1 march 2025

1 march 2025

John Bjarne Grover

Why are the errors of 'Der Dornenstrauch' so important?

My diachronic german poetry work 'Der Dornenstrauch' (2009-2015) contains a lot of errors on all levels, but most notably grammatical errors. These errors seem important for the diachronic dimension in language which the book is about - as it is a piece of mystic poetry of transcendent character. The error can be attested via the absolute enumeration of the poems in DDS relative to the enumeration of the verses in Rigveda and Genesis. The latter two have been installed in this enumeration (of their verses) through millenia via their liturgical function in culture, and this enumeration relates also to the other important aspect of DDS that it interprets the phenomenon of ordinality in language, which thereby can be shown to be akin to or even be the same as diachrony in language. Proof of this function goes via the 214 Kangxi radicals in chinese: These are organized in increasing complexity from the simplest to the most complex and constitute thereby a principle for organizing the elements of chinese signs in such a way that they can be easily looked up in a dictionary. It is by comparing the historic origin of these chinese signs (radicals) with my poems of DDS that the relevance can be ascertained.

DDS #54 can serve as example - here with a Google translation by https://translate.google.at into english:

Diese Morgen war 'ne Schatten
in der meine eine zarte
Träne Dunkelheit vom [linken] matten
Auge zu dem langen Barte.
Diese Schatten sind vermehrend
in der Straßen Augenstaben
als die Menschen überqueren
und die Augen suchen nach Abend.
This morning was a shadow
in which my one tender
tear of darkness from the [left] dull
eye to the long beard.
These shadows are multiplying
in the streets’ eye-bars
as the people cross
and the eyes search for evening.

Comparing this DDS #54 which is absolute enumeration #67 with Kangxi radical #67 - the sign 文 - shows the immediate relevance: Stanza 1 of DDS #54 interprets the graphic form of the radical sign (such as this appr. 3000 year old bronze inscription form and stanza 2 the meaning of the sign: Mathews (a reliable source) gives the meaning as "literature, literary accomplishments, polite studies, elegant, refined", with collocational meanings of "civil officials (as opposed to military); stripes, streaks, lines, veins; cash coins, the obverse of a coin".

Another example at random: DDS #99 which is absolute enumeration #131 which hence selects Kangxi radical #131 which has glyph origins resembling stanza 1 (see e.g. the 3000 year old form of this 'Nonnenvorhang' to a 'sister') and meanings resembling stanza 2, as in the previous example - here with bathtubs for the fine guests from the administration. Mathews (#327) gives the meaning of this sign as "a statesman, a subject, formerly used by civil officials for 'I'" with collocational meaning 'to be subject to'.

That this ordinality-diachrony also is an element of literary value is furthermore attested via this study of the work of Horace relative to the same DDS (see the concordance table which also is given at the end of the article). For DDS I:54 the correlating fragment from Horace is Satire II.i.15,6-31,6 which I here reproduce from Fairclough's translation in the Loeb Classical Library series. It may be argued that the correlation with my poem is best for my lines 1 and 6 where there are errors - cp. 'you might write' as relevant also to the meanings of Kangxi radical #67 - the sign 文 for line 1. See also the odd syntax of my lines 2-3 relative to the theme of Horace - the steed kicking (the article?) backwards. The correlation between DDS and Horace - here for my poem DDS I:54 - is generally sufficiently good to allow for the conclusion that ordinality in language is the theme of Horace's work.

[2/3-25: I refer also to the 'magic image' on the cover to my 'Dornenstrauch' - it shows a wolf facing left with female breasts and a torch or scroll in a hand reaching out, with maybe a 'hangover' head, as well as a horsehead (running in darkness and suddenly coming into a lightbeam), as well as a singer with a shadow over the one eye - which also could be a part of the theme of DDS #54. It is then noteworthy that Horace mid way in the relevant fragment - at my "Diese Schatten sind vermehrend" - seems to refer to just this triple complex].

This explains why it makes sense to take a poem from DDS and study its errors (grammatical or whatever) relative to the comparable verses from Rigveda and Moses. If it is found that there is a relevant or interesting correlation, that explain why the errors are telling of the diachronic dimension in language.

But wouldnt the same apply to any part of my poems relative to these ancient religious works, not only the errors? That can be - but it is essential to my conception that the errors are important for what is the transcendent aspect of the work. This transcendence is in the gracious and acoustic heaven above it - and correcting these errors could probably lower this firmament somewhat. It is also probable that it is the errors which whisper that the text probably is something else in another reality - such as birds sometimes reveal that they live in another reality than humans do and we can get a glimpse into this via the birds - hence humans believe that angels have wings.

I do not remember now when I started working with chinese (translating) but I believe that it rather certainly was after I had written the first part of DDS (2009-2011), which is what is interesting relative to the chinese radicals, which I would not have known much about when I wrote most of DDS.

Testing the relevance of the two errors of line 1 in DDS I:54:

In DDS I:54 there are errors in line 1 and 6 out of 8. I consider the two errors of line 1: 'Diese Morgen' should have been 'Dieser Morgen' and 'eine Schatten' should have been 'ein Schatten', hence errors in 'morning' and 'shadow' of line 1 out of 8.

There is also an error in line 6: Augenstaben should normally have been Augenstäben. (And the syntax of lines 2-3 is not normal: 'in meine eine zarte Träne der Dunkelheit' etc).

