THE POETRY OF JOACHIM RINGELNATZ
“AN INTERPRETAUON

Thesis for flu Degree 0; DB. D.
MECHEGAN STETE UHE‘JEEE‘FY
John Michael Trojanowicz
1964

TflEsl.

This is to certify that the

thesis entitled

THE POETRY OF JOACl-IIM RINGELNATZ

AN INTERPRE TATI ON

presented bg

John Michae 1 Troj anowicz

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Ph .D. degree in German

VMajor professor

 

Date 5 June 1964

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LIBRARY

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1 Michigan State
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ABSTRACT
THE POETRY 0F J OACHIM RINGEINATZ - AN INTERPRETATION

by John Michael Trojanowicz

The poetry of Joachim Ringelnatz is considered in this paper as an
expression of his personality; reference is made to his life experiences
only when this is essential to an understanding of his poetry. My pur.
pose is to dispel prevailing misconceptions about him and to clarify Rin-
gelnats' artistic image by showing his poetic development with a chrono-
logical treatment of the poetry, discussing his most significant themes
and motifs, both philosoPhical and esthetic, his modes of expression,
style, poetic devices, and the persons, places, and experiences which
influenced him. I have had but lindted recourse to biographical infer.
nation since most information about Ringelnats is available only in news-
papers and non-scholarly Journals which provide very meager help for a
study of this kind. Research papers dealing with Ringelnatz' poetic
works are indeed rare, consisting of half a dozen short articles in vari-
ous literary Journals which treat only one or two aspects of his poetry.

Joachim Ringelnatz' poetic production can be divided into four well
defined periods: an imitative period comprising the Fruhe Gedichte; a
satirical period marked by publication of Die Schnupftabaksdo as (1912) ,
Tumggd_ichte (1920), Kuttel Daddeldu (1920), and Geheimes Kinderspielbuch
(1921+); a didactic period consisting of Reisebriefe eines Artisten (1927),
14an (1928), Allerdings (1928), W (1929). and Kinder.
Verwirr-Buch (1931); and a lyrical period during which Ringelnatz wrote
the poems of pie Flasche und mit ihr aui‘ Reisen (1932), Gedichte dreier

Jahre (1932), Gadichte, ng_ichte (1933), and Der Nachlass (1935).
Some of the poems from the satirical period, notably in Far kleine

 

m and Die Schnupftabaksdose, embody the elements of language creati-
vity employed by Morgenstern, though with an entirely different motiva-
tion. Horgenstern rebels against bourgois society by undermining lan-
guage, its basis; Ringelnatz merely plunders language of its capricious
potential for the sake of humor, confusing the realms of the animate and
the inanimate to produce playful, harmless, superficial grotesqueries.
Because of his frequent employment of grotesque devices Ringelnatz is
often referred to as a ”grotesque” poet. He was, however, too Optimistic,
too naive, too natural to produce truly grotesque poetry, and his charac-
teristic “grotesque" style, often attributed to Morgenstern' s influence,
was achieved by 1910 before Ringelnatz had read Morgenstern's verse.

Ringelnatz tended in his early work to write poetry in cycles,
although these often lacked the unity required of a true poetry cycle.
His satire was for the most part not concerned with social or political
matters but with the weaknesses and foibles of individual human beings.
He did seek to discredit bourgeois values, however, and to annihilate
mediocrity in an effort to gain breathing room and a more genuine, more
honest approach to life. Ringelnatz was a conscious moralist who did not
avoid scurrility and shock effects to seize the attention of his audience
in hopes of transforming them into better inhabitants of a better world.
After 192i} he no longer made satire his poetic raison d'etre; it was,
rather, a means of clearing the way for the purposeful didacticism and
the pure lyric poetry of his later collections.

After 1927 Ringelnatz' poetry exhibited less satire, less scurrility,

and even less humor than his earlier work. The tone of the poems became

 

3
muted and the emotions less violent than before. Noteworthy is the fact
that Ringelnatz' painting (which he began to work at seriously about 1920)
and his poetry show similar themes, techniques, and styles. His poems
became increasingly impressionistic, and his paintings also showed the
influence of Impressionism. He reproduced with brush or pen his impres-
sions of the world, poeticized the figures of his imagination, and exhi-
bited deep if restrained emotion in his pure lyrical productions.

Ringelnatz' view of life was basically pessimistic and melancholy,
but he was convinced of the essential goodness of human intuition. He
contended that man can find meaning for life and happiness if he lives
with a purpose and retains a naive faith in God in spite of the multitude
of obstacles encountered in daily existence. In his didactic verses Rin.
gelnatz extolbd honesty, humility, generosity, courage, reverence for
life, and an all-inclusive compassion. Technically Ringelnatz' poetry
shows increasing regularity of form as one reads chronologically through
his works.

Didactidsm was predominant in Ringelnatz' poetry from 1927 to 1931
and represented an intermediate stage in his poetic maturation. It was
an important period since it was then that he became reconciled with his
life and was able to achieve the pure lyricism of his final period.

Each poem of the last period is a well rounded and unified entity,
characterized primarily by an undivided devotion to the lyrical moment.
These poems express with lyrical beauty and technical maturity Ringel-
nats' life wisdom. In his last poems there is a quest for an absolute
which is frustrated; the poet returns to an intuitive faith in God and

4
Joachimeingelnats was a romantic and irrational philosopher, a sat—
irist and style innovator, a completely original poet who had the courage
to stand alone, to develop a highly personal approach to art, and to pur.
sue it to its final consequences. Plebian by choice, he was an idealis-
tic moralist whose goal in a world fraught with deception, arrogance,

hate, and strife, was the promotion of honesty, humility, and love.

THE POETRY 0F JOACHIM.RINGELNATZ--AN INTERPRETATION

by

John Michael Trojanowicz

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Foreign Languages:

German

1961}

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTIO N O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O O O O O 1

Chapter

I. IN MCH OF A STYIE. O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 6

II. BATE-IE O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O I O O O O O O O O 20

III. TIEQIIESTFORPIRPOSEANDTRUTH........... 73

Ne m, m, Am DEATH 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 153

Ve CONCLUSIONeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 177

BIBLIOWPI-IY O 0 O O 0 O O O O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O O O O O O O 186

INTRODUCTION

The year 1933 has left an indelible mark on the history of the world.
Millions of lives have been irrevocably altered by the events which dis—
tinguish this year from all other years in our twantieth century. For
Joachim Ringelnatz it marked the end of a professional career as an
entertainer begun on the tiny stage of Kathi Kobus' "Simplizissirmts" some
twenty-four years before. It had become clear to Ringelnatz that he was
undesirable to the regime of the brown era which labelled him "decadent";
thus he was not surprised on that evening in 1933 when he was escorted
from the stage in Dresden, forbidden to appear in public, and required to
submit all preposed publications to a censor. It was not Ringelnatz'
nature to conceal wisely his revulsion for the methods of the Nazi regime,
and these restrictions proved to be his death sentence. Condemned to
inactivity, publicly censured, crushed by Spiritual toments and the cares
of life, he became a victim of tuberculosis which had lain dormant within
him for some time. On the morning of the seventeenth of November 1931+
the life of Joachim Ringelnatz came to an end in his fifty-first year.

It had been a hard life but a full and interesting one. It had
begun on the seventh of August 1883 in the Saxon city of Wurzen in the
secure and proper atmosphere of upper middle-class gentility. His father,
Georg Betticher, a native Thuringian and a distant relative of Bismarck's
Minister of the Interior von Batticher, was a talented designer and popu—
lar poet who had acquired a literary reputation from his publications in
the then popular Auerbachs Kinderkalender. His East Prussian mother, the
former Rose Marie Engelbert, had also exhibited artistic talent. Their
son, Joachim Battioher, who later forsook his bourgeois name in favor of
the droll Ringelnats which in the language of the sea means ”sea horse,"

inherited the artistic talents of his parents; at an early age he began
to draw and to write verse. However, he found it impossible to subject
his blossoming talent to the disciplined rigors of formal education.
School became tortuous for him; it remained throughout his life a tor-
menting recollection which he would much rather have forgotten.

