"Ziv, that light": Translation and Tradition in

RECENTLY a letter of Paul Celan from 1954 has come to light in which he admits "shame and sadness" at having to abandon the project of translating Rilke's and Gide's French correspondence into German.' Celan had wanted to begin "only after reading and re-reading Rilke's German letters," he says. But "this language can't simply be translated, it must be translocated" (iibersetzt .. iibergesetzt). "I have hesitated for an unpardonably long time," Celan says, "translating and retranslating-with the unfortunate result that my doubts increased with each attempt." He hopes this correspondence will find its way into hands that have "no need to page endlessly through Rilke's German works before deciding to use this word or that; hands that can replace a semicolon with a period without hesitation."