See DDS #54 in the lefthand column with the following columns showing Moses 1-3-12 = Genesis 3:12 and Rigveda 1-7-7 as the primary cycle and with 1-1-9, 1-32-10, 1-30-13 and 1-27-5 as secondary

For word count click Toggle content and select 'Aufrecht'.

Rigveda 1-7-7 (by Aufrecht) = tuñjé-tuñje yá úttare stómā índrasya vajríṇaḥ ná vindhe asya suṣṭutím = 11 words which means that 1/8 of these (for the errors in the first line of my 8-line poem) will be words 1-2 which are तुञ्ज-तुञ्ज = tuñjé-tuñje :

tuñjá,m. = Anlauf, Andrang, bildlich von Liedern [von tuj]. -é: tuñjé-tuñje = reduplicated relevant to 'shock, assault' (Monier-Williams)

Genesis 3:12 = 12 words, hence 1/8 = words 1-2:

וַיֹּ֖אמֶר הָֽאָדָ֑ם = and said the man (the enclitic copula 'ו' = 'and' is not listed in the dictionary)
= ויאמר האדם

אמר = say, declare, speak, command, promise etc
אדם = 'Adam' = 'red, ruddy, soil, ground, land, man' - hence 'this morning' = 'sunrise' = 'the red soil of the land'

Hence tuñjá-tuñjá = Anlauf, Andrang = shock, assault on the soil/ground-red morning sunrise → Schatten = shadow

Hence good correlation with the errors of line 1

The secondary verses of Rigveda:

Rigveda 1-1-9 = sá naḥ pitéva sūnávé 'gne sūpāyanó bhava sácasvā naḥ svastáye = 10 words - which means that line 1 out of 8 = 10/8 = 1,25 which means words 1 and 2 (a quarter into #2) = sá naḥ

स= sá,pr., (1) der, dieser,
अहम् = ahám,pr. ich
= 'the me'

Rigveda 1-32-10 = átiṣṭhantīnām aniveśanā́nāṁ kā́ṣṭhānām mádhye níhitaṁ śárīram vr̥trásya niṇyáṁ ví caranty ā́po dīrgháṁ táma ā́śayad índraśatruḥ = 15 words → words 1/8 = words 1-2 = átiṣṭhantīnām aniveśanā́nāṁ

अतिष्ठत् = á-tiṣṭhat,a., nicht stillstehend, rastlos sich bewegend = being in restless motion
अनिवॆशन = a-niveçaná,a., keine Einkehr gestattend = not allowing for any influx/entry
= 'being in restless motion, not allowing for any influx/entry'
= 'my restless shadow on the ground'

Rigveda 1-30-13 = revátīr naḥ sadhamā́da índre santu tuvívājāḥ kṣumánto yā́bhir mádema = 9 words, hence words 1-2 = revátīr naḥ =
revátīr = रॆवत् = revát,a. = (1) reich, von Menschen auch mit dem Gen. rāyás 848,15 ; (2) von Göttern oder göttlichen Wesen; (3) reichlich, reich von Dingen; (4) n., reiches Gut; namentlich (5) in Verbindung mit Verben des herbeistrahlens, ausstrahlens, wo revát kaum adverbial zu fassen ist; (6) n., adverbial reichlich, schön; (7) fem. pl., Bezeichnung eines Sternbildes.
naḥ = अहम् = ahám,pr. ich
= 'rich I am'

revátīr = रॆवत् = revát,a. = (5) in Verbindung mit Verben des herbeistrahlens, ausstrahlens - suggests 'my rich shadow on the ground'

Rigveda 1-27-5 = ā́ no bhaja paraméṣv ā́ vā́jeṣu madhyaméṣu śíkṣā vásvo ántamasya = 10 word, hence words 1-2 = ā́ no =

आ = â,aus *ana entstanden und daher zum griech. ἀνά goth. ana zu stellen. Die Grundbedeutung ist „an”, sodass es sich zunächst auf die Begrenzung oder Oberfläche, auf die unmittelbare Nähe bezieht.
अहम् = ahám,pr. ich

= me on the surface of the immediate surroundings = my shadow on the ground

Conclusion on the secondary verses is that they are overwhelmingly supporting the senses of the two errors in line 1 - morning and shadow. This is all the more surprising as these verses are spread out over a span of the chapters from 1 to 32.

This means that the errors serve the function of directing attention to these deep linguistic and mystic diachronic roots of the language.

Sources (in addition to the internet 'wiktionary'):

Davidson, B.: The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon. Hendrickson Publishers 1981. Reprint from the edition by Samuel Bagster & Sons, Ltd. London 1848/1850.

https://archive.org/details/davidsonsanalyticallexicon/page/n131/mode/2up Horace: Satires, Epistles and Ars poetica. With an english translation by H.Rushton Fairclough. Loeb Classical Library. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and William Heinemann Ltd, London, 1978.

Mathews, R.H.: Chinese-English Dictionary. (A Chinese-English Dictionary Compiled for the China Inland Mission by R.H.Mathews, Shanghai: China Inland Mission and Presbyterian Mission Press, 1931). Revised american edition 1943. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Monier-Williams, M.: A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Oxford at the Clarendon Press 1979.

https://vedaweb.uni-koeln.de/rigveda/view/index/0