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Böcklin: Das Toteninsel, in English and Danish, by Jakob Brønnum

5/20/2022

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Picture
Isle of the Dead, by Arnold Böcklin (Switzerland) 1880
Picture
Isle of the Dead, by Arnold Böcklin (Switzerland) 1880

Böcklin: Das Toteninsel
 
Böcklin painted the picture five times
as if he knew he was going there eventually
outlining along the way
not to miss
anything
this is the way artists sometimes work
as if to store the moments
without thinking about
what to make of them
as they stock up
 
there are some who think he has painted the picture
of the Island of the Dead
after the English cemetery in Rome
where Shelley lies
after giving up the spirit under much persuasion
some of the cemetery trees there
are clearly growing on the Island of the Dead in Böcklin's painting
 
there are some who believe that a Greek island
near Corfu must have been Böcklin's inspiration
for the island, the Island of the Dead, though everyone knows
that it lies inside himself
 
this can be clearly seen in the painting
it's as if life
steps forward and says: Let me just hold this anxiety
and so Böcklin can paint on
as if the Island of the Dead sets up its abode within him
and lives in him for the rest of the time he has
before he must go there himself
 
some people think that man
is not immortal
that it must go to the Lake of Death
everyone carries as a birthmark
and that it lies in the sea
whose dark surface
always breathes lightly, day and night
full of malevolent dreams
 
only the time spent is the time
under way to the Island of the Dead 
time that stands still
while life moves on lasts forever
 
there is a boat on its way in off the island
like another Charon sailing the souls of the dead
over Styx to the final resting place of the dead
in Hades, the underworld
where all shrub is colorless
until each person comes upon a thought
or an image of the mind
or a runic word
taking a shape corresponding to the surroundings
ultimately comprising their colour
 
Böcklin's Island of the Dead has no gates
one can sail in there directly
past two pillars
standing there, namelessly
it could be the pillars Boaz and Jakin
that stood outside the first temple of the Jews
erected in front of churches
all the way up through Tuscany
as a reminder of how pillars can be guardians
of sacred entrances
as long as they bear names whose origin is known
 
Böcklin's columns hold unknown names
and between them is not a stone ground floor
but the sea that carries the island
and the boat you arrive on, as well as all the thoughts
 
there are no gates at the entrance to Böcklin's dead island
the sea carries one there
 
one does not need to have an access card 
when one has arrived
one has come in a sole movement
the solitary movement of the breathing of the sea
 
the island is not guarded, the white back
on the ferryman is not Charon
it must be Böcklin himself
if it is true that the Island of the Dead lives in all of us
and that we all hear the waves
 
the boat is decorated
but no one can know by whom
and where it has been executed, perhaps by someone
who once bought it or inherited it
 
on the first editions of the painting there is a staircase up
on some of them there are no columns
the trees grow differently in the different versions
just like in dreams
 
some years the white figure
who is Böcklin himself
stands upright in the boat but always seen from the back
just as one always sees a human being
who is dead from the back
because he has no soul
anchored in a figure
 
some years the white figure is more bent over
as if death has been entangled in an underground field
of reeds or grasses
or has been wrapped around the legs of someone lying down there
every night in dreams
or around the oar and the long barge pole
by which the boat is moved forward
 
what one does not know is if the white figure
when he has arrived
and left the boat with inaudible sighs
are supposed to stay in the abandoned buildings
on the island
behind the tall sturdy conifers
maybe they are not abandoned, just not inhabited yet
 
the buildings on the island are becoming more and dilapidated
as the years go by in Böcklin's painting, in the first versions
the air is fresh around them
and the sunlight reaches them
 
in the last version of the Island of the Dead the buildings are quite differently darkened
to one side there is a tall building
with windows - there could be books in there
one might be able to sense that time existed
in there
that time actually was a place and not a void
that it moved when one was there
 
to the other side are the ruins of a cave
in there, there are no books
and if there were they would be damaged
dirty, musty
one would not care to hold them in one's hands
 
The boat is led by a helper
dressed in a decorated suit, and as the years go by
he becomes more and more naked
as if man shows more of himself
 
while shame seeps into the walls
and in through the cracks there
 
and is soaked up by the water,
decreases like a flow of waves
 
Böcklin talked about the second picture
Das Lebeninsel, the Island of Life
and it is known he painted it
but no one has come upon it, it has not been seen

**

Danish:

