{"id":4613,"date":"2015-04-23T09:01:38","date_gmt":"2015-04-23T09:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4613"},"modified":"2016-01-23T14:57:44","modified_gmt":"2016-01-23T13:57:44","slug":"volker-braun-rubble-flora-selected-poems-ed-and-trans-david-constantine-and-karen-leeder-reviewed-by-ian-pople","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4613","title":{"rendered":"Volker Braun, Rubble Flora: Selected Poems<\/em> trans. by David Constantine and Karen Leeder (Seagull Books) \u00a314.95"},"content":{"rendered":"

The opening sentence of the introduction to this handsomely produced book reads, \u2018Volker Braun is one of Germany\u2019s foremost lyric poets\u2019.\u00a0 Well, up to a point, Lord Copper.\u00a0 Constantine and Leeder just further down the page declare, \u2018\u2026he is perhaps better known, internationally at least, as a dramatist, novelist and essayist.\u2019\u00a0 Later, they strenuously deny that Braun writes \u2018agitprop\u2019, whilst admitting, \u2018Political jargon or quotations from fellow poets appear in upper case or italics or, more often than not, unidentified in the poems.\u2019 All of which seems to stretch the definition of \u2018lyric\u2019.<\/p>\n

Braun was born in Dresden at the time of the beginning the War and grew up and was educated in the GDR. He seems to have been seen as a thorn in authority\u2019s side from the beginning and both his publication and his education were obstructed by those authorities. \u00a0Yet the later Braun has won more prizes than you can shake a stick at.\u00a0 And this book convincingly shows why.<\/p>\n

The influence of Pound, remarked upon by the translators in their preface, shows through Braun\u2019s work from the beginning.\u00a0 In the wonderful \u2018Walter Benjamin in the Pyrenees\u2019, the poem starts with a description of Benjamin \u2018Striding calmly into the wall of fog.\/ Arms swing awkwardly but keep time.\/Following the scrap of paper across the precipice.\u2019 There\u2019s a lovely sense of the richness with which Braun imbues this picture:\u00a0 the possibility of \u2018wall of fog\u2019 as pathetic fallacy;\u00a0 the arms both awkward but keeping time, as if this were a portrait of Benjamin in the Arcades Project<\/i> both flaneur in Paris but also denizen of the place.\u00a0 This latter is supported with Braun\u2019s quoting the Arcades Project<\/i> a little below this in the poem \u2018I have nothing to say.\u00a0 Only to show.\u2019 <\/i>And there is a sense of Braun\u2019s pointing to the contradiction in this as \u2018to say\u2019 is<\/span> \u2018to show\u2019;\u00a0 as if, in modern parlance,\u00a0 to show is always to tell.\u00a0 And finally, Benjamin follows the paper across the precipice;\u00a0 Benjamin the intellectual, the writer, follows the argument and the need to write that argument down, to communicate it to someone, somewhere, follows that over the precipice that such a need will lead him to.\u00a0 In Benjamin\u2019s case, to suicide.\u00a0 In this piece, then, the Poundian influence is the narrative influence, the influence that Pound himself acknowledged came from Browning.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, the Poundian influence is present in Braun\u2019s willingness to swing from formal rhythm and rhyme, through open form displacements around the page, to prose poetry. And these swings in form are rendered immaculate in Constantine and Leeder\u2019s loving translations.\u00a0 Here is the second and final verse of \u2018Iguanas\u2019,<\/p>\n

We the iguanas, creatures of a coming age,
\nCamped in the crumbling citadels of finance
\nWe watch the banks collapse in total silence.
\nNot the slightest laughter, not a hint of rage.
\nAnd power, time? They rot and fall away
\nAnd the sun just rises on another day.<\/p>\n