In March 1901 with the Einjlhrig-Freiwillig-Examen the painful
school years can to an end. Young Hans had no hint that the next four
years of his life would be even more difficult than his school years.
Contrary to the desires of his family, he went to sea where he experi-
enced life in its most difficult form. Driven to desperation by the bru—
tality of the officers and men of the sailing ships on which he served,
he deserted in Central America, only to be returned to his ship in chains.
Despite the difficulty of those years, they remained Ringelnatz' single
most significant artistic inspiration. The motifs of sea, sailors, exo-
tic ports, and the overwhelming contact with nature afforded him by life
at sea recur again and again throughout his artistic productions. Ringel.
natz never tired of relating his echeriences during these years and, at
least publicly, he always identified himself with sailors whom he addred
and respected.

Because his eyesight weakened he was unable to pass the examinations
required of seamen on steamships, and he was forced to leave the sea in
1905. After an apprenticeship in a business finn, he tried his hand at
the most diverse "bourgeois" occupations. He was, among other things, a
clerk, a travelling salesman, bookkeeper, and correspondent. Finally
through a stroke of good fortune he discovered the environment necessary

to bring his potential talent to fruitful fulfillment in Kathi Kobus'
Munich cabaret "Simplisissimus". Kathi engaged him as ”house poet” in 1909.

3

It was then that Ringelnatz' public career began. In this dark and
smoky night club he stood next to the best cabaret artists of his time and
recited his verses. His fame grow quickly and soon he was asked to con.-
tribute to various periodicals, among them the famous Sigplicissimus
where he worked beside such noteworthy poets as Hermann Hesse and Thomas
Mann. It was also during these years that he published his first books.
it the outbreak of World War I he was recalled into the Imperial German
Navy where he advanced to the rank of lieutenant and commander of a
Minesweeper.

After the war Ringelnatz resumed his career, returning briefly to
Kathi Kobus' ”Simplizissimus“ in 1920, the same year in which he married
Lona Pieper. It was during this year that he first began using the pseu.
donym Ringelnatz under which he toured Germarw and Austria as a cabaret
poet, and published both prose and poetry. His most important works are:
Turngejichte (1920), Kutteldaddeldu (1920) , Rei sebriefe eines Artisten (1927),
Allerdings (1928), Matrosen (1928), Als Mariner in Krieg (1928), Fluggeug.
m (1929), Mein Leben bis zum Kriegg (1931) , Kinder-Verwirr-Buch
(1931), Gedichte dreier J ahre (I932).

The last decisive stage of Ringelnatz' public life began in 1920 in
Berlin. Hans ven Wollzogen had seen Ringelnatz in the 'Simplizissimus"
and soon thereafter engaged him in his Berlin cabaret ”Schall und Ranch“.
From this time on Ringelnats' star as a poet and interpretative artist
shown ever more brightly. In 1930 Ringelnatz became a permanent resident
of Berlin.

0n the seventh of August 1933, Ringelnatz' fiftieth birthday, the
publisher Ernst Rowohlt invited the poet's friends to hear Ringelnats
recite his poetry at the Kaiserhof hotel. The artist's best paintings

were put on exhibition in the hotel lobby. Ringelnatz never presented
his verses more movingly. He smilingly received the applause of his
friends..the last such occasion before his death on November 17, 1934.

The repression of the Nazi regime prevented the publication of mamr
new editions of Ringelnats' works, and it seemed as if the sailor and his
songs would sink into oblivion. In the early postwu years many still
lived who had personally heard and loved him, yet he was practically
unlmown to the younger generation. Deploring this situation and in the
hepe of awakening new interest in Ringelnatz , the Karl H. Henssel pub-
lishing house in Berlin, at the suggestion of the poet's widow and
friends, published the first edition of his collected poetry in 1950.
The publisher's confidence in his venture was confinned by the successful
reception of this work, and further new editions of Ringelnatz' prose and
poetry have been appearing every year since. The new editions have sti-
mulated a great deal of interest in the poet, a fact which is substantia—
ted by Ringelnatz' inclusion in one of the most reputable anthologies of
twentieth-century German verse.l Ringelnatz is represented in the collec-
tion by nine poems, as many as those of Bertolt Brecht or Georg Heymm-
Erich Kfistner, Josef Weinheber and many others are represented with
fewer.

Ringelnats has impressed me with his unabashed honesty, his masculine
courage, the significance of his message, and the novelty of his style.
I have tried to treat his poetry in this paper as an expression of his
personality as revealed in the poems themselves; I refer to his life

 

lErgriffenes Dasein - Deutsche m des zwanzigsten J ahrhunderts,
ausgewlhlt von Hans Egon Holthusen und Friedhelm Kemp munch”: Hartfrid
Voss Verlag, 1953).

 

5
experience only when it is essential to an understanding of the poetry.

I hope with ny paper to dispel prevailing misconceptions about him and
clarify Ringelnatz' artistic image by showing his poetic development with
a chronological treatment of the poetry, discussing his most significant
themes and motifs, both philosophical and esthetic, his modes of exPres.
sion, style, poetic devices, and the persons, places, and exPeriences
which influenced him. I have adapted this approach as much out of neces-
sity as out of desire since most of the secondary information about Rin-
gelnats is available only in newspapers and non. scholarly journals which
provide very meager information for a study of this sort. Research papers
dealing with Ringelnatz' poetic works are indeed rare, consisting of half
a dozen short articles in various literary journals which do no more than
allude to one or more aspects of the poet's works.2 With nor paper I hepe
to promote new underng and renewed interest in a figure whom I con.

sider unique in the history of German literature.

 

2The German writer Herbert Gunther informs me that his forthcoming
biograpr of Ringelnats will deal mainly with the facts of the artist's
life. I take it that his discussion of Ringelnatz' verses will treat
primarily their biographical content.

CHAPI'ERI
INSEARCHOFASTYIE

... und der neunjlhrige Hans, der Dichter der Familie,

hat den Geschwistern 3e ein Notizbuch mit einem Gedichte,

der Mama und Grossmama ein Weihnachtslied, dem Papa aber

gar ein ganzes Buch geschenkt, das ”Die Landpartie der

Tiers" heisst und von ihm selbst verfasst, geschrieben

und sogar illustriert worden ist.3

Ringelnatz began to show artistic proudse at a very early age. This

is hardly surprising, considering the poetic endeavors of his father.
The boy's very early verse is no longer extant; those poems which we do
possess from Ringelnatz' early years are of no more than biographical
interest. The poems which appear in the We Gedichte are by and large
purely conventional in nature and are thus significant only insofar as
they give us some notion as to which literary phenomena particularly
impressed the young Ringelnatz. The characteristics are for the most
part romantic, with Eichendorff's influence prevailing: melancholy, Welt-
sckners, tearful sentimentality, sensitivity to the haunting tones of
folk melodies, homelessness, the purity of first love and disappointment,
idealised friendship, the mystery of the night-time mood, the omnipre-
sence of and the longing for a passionate, youthful death, lost youth,
praise of honesty and courage, responsibility to life and praise of poets

and their unconventional life.

 

3Georg Battieher, "Heine Lieben. Ein Weihnachtsbhchlein,” Joachim

.Rin lnats ein malender Dichter, Hrsg. Werner Schumann (Hannover: Fackel.
trlger Verlag, 19315 , 31.32.

