Swedish Poetry 1
The Impossible; Second Part 255 In the impossible
there are no shadows, no light not one human face In the point of the impossible images are annihilated The impossible cannot exist The impossible is impossible If it were not we would die You carry the impossible inside you like a child always and again a child The impossible child lives The impossible child dissolves when you dissolve It cannot die The impossible is the possible’s counterpart When the possible changes the impossible is also changed and vice versa All life has its invisible counterpart of death In the end the counterpart is the only possibility the impossible the only reality The reality that does not exist Göran Sonnevi, From Det omöjliga (The Impossible), 1975 Translated by Rika Lesser GÖRAN SONNEVI Det omöjliga (The Impossible, 1975) Det omöjliga is an unusual book in the history of Swedish poetry. Not just in terms of its size, nearly 500 pages, but unusual too in that it shifts so freely between the everyday and the formal. In these poems, Göran Sonnevi frequently returns to the American participation in the Vietnam War, which serves to locate them in a specific time, and yet they also contain discussions about beauty and what view to take of life as a whole which make them timeless. A peculiar rhythm brings coherence to the diversity of the poems, while a feel for language helps focus the formless aesthetics in a way that provides both an overview and greater intensity and depth. Sonnevi’s family life is illuminated by diary-like passages that are contrasted with a comprehensive view of social life in the form of reportage from a reality that still feels topical. This allows private experience to form a backdrop for something greater, an existential exploration of what it means to be a human being. The allusion in the title to what is impossible is illustrated in the absurdity of language and ideologies, but sympathy and fellow-feeling can make the experience bearable. Selected Collections of Poetry: Outfört (1961) ingrepp – modeller (1965) Det måste gå (1970) Det oavslutade språket (1972) Det omöjliga (1975) Språk; Verktyg; Eld (1979) Dikter utan ordning (1983) Mozarts Tredje Hjärna (1996) Klangernas bok (1998) Oceanen (1995) Bok utan namn (2012) 51 SWEDISH POETRY