L'inquieta costanza e il patto poetico. Szondi a proposito della traduzione di Celan del sonetto 105 di Shakespeare

The "Poetry of Constancy" (Poetik der Beständigkeit) is undoubtedly one of the best known essays that Peter Szondi (1929-1971) dedicated to Paul Celan. It addresses Celan’s translation of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 105. Szondi points out that Celan was inspired by Mallarmé’s stylistic features and argues that the German translation differs from the original due to its poetic intention, its rhythm and its temporal structure. He then concludes that the language of Celan’s version does not treat an external object, but speaks of itself. For this reason, the poetic rhythm and the concept of constancy, in which Szondi inscribes Celan’s translation, call for further investigation, involving previous analyzes that have been conducted on Szondi’s essay. Abandoning some theoretical models that had so far guided his attention to translation (for example Benjamin’s theory on the translator’s task), Szondi highlights the poetic gestures of Celan’s words. In the encounter with the poet of the past, Celan’s words become “porous” and willing to be harboured in the verses he is translating. The memory and the pact between ancient and modern generations of poets extols the concept of “constancy” far above the intimate, albeit universal, dimension in which Shakespeare inscribed it, transforming it into a timeless lesson of civility gushed out from the wounds of the Second World War.