"In the East" by Georg Trakl

Georg Trakl served the Austrian army as dispensing chemist in 1914 during the time of the Russian’s raid on Galicia. At one point, he was taking care of more than ninety injured soldiers. These men had experienced one of the most bloody wars in recorded history, and many committed suicide in front of Trakl. The extremity of war was too much for Trakl to handle, and he attempted suicide, but luckily his comrades stopped him. He was then placed in a psychiatric ward where he later overdosed on opium. However, during his time at Galicia he wrote the poem “In the East” as a reflection of what he saw and felt.

Daniel Simko’s translation of “In the East” uses three stanzas, each containing four lines and two sentences with the exception being the third: it contains three sentences. The enjambment used throughout the poem works with the short, concise stanzas to create a tension that builds to the end, and then it never quite resolves. The addition of the third sentence in the last stanza, “Wild wolves have broken through the gates,” implies that danger is quickly coming and cannot be stopped. This abrupt ending places the author in the context of the danger, as if he cannot write anymore because the threat is upon him. The last sentence in the final stanza’s openness causes the reader to look over their shoulder, checking to make sure that they are safe.

Trakl continually uses personification throughout the poem. “The night beckons to dying soldiers” makes it seem as if the night is working as an agent of death, encouraging the dying to give up and die. Personification is further used in the third stanza: “A thorny wilderness surrounds the city” dictates that the wilderness is encircling the area which the poem is describing. The encroachment of briar plants instills a sense of being trapped in those who read the poem. The moon carries the last personification: “From bloody doorsteps the moon/ Hunts terrified women.” The silver, yet light glow, of the moon brings to life shadows, causing fear, but it can also provide enough light to prevent people from hiding. During this time of war, people, especially civilians, may have tried to hide to escape death, but because of the moon they could not escape death. The personification creates a sense of being totally alone. Everything appears to be falling to pieces, and it may feel like everyone, everything is against the subject.

A theme of vulnerability and hopelessness carries throughout the three stanzas. “Leafless stars” suggests the openness of the night sky-- not being blocked by trees and their leaves. The vastness of the universe pushes down upon those implied in the poem- the victims of war. Any individual would feel alone when met with the expansiveness of the universe, and I believe that is the sense that Trakl is attempting to portray to readers. Trakl uses a sense of vulnerability in the second stanza with the mention of “night beckons.” It further plays off the openness of the night sky. On a clear night, nothing stands between an individual and the vast openness of the night, and this individual feels as if the sky is absorbing him or her. Lastly, the “thorny wilderness” surrounding the city creates a sense of hopelessness. How can anyone hope to escape when surrounded by thorns? Lastly, the conciseness of the last sentence, “Wild wolves have broken through the gates”

leaves the reader with an unresolved tension which permeates every cell in the body. The wolves have entered the city and are ready to kill.

Trakl experienced the atrocities of war during his time at Galicia. During his time of providing healthcare to the soldiers he must have been dealing with intense emotional turmoil. This inner chaos manifested itself in the form of “In the East” and gave us the poem that we have today.

Paraphrase of “In the East”:

The soullessness rage of people,

makes music like that of a blizzard, 

the chaos is a solid blur, 

vulnerability surrounds.

With mutilated appendages, 

the vast, dark universe calls those nearest death. 

The dead cling to the Earth.

There is no where to go, 

all is surrounded by pain. 

The light of the moon reveals those hiding, 

for the animalistic men to find.