Alphabet
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Based structurally on Fibonacci's sequence, Inger Christensen's alphabet, like Genesis, proclaims our world, once more, into being (cicadas exist; chicory, chromium; days and death; early fall exists; aftertaste, afterthought; whisperings, and so on), without stopping to pronounce it "good" (hydrogen bombs exist, after all). Yet while the poem has the power to swell up into oblivion, its majesty's a product of negation, less accumulation, wherein no one can / know whether things / as they are / go on and the future conceals nothing.
—Colin
Awarded the American-Scandinavian PEN Translation Prize by Michael Hamburger, Susanna Nied's translation of alphabet introduces Inger Christensen's poetry to US readers for the first time. Born in 1935, Inger Christensen is Denmark's best known poet. Her award-winning alphabet is based structurally on Fibonacci's sequence (a mathematical sequence in which each number is the sum of the two previous numbers), in combination with the alphabet. The gorgeous poetry herein reflects a complex philosophical background, yet has a visionary quality, discovering the metaphysical in the simple stuff of everyday life. In alphabet, Christensen creates a framework of psalm-like forms that unfold like expanding universes, while crystallizing both the beauty and the potential for destruction that permeate our times.
ISBN:
9780811214773
Publisher:
Binding:
Paperback
Publication Date:
May 20, 2001