 

The influence of the Romantics is also evident in the form of the
early poems. is in the majority of Eichendorff's lyrics, for example,
the iamb, lines ofalternating three and four stresses, an alternating
rhyme scheme, and the four lined stanza predominate. The rhymes are con.
ventional: lauschen - rauschen, Schmerzen - m, 1.3;}. — M, verloren ..
geboren, 3.31.93 - £2229 klinggn - sin , hauchen — tauchen, schauen -
M’M'E—mfll’m- 5°hm1 niiaus-Irils’slsahaa-
maker.-

The following poem could easily be Eichendorff's. It illustrates
aspects of the romantic influence: alternating lines of three and four
stresses,“ alternating rhyme scheme, melancholy, Weltsclmerz, tearful
sentimentality, sensitivity to the haunting tones of a folk melody, home-
lessness and conventional rhymes, characterized by the commonly used
lauschen and rauschen.

£1333; aus swei Walton“

Weiche Finger auf den Tasten
Spielten traumverloren.

Brausend wogten aus dem Kasten
Walzerstimmen, lustgeboren.

Und am Strasseneck, we leise

Wort und Ton in Wind verklingt,

Sang ein Gassenbub die Weise,

Wie das Volk sie singt.

Abseits hielt ich still und lauschte
Beiden Melodien,

Dass mir's, als das Spiel verrauschte,
Wie ein Traum erschien.

Und sie haben nichts geSpflrt

Von dem fremden Wandersmann,

Dem ihr lied das Hers geruhrt,

Bis ihm Tran um Trlne rann.

 

”Host poems of Ringelnatz reproduced in this dissertation are quoted
from ... und auf einmal steht es neben dir (Berlin; Karl H. Henssel Ver.
lag, 195-35. Page references are not given for the poems quoted from this
collection since they may be easily found in the table of contents of the
work. The sources of other poems of Ringelnats not included in this col-

lection are aven in footnotes.

A less frequert theme is an anachreontic eagerness for life. The
spirit is patterned upon that of Gleim, Us and Glitz:
Freude soll nimner schweigen.
Freude soll offen sich zeigen.
Freude soll lachen, gllnzen und singen.
Freude soll darken ein Leben lang.
Freude soll dir die Seele durchschauern.
Freude soll weiterschwingen.
Freude soll dauern
Bin Leben lang.
This verse is reminiscent of Gleim's Einladung zum Tanz, for example:
Kain tbdliches Sorgen
Beklemmet die Brust!
Mit jeglichem Morgen
Erwach ich zur Lust.
Hier unter den Reben,
Die Bacchus gepflanzt,
Mir Schatten zu geben,
Sei heute getanzt25
Significant to the total picture are three typical Ringelnatz charac-
teristics which appear in the early poems in embryonic form. It seems
that the basis for Ringelnatz' comic Urerlebnis originated in the bizarre
proportions of his nose in comparison to his total physiognony. In recon-
ciling himself with this initially painful reality he discovered his abil-
ity to express himself and reached his hill stature as a humorist. Ris—
ing above an unfortunate and potentially tragic vidssitude of nature, he
mastered it and even transformed it into an advantage. This is the first

indication we have of Ringelnatz' talent in amusing peOple at his own

expense :

 

5Deutsche Dichtun im 18. Jahrhundert, Hrsg. Adalbert Elschenbroich
(Hunchen: Carl Hanser Verlag, n.d. S, 107.

Hans wird der Nasenkbnig gennant,

Denn er hat eine lange Nase...

Hans kommt in die Schule. Er hort, dass man lacht,
Dass man sich fiber ihn lustig macht,

Dass man vom Nashorn, vom Russeltier spricht

Und von der Gurke in seinem Gesicht. -

So folgt ihm der Ulk auf Schritt und Tritt

Und Hans lacht mit . . .

Hans lacht dazu, wenn man witzelt und hdhnt,

Er hat mit der Zeit sich daran wohl gewbhnt.

Ringelnatz stresses the importance of friendship on numerous occa-
sions throughout his works. In the early poems we find:

Hinaus an den Strand will ich gehen,
Wenn keiner wacht.

Das wilds Meer zu sehen

Und die heilige Nacht.

Und wieder fasst mich das alte Weh ..

Am Strand tanzt ein Boot.

Das lockt mich hinaus in die tosende See,

Fort, fort fur immer von Hass und Not,

In die See, in die Nacht, in das Glfick, in den Tod.

Ich lbse das Tau

Und die Freiheit lacht

Hinter N ebel und Grau.

Und ich fahre jubelnd hinaus in die Nacht,
Das Elend fliehend zu Tod und Gluck.

Einmal nur blick' ich zurflck.

Da winkt an Land

Eine Fremdeshand -

Und wie ich das seh',

Da hab' ich vergessen all Hass und Not,
Es fasst mich wieder das alte Weh.

Ich wende das Boot

Zurllck zum Land

Und kflsse die treue Freundeshand.

Friendship-.lomremoves all depression and sorrow. Friendship
makes life worth living. It is salvation for Ringelnatz. The sea imagery
in this poem is romantic as is the night-time mood and the characteriza-
tion of life as "das alte Weh". These terms we meet in numerous poems of

Heine. The sea became Ringelnatz' most significant poetic experience. He

10
later completely identified himself with it, and it was referred to again
and again by our poet.

The third of the typical characteristics to appear in the early poems
shows Ringelnatz' reverence for life in minute forms. He regards the
microcosm as the core of the macrocosm and thus its superior. Ringelnatz
is not concerned only with the human microcosm but also with the essence
of all existing phenomena, no matter how insignificant. We find that he
does not hesitate to sing the praise of a dusty weedon the roadside, a
flea, or an ant beuuse to him it is a basic truth "... Dass die kleinste
Welt die grdsste ist."

The first indication we have of the poet's characteristic style is
found in the short collection of didactic, allegorical children's poems
entitled flu- kleine Wesen. Although the message is basically traditional
for the children's verse, we see in them a stylistic transition from the
conventional to the radical, for the se poems embody the elements of lan-
guage creativity employed by Morgenstern whose unbridled phantasy produced
a truly grotesque nonsense.6 Both Ringelnatz and Morgenstern use lyric
poetry to create a tension betwoen form and content. Meter and sound are
utilized with the greatest freedom in order to create disconcerting con-
trasts in the total meaning of the words. In productions of this nature,
however, the imagination is not completely free but rather limited by the
language. A sound, a word, or an empression inspires the phantasy and at
the same tine limits it to the use of compatible sounds, words, and
orpressions. The following poem illustrates Ringelnatz' employment of this
technique.

 

6See below pages 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.

Das Kuckucksei

Es fiel einmal ein Kuokucksei

Vom Baum herab und ging entzwei

Im Ei da war ein Krokodil;

Am ersten Tag war's in April.
Here Ringelnatz chose the cuckoo's egg for the sake of meter and sound.
The action is restricted by the reality of an egg and its obvious 11ml...
tations. The choice of the word crocodile also depends upon meter as well
as upon a necessity to rtwme with April fool's day which reconciles to
some extent at least the transgression against reality invoked by the
emergence of a crocodile from a cuckoo's egg. Thus a compatibility, even
a kind of significance is accomplished, although the poem retains fantas-
tic incongruity.

The purpose of this poem seems to be no. other than that of harmless
amusement. Further, it is reasonable to contend that this is all he sought
with his creative technique. His purpose has often been misunderstood to
be the same as Morgenstern's. The technique is outwardly similar, but the
motivation is different. This becomes clear from Morgenstern's diary
entries from the years 1906 to 1908.7 Morgenstern's revolt against hour...
geois society assumes the form of nonconformity in use of language.
Indeed, Ringelnatz is also motivated by anti-bourgeois considerations.

As we see later, however, he implements his attack not with linguistic
originality but with a harsh crudity which defies bourgeois gentility. In

direct contrast to IvIorgmstern, Ringelnatz is most harmless when he employs

language creativity.

