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“Exhausting” by Georg Trakl 🇦🇹 (3 Feb 18873 Nov 1914)
Translated from the German
Putrefaction of dream-created paradises
Blows around this mourning-filled, tired heart,
That drank only disgust out of all sweetness,
And bleeds to death in vulgar pain.
Now it beats after the rhythm of faded dances
To the cloudy melodies of despair,
Meanwhile the star-crowns of old hope
Wither on the long ago godless altar.
From the drunkenness of fragrances and wines
An extreme awake feeling of shame remained with you—
Yesterday in distorted reflection—
And everyday’s gray grief crushes you.