Source
I. “Storm” (1914)
Black bares itself in white
The playfully gay blue mists
scowl yellow like hail.
Brightness flares
Presses to the
ground.
Raging
Stoned
Shut!
Deathly mad clings
to the night.
Feebly opening its veins
Extending out in
blue
Trembling in the trees
Weighs heavily
Lifts
itself
Bares its fists
Square-edged, hard and
sharp
Clouds ring out
Fears light up
It stands and
stretches itself
Seizes the gurgling
And chokes
it
Lunging towards it
Stifling itself
Gobbling,
rolling
Into
The
Void!
Eye
Lids open and
wail!
Tears
Waves
Loosening
Terror!
Lights
Glare
High
in the
arch!
Sounds
Pulsate
Free
Strong
Winning
sounds of the sun!
II. “Battle” (1914)
Moaning wrestles
And
Stomps into the
earth
Grappling chokes
Wriggles, ransacks and
heaves
The heavens stand
And
Clasp torn by
convulsions
Slashing crashes
And
Rings out piercingly
to the ground
Knowledge stagnates
Hope trembles and
scowls
Anticipation bleeds
Screaming advances
upward
Life goes up in flames
The last
fires
Sputter
Beasts
Sink their claws
into
Death
Rising up
To the heavens.
Daylight
dies
The night
Blooms around
The funeral
shroud
The earth covers
And
Love forces open the
womb
The stars tremble
Radiance bridges across
Time
climbs up
And
Smiling collects
drops
And
Collecting smiling
Smiling collecting
striding
And
Collecting strides
Smiling striding
fading away
And
Striding fades away
Fading away
smiling striding
And
Fading away strides towards
The
obstinate space.
Source: August Stramm, “Gewitter” and “Schlacht” (1914), in Das Werk edited by René Radrizzani. Wiesbaden: Limes Verlag, 1963, pp. 111–12, 77-78.