 

7"Zerbrich die Sprache. . . Unter burgerlich verstehe ich das, worin
sich der Mensch bisher geborgen gefuhlt hat. Burgerlich ist vor allem
unsere Sprache: Sie zu entburgerlichen die vornehmste Aufgabe der Zukunft. "
Christian Morgenstern, Stufen (hunches: R. Piter Verlag, 1918) . 90.

Ringelnatz' purpose in this, the first of four children’s books,
seems to be singularly noble and without satirical motives. He combines
wisdom of the world with a didactic message and clothes it in an amusing,
skillful phonology and light, gay imagery. His uncomplicated'Weltanshhauung
becomes evident in a grotesque8 symbolism which caricatures animate and
inanimate phenomena in order to instruct the guileless creatures for whom
he is writing. The world is petty but colorful and interesting, joy is
heady but short—lived, human glory is vain and transitory, fear is stupi-
dity, and worrying about a problem magnifies it. The long suffering, the
diligent and the righteous will be rewarded:

Das kleine Mldchen

Es war ein armes, kleines Mldchen,
Das strickte nur mit kurzen Fldchen;

Ich glaube Lina war ihr Name.
Sie wurde eine scheme Dame,

‘War fleissig, brav und lernte gerne,
Da kam.ein Prinz aus weiter ferns.

Der sagte: "Liebe gute Lina,
Komm.mit mir auf mein Schloss nach China."

Dort sitzen sie nun alle beide
Auf einem Thron von gelber Seide.

Pride, conceit and impiousness will be punished:
Der kleine Jungg

Es war ein kleiner, baser Junge,
Der zeigte jedermann die Zunge,

Ging statt zur Schule auf die Strasse
Und drehte allen eine Nase.

 

8"Grotesque" means here and elsewhere in this paper simply confusing
the animate and the inanimate, the organic and the inorganic. Other
implications of the word grotesque and its application to Ringelnatz are
discussed on pages lfi-18.

l3

Als seine Eltern beide tot,
Kam er in bitterliche Not.

Und lebt nun - wail er sonst nichts kann ..
Als armer Leierkastenmarm.

The realms of the animate and the inanimate are mixed to produce
playful but harmless grotesqueries. The following verse is a lesson in
humility.

Der Stein

Ein kleines Steinchen rollte nmnter:
Von einem hohen Berg herunter.

Und als es durch den Schnee so rollte,
Ward es viel grflsser, als es wollte.

Da sprach der Stein mit stolzer Miene:
”Jetzt bin ich eine Schneelawine.”

Er riss im Rollen noch ein Haus
Und sieben grosse Baume aus.

Dann rollte er ins Meer hinein,
Und dort versank der kleine Stein.

The small stone symbolizes a person with little intrinsic quality of
his own. Not satisfied with his humble position, he begins to assume
false pride, symbolized by the snow, an element considerably less durable
than stone but of greater immediate consequence. Once assumed, the image
of his own worth assumes proportions which defy control, yet he is
impressed with his brief importance when he realizes the potential of his
self-assumed greatness. This potential is shown to be purely destructive,
and soon he must expiate his sin of pride. His brief reign of terror and
power is terminated by the sea, a symbol of the great world. Imersed in
this world, he is reduced to his original size and even punished for his
lack of moderation by assignment to a position at the bottom of the sea
which is much less advantageous than his original location on the tap of
a mountain.

114-

In Der Knapf Ringelnatz shows the consequences of inattention, rest-
lessness and laziness:

Es war ein Knapf an Fritzens Mutze,
Der machte ungezog'ne Witze.

Erst strampelte er stundenlang,
Worauf er von der Mfltze sprang.

Er fiel auf einen Kieselstein,
Dort schlief er ganz ermfldet ein.

Und eine Schlange sah den Schlafer;
Sie dachte sich es sei ein Kufer.

Und weil der Kafer ihr gefiel,
So frass sie ihn mit Stumpf und Stiel.

The button is the symbol of a child who is punished by a natural
judiciary for inattention, restlessness and laziness. The lesson is
taught, yet a distance in maintained by the grotesque device. The child
is thus not threatened but entertained by the sonoric simplicity of the
rimming couplets and the homey familiarity of the alliterative device in
the last line. The poem cycle Die Sclmupftabaksdose provides many on.
ther examples of this technique.

Instances of Ringelnatz' grotesque technique are many and varied in
the collections _Eflr kleine Wesen and Die Schnupftabaksdose, and in
almost every description of Ringelnatz he is referred to as a "grotesque"
poet, a follower of Morgenstern. Wolfgang Kayser dispels this notion in
his book Das Groteske. He defines the grotesque thus :.

Das Grauen uberflllt uns so stark, weil es eben unsere Welt

ist, deren Verllsslichkeit sich als Schein erweist. Zugleich

spflren wir, dass wir in dieser verwandelten Welt nicht zu

leben vermbchten. Es geht beim Grate sken nicht um Todesfurcht,

sondern um Lebensangst. Zur Struktur des Grote sken gehBrt,

dass die Kategorien unserer Weltorientierung versagen ... (bei)

Ringelnatz ... Das Groteske liegt nur in einigen ausseren Form.-
elementen, und ihr Gebrauch wirkt ungleich willkurlicher als

15

bei Morgenstern. Die hier waltende Phantastik steht zu einem
Teil im Dienst einer scharfen Gesellschaftskritik; zum ands-
ren dient sie der V‘erblfiffung und einer bizarren Komik. Um
es von der Wirkung her zu fassen: diese Grotesken erzeugen
kein beklemmendes Llcheln, sondern suchen auf der schmalen
Basis einer verstandenen Kritik nach einem offenen, sogar
drohnenden Lachen. Aber es will sich doch erst nach einer
entsprechenden, d.h. alkoholischen Einstimmung ergeben.9

Ringelnatz' necessity for alcohol is an exaggerated north, dispelled
by several writers who were well acquainted with his personal habits. He
posed as an alcoholic because his public expected it. In matters of art
he was ever in dead earnest. Herbert Gunther relates an experience with
Ringelnatz after the latter's performance in the Munich cabaret "Simpli-
zissimus' where he was house poet for many years:

Unser Nachbartisch ruft ihn zu sich. Ein Weib, angepinselt,

sagt zu ihm: 'Ist das nicht schrecklich, jeden Abend betrunp

ken zu sein?’ Ringelnatz betrachtet sie und antwortet ruhig:

'Wenn Sie mal ein Kind kriegen oder Sie liegen auf dem Toten-

vbett, dann will. ich Ihnen wflnschen, das Ihnen so ernst zumute

ist wie dem Ringelnatz, wenn er seine Gedichte vortrlgt. '

Ihr Begleiter stammelt mit rotem Kopf: 'Entschuldigen Sie,

Herr Ringelnatz!‘ 'Ich entschuldige gar nichts. Wer Ringel-

natz anspricht, um ihm zu sagen, dass er betrunken ist, zeigt

nur, wie furchtbar dumm er ist, ...110

Aside from this invalid assumption on the part of Kayser, it is true
that with very few exceptions Ringelnatz was too optimistic, too naive, too
natural to produce truly grotesque poetry. The Morgenstern influence has
also been misconstrued. Ringelnatz had already found his characteristic

style in 1910. He writes in his autobiographical novel Mein Leben bis zum

 

Kriege:

Ich hatte kleine Ulkreime geSchrieben, zu denen der Maler
Seewald entzuckende Illustrationen zeichnete. Nach diesen
Verschen von mir ist dann splter so hlufig gesagt warden ,

 

 

9Wolfgang Kayser, Das Groteske (Oldenburg und Hamburg: G. Stalling,
195?), 199. 122.

loHerbert Gunther, Drehbuhne der Zeit (Hamburg: Christian Wegner
Verlag, 1957), 106.

