Grodek (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Georg Trakl
- First Published: 1915
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Ghosts or apparitions, War, Death or dying, World War I, Soldiers, Life and death, Blood, Battles, Joy or sorrow
The Poem
“Grodek” is a free-verse poem of seventeen lines. The title is highly significant; Georg Trakl served in the Austrian medical services during the World War I battle at Grodek in Galicia in 1914. He was charged with the care of some ninety wounded soldiers at an inadequately supplied field hospital; unable to ease their suffering, he himself broke down and was hospitalized for psychiatric observation. “Grodek” was the last poem Trakl wrote before his death from a cocaine overdose—perhaps a suicide—shortly after his breakdown. It quickly became one of the...
[The entire page is 1486 words long]
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