ʻEIN ENGEL SPIELTE SANFT AUF BLAUEN TASTENʼ: ELSE LASKER-SCHÜLERS LYRISCHE MUSIKPOETIK

Abstract

This essay examines the musical dimension in Else Lasker-Schülerʼs lyrical compositions. In three sections, each headed with a motto from Georg Traklʼs poem ʻAbendlandʼ (which was dedicated to Lasker-Schüler), this exploration suggests an ʻelective affinityʼ in the two poets’ treatment of poetic language. Central to the argument is a discussion of Lasker-Schüler's rarely considered poem ʻLeo Kestenbergʼ, in which intrinsic musicality is matched with explicit references to musical themes and motifs. The essay argues, with particular reference to Bachelard and Zwetajewa, that music and poetic spaces are interrelated in Lasker-Schülerʼs poems. It shows how musically conditioned her treatment of language was: in her poetry, music is the sound-image of poetic imagination. Rather than apply the over-used concept of ʻintermedialityʼ to Lasker-Schüler's poetry, the essay demonstrates what poetic phenomenology entails if or when word and music interact in a generic fashion, forming what could be termed ʻpoetic correlativesʼ. Whilst much of Lasker-Schüler criticism centres on the pictorial dimension in her work, this essay contributes to redressing the balance.