16

ich lehnte mich an Morgenstern an. Aber damals, als ich sie
schrieb, hatte ich noch keine Zeile von Morgenstern gelesen.ll

This, together with Kayser's assertion, seems to render any attempt to
represent Ringelnatz as a disciple of Morgenstern indeed tenuous.

The essential disparity in technique and effect between Morgenstern
and Ringelnatz is obvious if we consider a poem of the former and Kayser's
critique of it:

Die Nahe

Die Nlhe ging vertrlumt umher . . .
Sie kam nie zu den Dingen selber.
Ihr Antlitz wurde gelb und gelber,
und ihren Leib ergriff die Zehr.

Doch eines Nachts, derweil sie schlief,
da trat wer an ihr Bette hin

Un sprach: ”Steh auf, mein Kind, ich bin
der Kategorische Komparativ!

Ich werde dich zum Nlher steigern,
3a, wenn du willst, zur Naherin!“ -
Die Nlhe ohne sich zu weigern,

Sie nahm auch dies als Schicksal him.

Als Ntlherin jedoch vergass

sie leider vollig, was sie wollte,
und nllhte Putz und hiess Frau Nolte
und hielt all Obiges fflr Spass.

Mam erkennt sofort die Technik des Witzes. Morgenstern
verhflllt sie gar nicht, eben weil es sich nicht um Willkflr
handelt, sondern um Prinzipien der Sprache selber. Da ist
zunlchst die Personification: ein feminines Abstraktum wird
zum Wesen. So personifizierte schon das Mittelalter gern
die Abstrakta: Frau Ehre, Frau Welt, Frau Minne - ein' Vor.
gang, in dem die jedem Sprechenden fflhlbare Bedeutung des
weiblichen Artikels nur gesteigert wird. Als neue und wie.
derum scheinbar 1e gitime Kraft erscheint der Komparativ. Da
wir nun schon bei Gestalten sind, scheint die Nlherin die
zumindest lautlich rechtmlssige Nachfolgerin der Nahe zu sein
und ihre Neigung die so wohl beglaubigte Herkunft als Spass
zu betrachten, thhst kurzsichtig. Die bessere Einsicht des
Losers wird mit Geschick und gewiss nicht ohne Erfolg ange ..
rufen; wer wollte schon so einflltig wie die Frau Nolte sein.

 

n-Joachim Ringelnatz, Mein Leben bis zum Kriege (Berlin: Karl H.
Hensael Verlag, 1951), 329.

1?

Aber man kann das Ganze doch nicht ernst nah-en und soll es
doch nicht? Im Leser entsteht eine gewisse Verwirrung, er
macht sich vielleicht sogar auf die Suche, wo hinter dem Ernst
der Sprachrichtigkeit doch wieder der Spass steckt. Wenn ihn
die Beunruhigung flberkhe, dass man der Sprache nicht ohne
weiteres trauen durfte, so wire wohl eine Absicht Morgensterns
erreicht. Schon 1896 notierte er sich: "0ft uberflllt dich
platzlich eine heftige Verwunderung fiber ein Wort: Blitzar.
tig erhellt sich dir die vollige Willldlr der Sprache, in welcher
unsere Welt begriffen liegt, und somit die Willkur disses
unseres Weltbegriffes fiberhaupt. " (Stufen, S. 100) Und wir
durfen wohl 'Sprache' und ' sprachliches Weltbild' als eigent-
liche Bedeutung des Bildes ansetzen, wenn er sich im gleichen
J ahre aufzeichnet: 'Der Mensch ist sin in einem Spiegelkerker
Gefangener. '12

We have seen briefly and will see in the discussion to follow that
Ringelnatz is less successful in his language improvisations than Morgen-
stern. He is less polished, less intellectual and therefore does not
adhere as closely to nor does he make the most of academic, language prin-
ciples. In order to be able to appreciate Morgenstern's language-devas.
tating humor, more than a casual Lmowledge of grammar and structural
linguistics is necessary. In Die Nlhe, quoted above, the full import of
the humor is lost unless the schoolmasterly terminology is fully under.
stood. The very basis of the satirical humor lies in a burlesque of the
sterile maze of academic principles by which we are taught to think. Mar.
genstern shows the tyranny that these modes of thinking often assume, and
a thorough knowledge of their complexity is a prerequisite to their destruc-
tion which he accomplishes. Another example of this technique is to be
found in Der Werwolf:

Ein Werwolf eines Nachts entwich
von Weib und Hind und sich begab

an eines Dorfschulmdsters Grab
und bat ihn: "Bitte, beuge mich!”

 

lzxqsor, loco cite, 199e

18
Der Dorfschulmeister stieg hinauf
auf seines Blechschilds Messingknauf
und sprach zumflWOIf, der seine Pfoten
geduldig kreuzte vor dem.Toten:
”Der Werwolf”, sprach der guts Mann,
"des Weswolfs, Genitiv sodann,
dem Wemwolf, Dativ, wie mans nennt,
den Wenwolf, - damit hats ein End."
Dem Werwolf schmeichelten die Fulle,
er rollte seine Augeanlle.
'Indessen", bat er, "fags doch
zur Einzahl auch die Mehrzahl noch!”
Der Dorfschulmeister aber musste
gestehn, dass er von ihr nichts wusste.
Zwar Wolfe glbs in grosser Schar,
doch "Wer" gabs nur im.Singular.
Der Wolf erhob sich trlnenblind -
er hatte 3a doch weib und Kind 2!
Doch da er kein Gelehrter eben
So schied er dankend und ergeben.

Ringelnatz' inspiration, on the other hand, is basically conditioned
by sensory exPeriences, primarily of the ear and eye. This was so in‘Qgg
Kuckucksei. But then his purpose is also vastly different from Morgen-
stern's; he does not seek to undermine confidence in the language but
merely to plunder it for amusing and entertaining idiosyncrasies of sound
which are often used to provide colorful emphasis for a point of satire.l3

‘We have noted an almost complete evolution from.purely traditional
imitation in Ringelnatz' poetic style to a novel and original simplicity.
The Fruhe Gedichte present an echo of the German poetic past showing
influences from the romantic and anacreontic movements. Fur kleine'Wesen
shows Ringelnatz searching his own poetic talent for a characteristic means
of expression. His personal manner became increasingly well defined in his

later poetry.

 

13See the discussion of Die Schnupftabaksdose below.

l9
Ringelnatz' originality has been doubted, and numerous critics,
including Wolfgang Kayser, have referred to Ringelnatz as an imitator of

Horganstern. My discussion above shows that, beginning with Mr kleine

 

Wesen, Ringelnatz achieved a tone and a style which was not derivative

but was characteristic of him alone.

CHAPTER II
SATIRE

'We saw in the collection Ffir kleine Wesen the beginning of transition
from a purely conventional poetic style to a simple, comic style. lyig
Ԥghgupftabaksdose '[Eublished in l9lg7was both striking and refreshing in
its novelty. Ringelnatz had found a characteristic style which gave unity
to the collection and created a poetry cycle.1 To be sure, the poems do
not revolve about a single theme, but they are unified by a common stylis-
tic technique, attention to the minute grotesquerie and a common satirical
approach to life.

Ringelnatz' satire does not seek sweeping social or political reforms;
he is concerned with the weaknesses and foibles of individual human beings.
Thus he accentuates his earlier assertion. ”... dass die kleinste welt
die grOsste ist". This contention is further emphasized by utilizing gro-
tesque symbols taken from the realm of the minute, populated by termites,
ants, earwigs, worms, etc. His use of grotesqueries is unique in that he
does not seek to undermine the criteria by which life is oriented as does
Morgenstern. He uses his grotesqueries, among other things, to underline
his respect for life in the minute as well as to remind man of his essen-
tial insignificance and thus to exhort him to humility. .A comic effect

is important to him. ‘We cannot help laughing at human nature, including

 

1A poetry cycle is a group of poems revolving about a single theme.

