Ulrike Almut Sandig’s collection of poems I Am a Field Full of Rapeseed, Give Cover to Deer and Shine Like Thirteen Oil Paintings Laid One on Top of the Other, translated into English from German by Karen Leeder, offers a unique aesthetic sensibility and guides us to a deeper understanding and appreciation of a world that is imaginary yet entirely recognizable. The poems of this collection have linked two overlapping worlds—of imagination and reality, with ease and grace.
Observation of the poet is mixed with wit and playful humour, expressing various emotions through the undercurrents of violence. A number of poems of this collection have been inspired from the fairy tales of the Brother’s Grimm and the poet has played with the German meaning of the word ‘Grimm’, that is ‘rage’. That powerful emotion permeates these poems as a strong reaction to the darkness in the collective German consciousness. Sandig has explored the darker side of the fairy tales as a backdrop for very contemporary concerns such as migration, war, the rise of the new right, environmental crisis, global economic crisis, political apathy, the condition of the refugees in various camps of Europe and several other threats surrounding all of us—some are minor, but mostly grave in nature. These poems deliver the message of humanity by reminding the readers what it is to be human and how it affects the global scenario. The poems are rich with passion and empathy often evoking a different kind of mysticism which can only be experienced through the sense and sensibility of a voracious and mindful reader.
The poems have a lyrical quality and there is also a blend of levity and seriousness that clearly elucidates the importance of being empathetic human beings in this insane world of violence and terror. The poet has also teased the readers with multiple versions of the self and multiple voices all in the quest for revolting poetry and they are spontaneous and vivid in nature—animated by a passionate grandeur that takes the readers in the silence before the language, in the wings, in the field of rapeseed deep in the snow.
This collection provides valuable insight into the unknown territory of the fairy tales and the universal appeal of the concerns depicted in the poems makes it very very special. The interesting perception of the poet has been brilliantly expressed in the poems of isolation, splendour, beauty, wonder, revolt, compassion and various aspects of the feminist philosophy.
The poems have been arranged in seven different sections which are closely related to each other as far as the universality of their theme is concerned. The most interesting are the ‘Grimm’ cycle of poems and one does not need to know the original fairy tales to appreciate these poems. Though inspired, these poems have become a completely new series of literary work brimming with the interpolations of Sandig generating a gut-wrenching pain that disturbs the readers and takes them out of their comfort zone.
As the poet writes in one of her verses: “we find ourselves deep in the future of fairy tale./ we are the offspring of our own imaginings...”, the reader can also find their own personal interpretations through their colourful and multi-layered imaginations delving deeper in the future of the fairy tales presented here in Sandig’s versatile verses. The path has been shown by the poet and it’s a pleasure walking down that lane amid the variety of the emotions. The conscience has been evoked, bitter questions have been asked and there is the invitation toward a better world leaving behind all the darkness and negativity, getting rid of all the threats trying to intimidate us.
Karen Leeder has made a magnificent job as a translator as the flow of the language doesn’t harm the poetic quality of the text and hence the readers find the journey enjoyable even though there is darkness and pain and misery in the core of the poems and can feel the poetic genius. Through her wonderful translation, Sandig’s irresistibly brilliant poems seem to penetrate the souls of the ardent readers.
The simple yet interesting and insightful expression of these exceptionally powerful poems has not only brought clarity but also kept the poetic magnanimity which can be felt and revered deeply. The gruesome events depicted in the poems let the readers discover a reality that is hidden under the magical spells of imagination and make them face the cruel and intolerable truth by dragging them in front of the mirror where there’s no place for hypocrisy and escapism—where everything reveals its actual self and gives us a shock, mocking our insecurity and cowardice.
I Am a Field Full of Rapeseed, Give Cover to Deer and Shine Like Thirteen Oil Paintings Laid One on Top of the Other by Ulrike Almut Sandig; Translated by Karen Leeder; Published by Seagull Books (2020); Price: INR 499