A
MARIENSEQUENZ
(HanOfchrlft aue Murl) 12. JahrhunOert
oe olí llehter merco óteme
eln Iteht í>er criotenlieit María allermagefce eln lúceme'
Fróroe í)lch gotee zelle
beelozzenlu cappellc
í>o í>u fcen gebaere
Oer Olch uní) al ble roelt geocuof
nu elch role reine eln oaz«bu maget bo roaere
Senbe In mine olnne
bee hlmelco lúinlglnne
toare rebe eüeze
baz Ich ben oater unb ben oun
unb ben olí heren gelot gelouben müeze
Jemer maget an enbe
muoter ane mleeeroenbe
frouroe bu haet oereüenet baz Eoe zeretorte
blu got überhorte
Hllf mlr frouroe liere«
troeet une armen bur ble ere
baz bln got oor alien rolben ze muoter gebahte -
alo blr Gabriel brahte»
Do bu In oernaeme
roie bu oon ero erhaeme
bln olí relnlu ecam
erecrac oon bem maere
role maget ane man
lemer Mnt gebaere
52
172
Abbildung 4. Vollstándiger Einktang zwischen Sinngehalt und Wortbild
(Aus: „Álteste deutsche Dichtungen". InsebVerlag, Leipzig)
of the poem, necessitates space for its
effectiveness. A poem must, so to speak,
breathe, or it is suiibeated, for it is a very
delicate structure. Of course, the choice of
the spacedine depends ón the type applied,
yet the thought of lyric valué must at all
times be first and foremost. Narrative epo>
pees may and must be, of course, more
closely spaced. Here the poet narrates and
does not admit so much the reader's con*
currence, as the free flight of thought
might be confined. This almost seems to be
materialism, but is for all that right, any
attentive reader observing himself scrupub
ously during the lecture will be convinced
of that truth. In a letter addressed to his
publisher, Rilke said once that lines, and
spaces between the lines, must act "as if
they had been projected from loud<spoken
sentences", and here he wishes to convey
the same idea.
The spaces between each strophe should,
to a certain extent, also be made dependent
on the materiahsensual events of the poem.
In practice, however, this is no task of the
book<artist as variebility, which is always
necessary according to the exigencies of the
text, is not disirable for aesthetic reasons.
Concerning the use of punctuation marks it
is (though not always) the author or the
publisher who has to say the last word.
Whenever the printer is allowed a greater
latitude, he should not be too narrow»
minded in this. Poetry means lastly glorb
fication, and embellishment of life; there
is no room here for meanness or non*
importance. It is thus obvious that the usual
rules cannot be strictly adhered to, for
everything must be seen here from higher
viewpoints. If possible, there should be no
apostrophes, no semicola, and short dashes
only. No attempt should ever be made to
rectify the author's own principies if they
deviate from the customary rules, bearing
in mind Rilke's reproachful criticism on
"the always arbitrary phantastical printer's
intelligence". The poet knows the valué of
punctuation far better than the printer.
Particularly long lines in poetry are usually
divided, the last words being spaced out
backwardly in a special line. This practice
has often been subject to objections on
pretense of formal aesthetic reasons. The
fact that the drawback is far more due to
the components of expression, has hitherto
not been sufficiently emphacised. Our eye
and feeling separates, through the apparent
blank line, those elements that belong
together, so the strophe is split and the
rhythm severely impeded. It is then useless
that intellect sanctions afterwards the tech<
nical necessity of such a measure, for the
disturbance will always be felt while read¡
ing and enjoying the poem. The only
solution however is to widen the com<
position of several pages so that too long
lines do not project into the gutter*stick or
side<stick respectively, but this practice is
not at all popular in the printing technique,
ñor from an aesthetical view<point. Yet, it
is really advisable to apply this method.
When perusing poetical works page by
page, we come across many a characteristic
peculiarity in their typographic appear¡
anee, e. g. in Stefan George's works we see
