Most Read... Rebecca WattsThe Cult of the Noble Amateur
(PN Review 239)
John McAuliffeBill Manhire in Conversation with John McAuliffe
(PN Review 259)
Patricia CraigVal Warner: A Reminiscence
(PN Review 259)
Eavan BolandA Lyric Voice at Bay
(PN Review 121)
Joshua WeinerAn Exchange with Daniel Tiffany/Fall 2020
(PN Review 259)
Vahni CapildeoOn Judging Prizes, & Reading More than Six Really Good Books
(PN Review 237)
Next Issue Kirsty Gunn re-arranges the world John McAuliffe reads Seamus Heaney's letters and translations Chris Price's 'Songs of Allegiance' David Herman on Aharon Appelfeld Victoria Moul on Christopher Childers compendious Greek and Latin Lyric Book Philip Terry again answers the question, 'What is Poetry'
Poems Articles Interviews Reports Reviews Contributors
Reader Survey
PN Review Substack

This poem is taken from PN Review 139, Volume 27 Number 5, May - June 2001.

Poems (translated by Michael Hamburger) Günter Kunert

Loss of Memory

Time blots out the names
in our brains. What was the name
of the last Byzantine emperor? And
the first General Secretary?
Mnemosyne, disloyal one,
you've deserted me, and taken
your dowry with you.
Whom can I ask for help when
I don't know anyone now?
Astoroth, Salazar, Timoshenko,
Nicolas, Wendelin, Blasius -
stray frequencies on the receivers,
cell albumen waste.

Let me introduce
myself. I am
who I was and have
already ceased to be.
...


Searching, please wait... animated waiting image