After forty years of railing at the communist GDR, Braun has lost none of his desire to kick at the pricks of contemporary capitalism. And one wonders who might have put it better, or had it better translated.
\n 
\nIan Pople<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The opening sentence of the introduction to this handsomely produced book reads, \u2018Volker Braun is one of Germany\u2019s foremost lyric poets\u2019.\u00a0 Well, up to a point, Lord Copper.\u00a0 Constantine and Leeder just further down the page declare, \u2018\u2026he is perhaps better known, internationally at least, as a dramatist, novelist and essayist.\u2019\u00a0 Later, they strenuously deny […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[13,283],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nVolker Braun, Rubble Flora: Selected Poems trans. by David Constantine and Karen Leeder (Seagull Books) \u00a314.95 - The Manchester Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4613\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Volker Braun, Rubble Flora: Selected Poems trans. by David Constantine and Karen Leeder (Seagull Books) \u00a314.95 - The Manchester Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The opening sentence of the introduction to this handsomely produced book reads, \u2018Volker Braun is one of Germany\u2019s foremost lyric poets\u2019.\u00a0 Well, up to a point, Lord Copper.\u00a0 Constantine and Leeder just further down the page declare, \u2018\u2026he is perhaps better known, internationally at least, as a dramatist, novelist and essayist.\u2019\u00a0 Later, they strenuously deny […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4613\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Manchester Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-23T09:01:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-01-23T13:57:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ian Pople\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ian Pople\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4613\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4613\",\"name\":\"Volker Braun, Rubble Flora: Selected Poems trans. by David Constantine and Karen Leeder (Seagull Books) \u00a314.95 - The Manchester Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-23T09:01:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-23T13:57:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/1e4c20066db3d71097155619e6d443a9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4613#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4613\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4613#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Volker Braun, Rubble Flora: Selected Poems trans. by David Constantine and Karen Leeder (Seagull Books) \u00a314.95\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"The Manchester Review\",\"description\":\"The Manchester Review\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/1e4c20066db3d71097155619e6d443a9\",\"name\":\"Ian Pople\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/wp-includes\/images\/blank.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/wp-includes\/images\/blank.gif\",\"caption\":\"Ian Pople\"},\"description\":\"Ian Pople's Spillway is published by Anstruther Press.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?author=21\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Volker Braun, Rubble Flora: Selected Poems trans. by David Constantine and Karen Leeder (Seagull Books) \u00a314.95 - The Manchester Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4613","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Volker Braun, Rubble Flora: Selected Poems trans. by David Constantine and Karen Leeder (Seagull Books) \u00a314.95 - The Manchester Review","og_description":"The opening sentence of the introduction to this handsomely produced book reads, \u2018Volker Braun is one of Germany\u2019s foremost lyric poets\u2019.\u00a0 Well, up to a point, Lord Copper.\u00a0 Constantine and Leeder just further down the page declare, \u2018\u2026he is perhaps better known, internationally at least, as a dramatist, novelist and essayist.\u2019\u00a0 Later, they strenuously deny […]","og_url":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4613","og_site_name":"The Manchester Review","article_published_time":"2015-04-23T09:01:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-01-23T13:57:44+00:00","author":"Ian Pople","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ian Pople","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4613","url":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4613","name":"Volker Braun, Rubble Flora: Selected Poems trans. by David Constantine and Karen Leeder (Seagull Books) \u00a314.95 - The Manchester Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-04-23T09:01:38+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-23T13:57:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/1e4c20066db3d71097155619e6d443a9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4613#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4613"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4613#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Volker Braun, Rubble Flora: Selected Poems trans. by David Constantine and Karen Leeder (Seagull Books) \u00a314.95"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/","name":"The Manchester Review","description":"The Manchester Review","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/1e4c20066db3d71097155619e6d443a9","name":"Ian Pople","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/wp-includes\/images\/blank.gif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/wp-includes\/images\/blank.gif","caption":"Ian Pople"},"description":"Ian Pople's Spillway is published by Anstruther Press.","url":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?author=21"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2PuXo-1cp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4613"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4613"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5485,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4613\/revisions\/5485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}