Watch Out

These translations of a wide range of the poems of the Swiss poet, Kuno Raeber (1922-92), come from a life of many interests in matters theological—he once studied to become a Jesuit; philosophical—his PhD was in philosophy; and cultural history—he was a lecturer in history at German universities. The settings are often timeless in nature; their subjects and objects, as Christiana Wyrwa writes in the comprehensive introduction, often “move from real situations into magical surroundings;” and readers are advised not to look “for rationally understandable connections” as they make their way through real land- and seascapes to interiors where the world is powered by uncertainty but on the cusp of righting itself again. The translator, Stuart Friebert, produces, as closely as possible, Raeber’s lineations and rhythmic patterns, straight down to individual word choices.