translated from the German by Samantha Rose Hill and Genese Grill
Dusk sinks,
Abiding, beckoning—
Gray is the flood.
Dusk, silently,
Soundlessly sinking,
Reminding, lamenting,
Soundlessly saying—
Gray is the flood.
Dusk, consoling,
Soothing, healing,
Revealing darkness—
Encountering newness—
Gray is the flood.
Dämmerung
Dämmerung, Sinkende,
Harrende, Winkende,—
Grau ist die Flut.
Dämmerung, Schweigende,
Lautlos Dich Neigende,
Mahnende, Klagende,
Lautloses Sagende—
Grau ist die Flut.
Dämmerung, Tröstende,
Mildernde, Heilende,
Dunkles Weisende,
Neues Umkreisende,—
Grau ist die Flut.
“Reprinted from What Remains: The Collected Poems of Hannah Arendt by Hannah Arendt, translated by Samantha Rose Hill with Genese Grill. Copyright © 2025 by The Hannah Arendt Estate, Samantha Hill, and Genese Grill. Used with permission of the publisher, Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Hannah Arendt, Ich selbst, auch ich tanze. The poems. Piper Verlag GmbH, Munich/Berlin 2015. All rights reserved.”