Black milk of daybreak we drink it at nightfall

we drink it at noon in the morning we drink it at night drink it and drink it

we are digging a grave in the sky it is ample to lie there A man in the house he plays with the serpents he writes he writes when the night falls to Germany your golden hair Margarete

he writes it and walks from the house the stars glitter he whistles his dogs up

he whistles his Jews out and orders a grave to be dug in the earth

he commands us strike up for the dance

Black milk of daybreak we drink you at night we drink in the mornings at noon we drink you at nightfall

drink you and drink you

A man in the house he plays with the serpents he writes he writes when the night falls to Germany your golden hair Margarete

Your ashen hair Shulamith we are digging a grave in the sky it is ample to lie there

He shouts stab deeper in earth you there and you others you sing and you play

he grabs at the iron in his belt and swings it and blue are his eyes

stab deeper your spades you there and you others play on for the dancing

Black milk of daybreak we drink you at nightfall we drink you at noon in the mornings we drink you at nightfall

drink you and drink you

a man in the house your golden hair Margarete your ashen hair Shulamith he plays with the serpents

He shouts play sweeter death's music death comes as a master from Germany

he shouts stroke darker the strings and as smoke you shall climb to the sky

then you'll have a grave in the clouds it is ample to lie there

Black milk of daybreak we drink you at night we drink you at noon death comes as a master from Germany

we drink you at nightfall and morning we drink you and drink you

a master from Germany death comes with eyes that are blue

with a bullet of lead he will hit in the mark he will hit you

a man in the house your golden hair Margarete he hunts us down with his dogs in the sky he gives us a grave

he plays with the serpents and dreams death comes as a master from Germany

your golden hair Margarete 

your ashen hair Shulamith.

Translated by Michael Hamburger

Paul Celan was the pseudonym of Paul Anczel, who was born in Romanian Bukovina in 1920. His home town was occupied by Russian troops in 1940 and by the Germans in 1942. Both his parents were deported to an extermination camp, and Celan himself was sent to a labour camp. He survived, and moved to Paris in 1948 where he lived until his death. His first book of poems, Der Sand aus den Urnen (1948), was withdrawn after publication; his main work is contained in the collections Mohn und Gedächtnis (1952), Von Schwelle zu Schwelle (1955), Sprachgitter (1959), and Die Niemandsrose (1963). He also published translations of, among others, Rimbaud, Valery and Rene* Char. Paul Celan committed suicide in 1970.