First of all, we pay attention to the title of the poem-Death fugue. From this topic, we can grasp at least two aspects, namely, the theme and artistic form of poetry. Here, we don't need to explain the theme of death more, because it is often involved in literary works. We must give a simple explanation of the form of fugue, which is of great significance to understanding this poem. As we know, the rhythm of a poem can be roughly divided into two types: one is external rhythm, such as the use of words, the arrangement of sentence patterns, and the rhyme format. These are the formal characteristics of poetry; Second, the inner rhythm, that is, the ups and downs of the poet's inner feelings, will lead the direction of poetry and drive it to wander.
Fugue is a kind of counterpoint music form, which consists of several independent voices. In the process of music, the principle of fugue is that the theme itself is static, without development and dramatic conflict; Other parts are the same theme, with different voices, different tones, and occasionally different speech speeds, or upside down or from back to front; If so, it will change repeatedly until the end of the song. All kinds of voices in fugue come and go, just like asking and answering. In a reciprocating rhythm, the audience can strongly feel the oscillation and impact of music. The poet's use of this structural text plays an important role in strengthening the sense of rhythm and deepening the theme of poetry. As Susan Langer said, "When a poet writes a poem, he writes a poem not only to tell people something, but to talk about it in a special way."
Secondly, let's analyze the relationship between characters implied in the text. The contrast between the characters in the poem determines the historical depth and practical significance of this poem. Death fugue shows the tragic experience of Jews in concentration camps and the cruelty and extinction of human nature by German Nazis in the form of poetry. Poetry revolves around the symmetrical relationship between these two groups of characters: on the one hand, thousands of Jewish prisoners are put into concentration camps, where they are forced to dig their own graves; On the other side is the supervisor of the concentration camp. He committed various atrocities, such as whistling to hounds, whistling to Jews, ordering them to dig their own graves, and ordering them to play the piano and dance. He brandished a pistol and shot the prisoners at will. In the house, he wrote a letter to his wife or lover Margaret who was far away from home. By comparing these two characters, the poet described two different experiences and moods in the scene at that time.
Moreover, the rhetoric of this poem is novel and unique. Death fugue begins with a paradox, such as a barrier suddenly rising above the ruins. The poet wrote: "We drink black milk in the morning/at noon in the morning/at night"-"Black milk" is the core image of the poem, which is a paradox in itself. It is obviously against common sense for the poet to use the adjective black to modify milk that should be white. Black symbolizes sadness and death in European cultural traditions, and "milk" symbolizes life, but now it has become black; Moreover, this morning's "black milk" we have to drink at night, "we drink at noon, in the morning/at night", and the artistic effect is extraordinary. In the world of poetry, paradox is manifested in various forms of coexistence, integration, infiltration, exclusion, negation, substitution, confrontation and transformation. The tension between them-in the tension conflict of mutual attraction and mutual repulsion, interdependence and confrontation, often provides a brand-new feeling. This strange paradox hides Nazi oppression and irresistible fear of death. What an absurd and nightmarish image it is to drink this cup of "black milk" continuously.
In addition, the rhetorical method of the poet's paradox is also manifested in the choice of opposing words. "Gold" and "grey" in the poem are two contrasting colors. "Margaret with blonde hair" and "Sura Smith with gray hair", we know that Margaret is a typical German name and Sura Smith is a typical Jewish name. Poets use them to imply different races and symbolize the two hostile forces, Jews and Germans. At the same time, due to the use of contrast, the tension of the whole poem is enhanced, and rigid lines and single colors are effectively avoided, so that this opposition is more fully expressed. In addition, another obvious rhetorical device in this poem is repetition, including variation repetition and partial and total repetition. For example, the female names Margelite and Shulamitz appeared in poetry four times and three times respectively. Its function is to keep the information flowing, so that readers have enough time to savor and chew the important content of poetry and show the depth of poetry.
The whole poem is well-structured, orderly and perfect. It consists of six paragraphs, the first, second, fourth and sixth paragraphs, and each paragraph consists of two grammatically unrelated and independent parts. This syntactic juxtaposition runs through the two themes of the whole poem. One is "we" with the first person plural as the subject, "we" drink black milk and "we" dig our own grave; One is "He", and its subject is the third person singular. He wrote letters, played with snakes, whistled, gave orders and shot Jewish prisoners at will. The third and fifth paragraphs describe his words and deeds respectively. We know that the expressions of language and music are different in the form of 1 Language can't play several sounds at the same time with different instruments like music. The language of poetry can only arrange a variety of voices one after another in the text, so that they can appear alternately and repeatedly, and then a symphony of multiple voices can be produced, thus creating a mutually antagonistic relationship. This "meaningful form" of this poem plays an important role in deepening the theme and expanding the poem.
The reason why death fugue is widely concerned by the public is closely related to its extremely extensive historical and cultural elements. Every line in the poem contains memories of the concentration camp and that tragic era, which has aroused readers' deep anxiety in the fields of music, literature and religion ... The ubiquitous metaphor has pushed the tension of this poem to an unprecedented height, and "black milk", as an extreme metaphor, runs through the poem, indicating the existence of Jewish paradox ... Every sentence reveals fear and accusation ... the changeable rhythm, the chorus that appears on time and the theme that is repeatedly played.
This poem shocked postwar German poetry circles with its strong accusation of Nazi evil essence and profound and unique artistic charm. The poem runs through such an image: the grave, and the poet is calling for "death" from time to time. "Death is the master of Germany", and it is death that dominates Germany. Death of parents, self-exile-what the war brought to Celan was the tearing and breaking of life, endless darkness and endless depression, and deep despair and tragic death. The shadow of death enveloped Celan's wandering life, which eventually led to Celan's madness and self-abandonment. Celan is a poet who writes with death and violence. He faced the world that brought him bad luck with suspicion, confrontation and anger. In this poem, the gloomy and dark smell of death permeates the whole article, which makes people almost breathless. Celan contributed the most outstanding poems about black and depression, death and despair to the world. American translator Ferstin Turner said: "(He) wrote a lyric poem, the content of which far exceeded personal pain and became the benchmark of poetry types after Auschwitz."
Kutcher, a modern South African writer, earnestly declared that "death fugue is one of the symbolic poems of the 20th century". It brought great international fame to the poet, but it also brought profound misunderstanding to the poet.
A German critic said that the publication of Death Fugue showed that Celan had "escaped from the bloody horror room of history and ascended to the space of pure poetry".
Li, a famous poet in Taiwan Province, commented on this poem: "Death fugue is a masterpiece of modern language and a high achievement in Celan's works. This poem made some poets who tried to separate modern poetry from experience and refused to recognize the integration of individuality, sociality and politics speechless. " He can achieve a deep balance between "the urgency of witness and the urgency of pleasure", and make this balance transcend the text and the limitation of time and space and remain in people's memory for a long time.
Wang Jiaxin, a famous poet and professor at Renmin University of China, said: "This poem not only contains a strong accusation of Nazi violence and evil nature ('Death is the German master') ... Celan's death fugue has become a symbol of writing about death, violence and nothingness."