Celan Quotes

“On April 20, 1970, the poet Paul Celan left his home in Paris, walked to a bridge over the River Seine, and jumped to his death. He left a biography of Hölderlin open on his desk, with the following words underlined: "Sometimes this genius goes dark and sinks down into the bitter well of his heart."
The sentence does not end there. Celan chose not to underline the rest: "but mostly his apocalyptic star glitters wondrously.”
― Maggie Nelson, The Red Parts

“Una palabra — vos sabés:
un cadáver.

Vamos a lavarla
vamos a peinarla,

vamos a volver su ojo
hacia el cielo.”
― Paul Celan, Antología poética