21
ourselves, when we see some of our most basic behavioral tendencies com.-
pared with the antics of vermin. Realizing that this very behavior is
appropriate to vermin, we are mildly shocked to find that vermin are
actually incapable of it. We are only mildly shocked because the good -
natured ridiculousness of the situation prompts a warm feeling of amuse-
ment which mollifies our hurt feelings.

The title of this collection is that of the first poemuan arbitrary
choice which becomes evident after one has read the entire collection.
Arbitrariness in language and themes is characteristic of Ringelnatz and
can be attributed to an inherent capriciousness, even to a rebellion
against logic as in the poem EE-Lk from this collection.

Die Nacht war kalt und sternenklar,
Da trieb im Meer bei Norderney

Ein Suahelischnurrbarthaar. -

Die nachste Schiffsuhr wies auf drei.
Mir scheint da mancherlei nicht klar,
Man fragt doch, wenn man Logik hat,
Was sucht dn Suahelihaar

Donn nachts um drei am Kattegatt 1’

His arbitrariness is more than a rebellion against legic; it is a
kind of mask, at once intended to cover his sensitivity and to prevent a
literary historical approach to his works which he would have undoubtedly
loathed. In 1933 the Rowohlt publishing house asked him to select a few
of these poems which were most characteristic of his work; they appeared
later as 3.92 Gedichte von Joachim Ringglnatz. The arrangement is typi-
cally arbitrary and helter. skelter. Included, however, was a poem which
hints at the mask, the defense mechanism:

"Das ist nun kein richtiger Scherz.

Ich bin auch nicht richtig froh.
Ich habe auch kein richtiges Herz.

22
Ich bin nur ein kleiner, unanstundiger Schalk.
Mein richtiges Herz, das ist anderwarts, irgendwo
Im Muschelkalk.“

Thus we can also consider the title of the Schnupftabaksdose collec-
tion a mask, to disguise with harmless humor the message of the poem cycle
which becomes clear in a conciliatory poem.toward the end of the cycle
called Errare Humanum est:

Quietschfidel, mit roter Nase,

Seh ich Kunze gehn.

‘Warum.bleibt er plotzlich mitten auf der Strasse

Stehn?

warum runzelt or die Brauen?

‘Warum.mag or so entsetzlich

Schmerzlich himmelaufwarts schauen?

‘Warum wird er plBtzlich

Blass?

Oh, nun weiss ich was - - -

Er erblickt mich, winkt. - Fatal!

”Servus, armer Kunze! - - eilt! - ein andermal".

Kalte, falsche, rucksichtslose

Freunde hat die Unterhose.
The title of this poem.could appropriately be the title of the cycle: man
is comical, he errs, not because he is malicious, but rather because of
weakness or lack of foresight as is the case with poor Kunze in the poem
above. In the last two lines the animation is suddenly shifted from.Kunze
to the underwear. This is a characteristic grotesquerie. The ruthless
embarrassment of the situation is modified by removing Kunze from responsi-
bility and impersonalizing the situation by showing that whatever “friend-
Ship” is involved is cold, false and ruthless. His plight cannot be
attributed to human fault but merely to human weakness. The inherent
comedy of the situation softens the criticism. The conciliatory tone of
this poem.is representative of.Ringelnatz' satire. His criticism is
Spiced with humor for its own sake and.mellowed by innovations of language

and thematic originality. His satire is thus not merely destructive but

23
possesses also positive qualities which induce a therapeutic laugh and at
the same time teach a lesson.

Language creativity in morgenstern's manner, which.was discussed in
regard to Das Kuckucksei in chapter I, appears in two poems included in
the Schnupftabaksdose cycle. The following lines defy interpretation on
any level other than that of word play:

An einem.Teiche

Schlich eine Schleiche,

Eine Blindschleiche sogar.

Da trieb ein.Etwas ans Ufer in Wind.

Die Schleiche sah nicht, was es war,
Denn sie war blind.

Das dunkle Etwas aber war die Kindsleiche
Einer Blindschleiche.

The comic effect of the word combinations presents one thesis; its anti-
thesis is the requirement of logical compatibility which adds a touch of
the tragic. Thus we have a paradoxical picture of comedy and tragedy at
once. The total effect creates an uncomertable and confusing feeling
which approaches the reaction produced by the genuinely grotesque described
by Kayser.
A second example of language creativity is much more harmless and
superficial:
Es war einmal ein Hannibale,
Der war aus Hallo an der Saale.
Man sah ihn oft am.Bodensee
Fur zwanzig Pfennige Entree.
These lines are not entirely harmless, however, as was the case with‘Qgg
Kuckucksei. In addition to the comic effect of the sonoric rhyme scheme,
Ringelnatz is poking gentle fun at peeple who are duped, perhaps with

their own unconscious cooperation, into paying money to view a phenomenon

as common and as uninteresting as themselves.

24
The poem which gives the cycle its name is indeed characteristic in
tone, style, message, and grotesque device.
Die Schnupftabaksdose
Es war eine Schnupftabaksdose,
Die hatte Friedrich der Grosse
Sich selbst geschnitzelt aus Nussbaumholz.
Und darauf war sie natflrlich stolz.
Da kam.ein Holzwurm gekrochen.
Der hatte Nussbaum gerochen.
Die Dose erzlhlte ihm.lang und breit
Von Friedrich dem Grossen und seiner Zeit.
Sie nannte den alten Fritz generos.
Da aber wurde der Holzwurm nerves
Und sagte, indem er zu bohren begann:
"was geht micthriedrich der Grosse an!"
The animated snuff box and the talking termite constitute, of course, the
grotesque device. The snuff box is the symbol of tradition, hollow and
meaningless, yet venerated because of chronological and circumstantial
chance. Its self pride reflects human values which are inherently meaning-
less in the context of universal forces, symbolized by the apparently
unimportant wood worm. In the confrontation of tradition with nature tra-
dition is destined to defeat, nature will have its way, its strength sur-
passes that of even the most imposing human values. It is objective,
knows no favorites, and even its most unimportant manifestation is vastly
superior to an adversary of the impressive preportions of Friedrick the
Great and his time.
The theatrical aspects of romantic love are burlesqued in the follow;
ing eight lines:
Ein mannlicher Briefmark erlebte
‘Was Schbnes, bevor er klebte.

Er war von einer’Prinzessin beleckt.
Da war die Liebe in ihm erweckt.

25

Er wollte sie wiederkussen,
Da hat or verreisen mflssen.
So liebte er sie vergebens.
Das ist Tragik des Lebens I

The stamp is the symbol of any little man.who falls in love with an inac-
cessible illusion. The princess represents a skillful parody of a familiar
romantic theme. The lover must leave his beloved never to return, but her
image will remain with him until his dying day. This common theatrical
motif is derided by the grotesque device. The licking of a stamp is of
such insignificance as to reveal the triteness, the capriciousness, and the
impracticality of‘the human emotion of love which is overplayed and over.
rated every day in some popular melodrama or other. Ringelnatz here attempts
to awaken the awareness of true preportions, to invoke laughter at a situa-
tion which contains the germ of tragic potential. He shows the way to rise
above what he ironically calls "Tragik des Lebens". He illustrates this
point in approximately the same manner in the following lines:

Ein Nagel sass in einem.Stuck Holz.

Der war auf seine Gattin sehr stolz.

Die trug eine goldene Haube

Und.war eine Messingschraube.

Sie war etwas locker und etwas verschraubt,
Sowohl in der Liebe, als auch Eberhaupt.
Sie liebte ein.Hchhen und traf sich mit ihn
In einem.Astloch. Sie wurden intim.

Kurz, eines Tages entfernten sie sich

Und liessen den armen Nagel im Stich.

