OPINION

"Think of it, Papa..."

Written by Xanada
Published May 23, 2005

Back when I was reading about Carl Jung, I learned about Eugen Bleuler, Jung's mentor and the one who first introduced the term schizophrenia. In his 1911 book Dementia praecox oder Gruppe der Schizophrenien, there's a young woman's report of a hallucination that I found quite touchingly beautiful. I translated it and set it out as a found poem:

Think of it Papa, I've Become a Child Prodigy

Many things come to light from my
pretty blue peepers, like
bed
sheets, ready-smoothed, pillows complete with feather
beds,
white or coloured,
bed-
stead, potty, and the like,
    baskets thread ready-to-wear stockings in all colours clothes from
    the simplest to the most elegant and finally
people fly out, luckily not
naked
but completely dressed.

It could be made to read as a poignant German poem, too. Here's the passage in the original, unbroken:
Denke dir Papa, ich bin ein Wunderkind geworden. Aus meine lieben blauen Äugelein kommen viel Sachen heraus, zum Beispiel Leintücher, fix und fertig gebügelt, Kopfkissen mid sampt Plumeau, Weiβ oder farbig, Bettstatt, Kommode und so weiter, Körbe, Faden, ganze fertige Strümpfe von allen Farben, Kleider, einfach bis zu den elegantesten, und zum Schluβ Menchen fliegen heraus, zum Glück nicht nackt sondern fix und fertig gekleidet.

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"Think of it, Papa..."
Published: May 23, 2005
Type: Opinion
Section: Books
Writer: Xanada
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Comments

#1 — May 23, 2005 @ 15:21PM — Aaman [URL]

Zehr schone! Vielen danke!

#2 — May 23, 2005 @ 16:15PM — DrPat [URL]

I like the concept of the "found poem."

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