this Death is ein Meister aus Deutschland his eye it is blue he shoots you with shot made of lead shoots you level and true a man lives in the house your goldenes Haar Margarete he looses his hounds on us grants us a grave in the air he plays with his vipers and daydreams der Tod is ein Meister aus Deutschland dein goldenes Haar Margarete dein aschenes Haar Sulamith
About the headline (FAQ)
In: Paul Celan, Selected Poems and Prose of Paul Celan, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2001
Text Authorship:
- by John Felstiner (1936 - 2017), "Todesfuge = Deathfugue", copyright status unknown [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Paul Antschel (1920 - 1970), as Paul Celan, "Todesfuge", appears in Mohn und Gedächtnis, first published 1952, copyright ©
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Lori Laitman (b. 1955), "Todesfuge", 2010/2013, first performed 2012 [ baritone and violoncello ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2025-09-14
Line count: 41
Word count: 402