Der arme Nagel bog sich vor Schmerz.

Noch niemals hatte sein eisernes Herz

So bittere Leiden gekostet.

Bald war er beinah verrostet.

Da aber kehrte sein fruheres Glflck,
Die alte Schraube wieder zuruck.
Sie glnnzte fibers ganze Gesicht.
Ja, alte Liebe, die rostet nicht !
The grotesque device here is one of'Ringelnatz' most successful. The sym.

bolism.is alive and vivid and fits the analogous human situation to the

26
last detail. The nail represents a plain, loyal man. He has somehow
acquired a beautiful blond wife. The erotic allusions in lines five and
six characterize in an open and elemental manner the "lady's" singular
lack of virtue; she is obviously wanton and unprincipled. The image of the
sorrowing nail is particularly well chosen as is the ironic last line.

”Old love" does not rust, i.e. tarnish, because in many cases it consists
of material which is by nature untarnishable such as brass. Some are by
nature sensitive, warm, and genuine. These will always be bent and broken
by those who are as hard, cold, and unfeeling as a brass screw.

In the above two poems we have witnessed a comic effect by the employ-
ment of grotesqueries which belittle melodramatic human tendencies. Ringel.
natz chooses a common situation, normally quite serious in proportion. He
then selects symbols of unreasonably small dimension which by their very
nature downgrade the possible seriousness of the situation and place it in
its proper perspective in relation to the whole of life. He thus deempha-
sizes the human microcosm with an unflattering comparison. His method is
then a caricature in reverse. He inverts the telesc ape, so to speak, by
emphasizing the small and thereby diverting the attention from the problem
and releasing tension with the safety valve of a laugh. The therapeutic
effect of the laugh enables us to review the situation in its proper per.
spective and thus to rise above it, strengthened by the eacperience. This
is my interpretation of Ringelnatz' purpose, indeed an idealistic one.
Should the latter contention seem far fetched, I would like to refer to a
passage from Herbert Gflnther's book Drehbflhne der Zeit in which he alludes
to this very theme:

Ringelnatz turnte auf dem Podium mit unsichtbaren Requisiten,

die man alle meinte mit Handen greifen zu kennen. Plutzlich

stellte er sich in eine Bflhnenecke und sprach, ganz einfach,
Satz fur Satz - fast war as sin Hersagen - :

27

In eines Holzes Duft

lebt fernes Land.

Gebirge schreiten durch die blaue Luft.
Ein'Windhauch streicht wie Mutter deine Hand.

Und eine Speise schmeckt nach Kindersand.

Die Erde hat ein freundliches Gesicht,

So gross, dass man's von weitem nur erfasst.

Komm, sage mir, was du fur Sorgen hast.

Reich willst du werden ? -'Warmm bist du's nicht ?

Bei den Werten 'Komm, sage mir, was du fur Sorgen hast' fasste

seine Hand den Vorhang, unbewusst, so wie man sie jemandem auf

die Schulter legt, aber nach der Zeile 'Reich willst du.werden?

- Warum bist du' s nicht?’ fflgte er mit einer entschuldigenden

Bewegung hinzu: 'Kleines Gedicht'.2

Here is not only a hint at Ringelnatz' idealistic purpose but also
further evidence of his characteristic mask.

Noteworthy in the Schnupftabaksdose is a departure from the high.
flown language and imagery of the Romanticists prevalent in the Frflhe
Gedichte. Ringelnatz even hints at disapprobation of romantic themes in
Ein.mlnnlicher Briefmark . . . The hint becomes a full—blown rejection in
the following lines, the last of the cycle. They could be considered his
farewell to fermal Romanticism.

"Oh”, rief ein Glas Burgunder,

"Oh, Mend, du gottliches wunder!

Du giesst aus silberner Schale

Das liebestaumelnde, fahle,

Trunkene Licht wie sengende Glut
Hin fiber das nachtigallige Land - -"

Da rief der'MOnd, indem er verschwand:
"Ich weiss 2 Ich weiss 2 Schon gut ! Schon gut 3"

These lines represent the ironic reproduction of a romantic mood. The
vocabulary is that of Eichendorff, Heine, even Goethe. The night-time mood,
the pompous imagery, and the adoration of nature are all romantic devices.

One could even consider these lines a serious attempt at reproduction of

 

ZGUnther, loo. cit., 125.6.

28
romantic poetry, at least up to the sixth line where we find the ambiguous
and obviously ironic "das nachtigallige Land“. Here the mood ends. With
line seven it is destroyed by the use of everyday language and the annoyed
reply of a personified moon which is Openly'bored with the florid verbo-
sity of empty and obsolete forms, indeed a fitting farewell to a means of
expression no longer valid.

The most widely quoted of all of the Ringelnatz grotesqueries is the
following. It playfully'ridicules the ambitious dreams of men who idly
seek to transcend their limitations and to accomplish what they cannot.

Die Ameisen

In Hamburg lebten zwei Ameisen,

Die wollten nach Australian reisen.

Bei Altona auf der Chaussee,

Da taten ihnen die Beine weh,

Und da verzichteten sie weise

Dann auf den letzten Teil der’Reise.
Interesting is the statement that man cannot honestly accept defeat but
must rationalize a basis for another course of action, which avoids defeat,
hence the "wise" renunciation. This point is further emphasized by the
understatement in the last line: “den letzten Teil der’Reise."

Ringelnatz emplqys grotesque allegories of this type throughout the
cycle. Human falseness is revealed in a poem the protagonists of which
are an earwig and a dove who hate each other but nevertheless indulge in
pleasant intercourse whenever they meet. Ringelnatz judges them.in the last
stanza:

Doch beide wflnschten sie sich im stillen,
Der andre mbge zum Teufel gehn,
Und da es geschah nach ihremeillen,
So gab es beim Teufel ein'Wiedersehn.
He discusses the unenviable position of the poor artflflLWho depends for his

meager existence upon the moneyed class which has neither understanding

29
for art nor respect for the artist. With a wanderlusting horse hair which
finds fertile basis for growth on a human head, Ringelnatz satirizes youth—
ful rebelliousness and the inherent limitations of the human intellect.
Complainers are parodied through an allegedly sick larynx which screams
like a hyena but is quickly cured when it finds no sympathetic ear. The
brutal ruthlessness of the military is travestied by means of a drum.which
silences all criticism.with incessant noise.

Still good natured but possessing most of these attributes which
Kayser considers truly grotesque is the following poem, unusual for

Ringelnatz.

"Sie faule, verbummelte Schlampe",

Sagte der Spiegel zur Lampe.

'Sie altes, schmieriges Scherbenstuck",

Gab die Lampe dem Spiegel zurdck.

Der Spiegel in seiner Erbitterung

Bekam einen ganz gewaltigen Sprung.

Der zornigen Lampe verging die Puste.

Sie fauchte, rauchte, schwelte und russte.

Das Stubenmfldchen liess beide in Ruhe

Und doch: Ihr schob man die Schuld in die Schuhe.

Here the grotesque device does not end with the animation of inanimate
objects to produce satirical allegory as in Die Ameisen. The human realm
enters as a ”fourth" dimension to produce the grotesque. The fact that a
mirror breaks without cause evokes a feeling of uncannyness in the reader;
it is a ”little event” apparently indicative of the way the world operates.
It might even cause us to question our normal orientation in the world and
produce a mild Lebensangst which Kayser considers characteristic of the
grotesque.

Also employing the "fourth" dimension but with a basically comic pur.
pose are the following lines:

Es war einmal ein Kragenknopf

Mit einer Mechanik am Kopf.
Der Kragenkn0pf sass im Genick.

30

Er schnipste mit der Mechanik,

'WOrauf mit unheilvollem Klang

Ein Kragen, der den Hals umschlang,

e Elastisch aus der Angel sprang.

