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| A collection of poems and prose poems by Georg Trakl in Polish, translated by Krzysztof Lipiński |
There is no better time than autumn to lose oneself in the poems of the
great Austrian poet Georg Trakl whose works are curiously evocative and haunting. Trakl excelled in depicting scenes of serene imagery full of contrasting colours. His blank verse, rich in adjectives, has this enchanting power of
suggesting a world beyond our own. It works like a dark, ineffable charm whispered into the reader's ear. Through descriptions that
at first seem ambiguous and defying logic and through his magically suggestive lyricism he has
managed to grasp the fleeting impressions of a secret quietude just moments before the impending doom.
What follows is my visual tribute to Trakl and the autumnal
imagery from his poems followed by a photographic journey to the garrison
hospital in Cracow where Trakl committed suicide by cocaine overdose. On the wall surrounding the hospital one can find a commemorative
plaque with a quote from his poem
“Song of a Captured Blackbird” dedicated to Ludwig von Ficker, who was the last person to visit him before his death:
