Salamander Sun and other poems

by Pia Tafdrup, David McDuff

Overview

Pia Tafdrup is one of Denmark's leading poets. She has received the Nordic Literature Prize - Scandinavia's most prestigious literary award - and the Swedish Academy's Nordic Prize. This new translation of her work combines two recent collections, The Migrant Bird's Compass and Salamander Sun, which comprise the third and fourth parts of a quartet written over ten years: the first two parts are The Whales in Paris and Tarkovsky's Horses (published in English by Bloodaxe in 2010 as Tarkovsky's Horses and other poems). The Migrant Bird's Compass is a book of poems about the dimensions of travel, either to specific countries or as an inner journey. The route from birth to death is also portrayed. Travel demands commitment and curiosity. The only predictable thing about it is the unpredictable. Travel implies vulnerability, but also much that has happened at home while one was away. The poems are about the experience of 'resting in myself / despite the fire in the centre of the earth'. Salamander Sun presents 60 poems, one for each year, from 1952, when Pia Tafdrup was born, to 2011; from the first chaotic sensations, through the gradual discovery of the world and its diversity, and of language, its possibilities and challenges; from growing up on a farm, puberty, study, politics, love, to becoming a poet, having two sons, getting older and having old parents; to leaving one's mark and understanding one's place in the passage of time. The poems cast light backwards, but also seek a focus in the future. Together with The Whales in Paris and Tarkovsky's Horses the two books form a quartet that centres on the theme of journeying and passage, its individual parts creating a field of tension. Each part portrays an element: water, earth, air and fire, each represented by a creature, and each part has a key figure: the beloved person, the father, the mother and the "I" that recalls its life. The quartet is an attempt to find structure in the midst of chaos.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780371504
Publisher:	Bloodaxe Books
Publication date:	01/25/2015
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Pia Tafdrup was born in 1952 in Copenhagen. She has published over 20 books in Danish since her first collection appeared in 1981, and her work has been translated into many languages. Her fourth collection, Spring Tide, was published in English by Forest in 1989. In 1991 she published a celebrated statement of her poetics, Walking Over Water. She received the 1999 Nordic Council Literature Prize – Scandinavia’s most prestigious literary award – for Queen's Gate, which was published in David McDuff’s English translation by Bloodaxe in 2001. Also in 2001, she was appointed a Knight of the Order of Dannebrog, and in 2006 she received the Nordic Prize from the Swedish Academy. Most of Pia Tafdrup's poetry collections have been linked by themes, including The Salamander Quartet (2002–2012). Written over ten years, its first two parts were The Whales in Paris and Tarkovsky’s Horses, translated by David McDuff and published by Bloodaxe in 2010 as Tarkovsky’s Horses and other poems. This was followed in 2015 by Salamander Sun and other poems, McDuff’s translation of The Migrant Bird’s Compass and Salamander Sun, the third and fourth parts of the quartet. The first two collections in Pia Tafdrup’s new series of books focussing on the human senses are The Taste of Steel and The Smell of Snow, which Bloodaxe published as one volume in David McDuff's translation in 2021.

Table of Contents

The Migrant Bird's Compass

I

Leaving Home 15

II The Element of Motion

The Road Anyone Can Go 20

Dark October 21

In the Mountain Cavern 23

The Last Journey 24

First Flight 25

The Road Is Alive 26

International Airspace 27

Travel Light 28

Amulet 30

On Motorbike in Nightdress 31

Transport 32

Stumbling Stone 33

Signpost 35

Staying the Night 36

Over Field and Meadow 37

Which Direction? 38

Picnic, a Prelude 39

No Admittance 41

Thought's Wingèd Horse 43

In the Melting Pot 44

Between Østerport and World's End 45

Saddle 46

Pass, Passport, Passaporto, Etc. 47

The Philosophy of the Gate 48

Moving Day 49

Sinking to the Bottom in our Own Heaven 50

Lost and Found 51

Mysterious Bridge 53

The Dream of the East 54

Oasis 56

Landing 57

Through September 58

Tomorrow Does Not Come Back 59

Nomad 60

The Gremlin Stays the Same 61

The Friend Who Is a Stranger 62

Wanted 63

Centre 64

The Neighbour in the Yellow House 65

Compass 66

The Words Travel 67

Farewell 68

Detour 69

Everywhere the Wind 70

Bird with Root 71

A Point Meets the Infinite 72

Homecoming 73

Global Sweep Day 74

Bird Table 75

Spatial Meditation 76

In Every Language 77

Afterwards 78

Curiosity Cabinet 80

Camera 82

Rest in Motion 83

The Tracks Are Made 84

III

With a Child On My Shoulders 86

Salamander Sun

Joy 90

Discovery 91

Stillborn Brother 92

Lifeline 93

Ode to Freud 94

Banishment 95

No Man's Land 96

Godmother 98

Prepositions 99

Game of Dice 100

Inside Edge 101

Autumn Day 102

Pupa 103

The Grass Stands Up 104

Partisan 105

Future Plan 106

Freedom in France 108

Purple Pussycat 110

Macro-Collective Break 111

Playtime 113

Studies of This and That 116

Revolution 118

Breaking a Chain 119

Anatomical Institute 120

Winter's Tale 121

Fire of Poppies 122

Snowploughs, Icebreakers 123

Arrival I 125

Letters 126

The Salamander Soul's Dream 127

Wedge 128

Arrival II 129

It's the Time 130

Zinnsgade Copenhagen 132

The Boy's Excursion 133

Glasnost 134

Revolver 135

The Fall of the Wall 136

He Learns the Alphabet 137

Departure 138

Futile Prayer 139

War and Love 140

Resting Pulse 141

Melancholy Happiness 142

Why Is This a Human Being? 143

Unlike the Animals 144

Outside Edge 145

New Atlas 146

In Another's Mirror 147

Transformation Fever 148

If the Sun Can Wake Up 149

Unlike Man 150

Closing 151

Spiral 152

Old Children 153

Yellow Tulips 154

Helicopter 155

Earth-Mute Cry 156

Host to a Landscape 157

Seven Dresses for Visibility 158

Notes 160