Böcklin: Das Toteninsel

Böcklin malede billedet fem gange
som om han vidste han skulle derhen til sidst
og ville skitsere undervejs
for ikke at gå glip
af noget
det er den måde kunstnere nogle gange arbejder
som om de kan opbevare øjeblikkene
uden at tænke på
hvor de skal gøre af dem efterhånden
som der bliver mange af dem

der er nogle der mener at han har malet billedet
af dødeøen
efter den engelske kirkegård i Rom
hvor Shelley ligger
efter at have opgivet ånden under megen overtalelse
visse af kirkegårdstræerne
vokser tydeligvis på dødeøen på Böcklins billede

der er nogle der mener at en græsk ø
nær Corfu må have været Böcklins inspiration
til øen, De dødes ø, selvom alle ved
at den er inde i ham selv

det kan man tydeligt se på maleriet
det er som om livet
træder frem og siger: Lad mig lige holde den her angst
og Böcklin maler videre
som om De dødes ø tager bo i ham
og lever i ham hele resten af den tid han har
inden han selv skal derhen

nogle mennesker tror at mennesket
ikke er udødeligt
at det skal hen til den dødsø
alle har inden i sig som et modermærke
og at den ligger i havet
hvis mørke flade 
der altid duver let, dag og nat
fuldt af onde drømme 
kun den tid der er forbrugt er tiden
på vej mod dødeøen
den tid der står stille mens livet bevæger sig
lever evigt

der er en båd på vej ind på øen
som en anden Charon der sejler de dødes sjæle
over Styx til de dødes endelige opholdssted
i Hades, underverdenen
hvor alle vækster er farveløse
indtil den enkelte finder en tanke
eller et sindbillede
eller et runeagtigt ord
der tager form efter omgivelserne
og til sidst rummer deres farve i sig,

Böcklins dødeø har ingen porte
man kan sejle direkte derind
forbi to søjler
der står der, navnløse
det kunne være søjlerne Boaz og Jakin
de to søjler der stod udenfor jødernes første tempel
og som er rejst foran kirker
hele vejen op gennem Toscana
som mindet om hvordan søjler kan være vogtere
af hellige indgange
bare de har navne hvis oprindelse er kendt

Böcklins søjler bærer ukendte navne
og mellem dem er ikke stengrunden
men havet som bærer øen
og båden man kommer i og alle tanker
der er ingen porte ved indgangen til Böcklins dødeø
havet bærer en derind

man skal ikke have adgangskort
når man er ankommet 
er man der i én bevægelse
i havets åndedræts uforlignelige bevægelse

øen er ikke bevogtet, den hvide ryg
man ser på færgemanden er ikke Charon
det må være Böcklin selv
hvis det er sandt at dødeøen bor i os alle sammen
man hører skvulpene
båden er dekoreret
men ingen kan vide af hvem
og hvor det er sket, måske af nogen
der engang har købt den eller arvet den

på de første udgaver af maleriet er der en trappe op
på nogle af dem er der ingen søjler
træerne vokser forskelligt på de forskellige versioner
ligesom i drømme

i nogle år er den hvide skikkelse
som er Böcklin selv
opret i båden, men ser ham altid fra ryggen
sådan som man altid ser et menneske
der er død fra ryggen
fordi han jo ingen sjæl har 
der er fast forankret i en skikkelse
i visse år er den hvide skikkelse mere krumbøjet
som om døden er blevet viklet ind i et underjordisk område
af siv eller græsser
der har viklet sig om benene på en der ligger dernede
hver nat i sine drømme
eller om styrepinden og den lange åre
båden stages frem ved

det man ikke ved er om den hvide skikkelse
når han er kommet frem
og har forladt båden med uhørlige sukke
skal være i de forladte bygninger
der er på øen
bag de høje faste nåletræer
måske er de ikke forladte, de er blot ikke beboede endnu

øens bygninger bliver mere og forfaldne
som årene går i Böcklins maleri, i de første versioner
er luften frisk omkring dem
og sollyset rammer dem

i den sidste version af dødeøen er bygningerne helt anderledes dunkle
til den ene side er der en høj bygning
med vinduer, der kunne være bøger derinde
man kunne måske opleve at tiden fandtes
derinde
at tiden faktisk var et sted og ikke et tomrum
at den gik når man var der

til den anden side er der ruiner af en hule
derinde er ingen bøger
og hvis der var ville de være skadede
mugne, jordslåede
man ville ikke bryde sig om at have dem i hænderne

båden er ført af en hjælper
klædt i en dekoreret dragt, som årene går
bliver han mere og mere nøgen
som om mennesket viser mere af sig selv
mens skammen siver ind i væggene
i de sprækker der er
opsuges i vandet og aftager
som et bølgeskvulp 
 
Böcklin har talt om det andet billede
Das Lebeninsel, livets ø
og man ved han har malet det
men ingen har fundet det, ingen har set det 


Jakob Brønnum

The Danish version was originally published in the collection Øjeblikkets tredje tilstand [The Third State of The Moment] (Det poetiske bureaus forlag, Copenhagen, 2018).
​

Jakob Brønnum has published 41 books in Danish. His work has appeared in La Piccioletta Barca and Beyond Words Literary Magazine. He lives in Sweden with his family.


Picture
Isle of the Dead, by Arnold Böcklin (Switzerland) 1883
Picture
Isle of the Dead, by Arnold Böcklin (Switzerland) 1884 (photograph)
Picture
Isle of the Dead, by Arnold Böcklin (Switzerland) 1886
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