The Fence Fell

Here's a very interesting poem by Erich Fried that we read in our German class:

Versuchung

In Nachbars Garten

wiegt sich der apfel am Stiel

"Still, Stiel!"

"Still stiehl!"

Ich hielt mich an

an dem Zaun

und der Zaun fil.

Viel fiel.

Ich hielt mich nicht mehr im Zaum.

Im Garten

baumt sich die Schlange

unter dem Baum.

A rough translation, rendered, of course, with the aid of our prof., reads like this:

Trial (or Testing)

In the neighbor's garden

the apple swayed on the stem.

"Silent, Stem!"

"Silently steal!"

I held myself

on the fence [i.e., in check]

and the fence fell.

Much fell.

I held myself in check no more.

In the garden

the serpent "treed himself"

under the tree.

The play on words in this poem is a central feature. There's the similarity at the beginning b/w Stiel ("stem") and stiehl ("steal," imperative); the comma in the 3rd line indicates an address to the stem, whereas the absence of one in the 4th line suggests, instead, a command given to a separate entity to "steal silently (adverb)."

Further on the poet playfully employs a common expression (apparently) in German "on the fence," which figurately means "hold oneself in check," in close proximity to "the fence fell," presumably to illustrate the inexorable consquences resulting from a breakdown in self-restraint. As the fence down, "much [else] did (Viel fiel)."

In the end, the snake "treed himself (baumt sich) [presumably an invented verb by Fried]" "under the tree (unter dem Baum)." Thus, what was the neighbor's garden at the beginning, seems now to be the serpent's. Perhaps?

Anyway, I find this poem at the same time fun and haunting and very worth pondering.