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Poetry Foundation
Poetry Magazine
November 2025Subscribe
Subscribe
Light blue cover for the November 2025 issue of POETRY with the word POETRY in a grid, composed of black letters in various designs.Cover for the October 2025 issue of POETRY magazine.
Poetry Foundation

Threat

By Gottfried Benn
Translated By Michael Hofmann
Know this:
I live beast days. I am a water hour.
At night my eyelids droop like forest and sky.
My love knows few words:
I like it in your blood.

Notes:

Read the translator's notes on this poem.

Source: Poetry (March 2011)
p1
This Poem Appears In
Cover of Poetry Magazine March 2011 Issue, featuring an image of Eliana Perez's "Lamp"
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    poetry-magazine

    Translator’s Notes: “Threat” by Gottfried Benn

    By Michael Hofmann
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