Ein Finger mflhte sich durch Knipsen

Ihn wieder richtig einzuschnipsen,

Doch weil ihm das nicht wollte glflcken,

Ergriff besagter Kragenknopf

Schnell die Gelegenheit beim SchOpf

Und rutschte an des Menschen Rucken

Mit nie geahnter Blitzesschnelle

Hinab nach jener dustern Stelle,

Die sich der arme Mensch verletzt,

'Wenn er sich auf was Spitzes setzt.
The collar button seems to be motivated by a firm purpose to injure its
human master. Its actions appear to be necessitated by requirements of an
immutable fate which man invariably attempts to alter. All of these attempts
are futile, and man is finally at the mercy of freakish powers which he can-
not understand, much less change. This would indeed be fearful if the con.
sequences were more significant than a mere prick in the bottom. It is
this very consequence which distinguishes a Ringelnatz grotesquerie from
the grotesqueries of Jean Paul, E.T.A. Hoffman, or Kafka. Ringelnatz is
indeed more harmless since he does not seek to induce a profound Leben-
sangst, a negative goal, but rather to reveal the inherent ludicrousness
of the human situation and thereby to bring about an appeasement of the
frightening sense of tragedy which we all experience in an aspect of life
which we cannot understand.

Die Schnupftabaksdose presents the initial example of’Ringelnatz'
characteristic style device, the minute grotesquerie, and his novel satiri-
cal approach which concerns itself with the weaknesses and foibles of
individual human beings. It also shows a basic tendency of all of'Ringel.
natz' early verse: the poetry cycle. Arbitrariness and the pose become

common.Ringelnatz devices. He continues to employ linguistic originality

31

as in Fur kleine'wesen but makes a decisive break with Romantic style and
themes prevalent in Frhhe Gedichte.

.As in the Schnupftabaksdose so also in the Turngedichte (1920) the
title is a mask. The former presented a well unified poetry cycle revolv-
ing around the axis of a common style and satirical approach. It seems as
if'Ringelnatz attempted the same with the Turngedichte. He was only para
tially successful in achieving cyclic unity. The symbolic world of gymnas-
tics could carry his satirical protest only to a point. Soon its limitations
began to frustrate him, and suddenly he broke with gymnastic symbolism,
violent in itself, to express his view of life in terms of unparellelled
. vehemence and intentionally repugnant cynicism. The title is a disguise
for an attitude toward life conditioned by years of military brutality,
misery and defeat. Here we no longer have the playful satire ofjgig Schnupf.

tabaksdose, but experience the abject desperation of an age which has lost

 

its values, its goals, and even its hope. The world is out of joint, upside
down, and abounds in filth, misery and darkness. Ringelnatz seeks desperately
to find some glimmer of light through the night. Nothing succeeds but the
unfailing sunrise, symbolic of love, compassion, and human warmth. It is
not a great deal but it is something with which to fight the hopelessness
which leads to indifference. The final poem of the collection gives us a
revelatory insight into the motivation and the Urerlebnis which stand
behind this postwar. cry for a "bit of sunshine”.
Von einem,,dem.alles danebenging

Ich war aus dem.Krieg entlassen,

Da ging ich einst weinend bei Nacht,

'weinend durch die Gassen.

Denn ich hatte in die Hosen gemacht.

Und ich habe nur die eine

Und niemanden, wo sie reine
AMacht oder mich verlacht.

32

Und ich war mit meiner Wirtin derquer.

Ich irrte die ganze Nacht umher,

Innerlich alles voll Sorgen.

Und sie batten mich vielleicht am;Horgen

Als Leiche herausgefischt.

Aber weil doch der Morgen

Alles Leid trocknet und alle Trlnen verwischt -
The dejection, the humiliation of defeat is symbolized by the soiled
pants, the masculinity that failed. Loneliness is intensified by indif-
ference. Hate presupposes at least some regard by others. One still has
pride, even if detected and despised, but the poet meets only indifference.
The image of the sun drying the tears as well as the trousers covers a com.
plex.series of implications. It somehow adds dignity to the helpless
humiliation of the night. It is not enough to warrant a continuation of
the poetic utterance, which ends abruptly, but it does prevent suicide.
It is sufficient to inspire the instinctive hope with which nature has pro-
vided man to support him through the darkest days. The fact that Ringel-
natz does not continue leaves the question open as to whether hope is
genuine and of intrinsic value or whether it is a deceptive illusion. Does
it merely strengthen man to endure a prolonged torture which he has not the
courage to end because of a natural inclination which supersedes the prompt-
ings of the intellect?

Ringelnatz was a product of the staid and proper bougeoisie, the great
grandson of a tutor at the court of Goethe's Weimar and his noble spouse
and the grand nephew of the philosopher Lagarde. Ringelnatz' grandfather
had been a clergyman and his father is considered the classic poet of
Saxon dialect literature. Yet.Ringelnatz chose the pose of a proletarian
and made the middle class the butt of his most vigorous satire. He forsook
his bourgeois name Botticher in favor of the comic Ringelnatz which is the

common sailor's designation of the sea horse.

33

Beginning with the Turngedichte, Ringelnatz evidently saw it as his
calling to penetrate the facade of the bourgeoisie and to expose its
unpleasant details. He seeks to annihilate mediocrity in an effort to
gain breathing room and a more genuine, more honest approach to life. He
thougitto gain this end best by using the strongest language possible since
the good and simple words had been misused so often that they had lost all
value:

Du musst die Leute in die Fresse knacken.
Dann, wenn sie aufmerksam geworden sind,
Vielleicht nach einer Eisenstange packen, . . .

The first poem of the cycle sets the scene and prepares us philosophi-
cally for what is to follow. It is the frame, the pattern into which the
various components neatly fit. It is significantly entitled Zum Aufstellen
der Gerlte (Ein Muster).

So unterwegs in einem schbnen Hechtsprung
Erblickte er das Licht der Welt, das Leben,

Und hat - obwohl er damals doch noch recht jung -
Sich doch sofort in Hilfesstellung begeben.

Den Kniesturz fibend und manch andre Tugend,
Verging ihm eine turnerische J ugend

Im Wachen teils und teils im Traum

Und Freitagnachmittags am Schwebebaum.

Vorturner wurde or und waenbandiger,

Seemann und Schornsteinfeger, Akrobat

Und schliesslich turnerischer Sachverstandiger
Im transsibirischen Artistenrat

Er las die Morgenzeitung stats in Handstand,

Vom Hang der Freiheit sprach sein roter Schlips.
Er glich - wie er im Turnsaal an der Wand stand -
Dem altbekannten Herkules aus Gips.

Inhaber aller silbernen Pokale,

Erwarb er sich den Franziskanerpreis
Und in August in Halle an der Saale
Die Jahnkokarde mit dem Lorbeerreis.
Ein zarter Kern in einer rauhen Schale.

Er hat sich mit einem Salto mortals

Aus dem Leben

Uber ein.Felsengelander

Hinwegbegeben.
The poem.is symbolic of an "ideal" life. The young man discussed would
be considered a model of the middle class, especially the German middle
class, to which Ringelnatz refers as “sin Volk von Turnern". An athletic
people does not philosophize. Ringelnatz satirizes this German attitude
and shows its results and its futility. Life is only superficially
experienced and its goal is public success. Success, however, can be
attained only by conformity and by beguiling one's superiors with a ser.
vile attitude, thus the significance of the Hilfesstellung and th°.§£$2r
‘gtgrg which.Ringelnatz ironically labels as virtues. By practicing such
virtues, a gradual but definite public success is assured. Ringelnatz
stresses the inherent meaninglessness of the climb to the top by ridicu—
lous illustrations of the various steps upward: a master gymnast, a lion
tamer, etc. He ridicules the empty bourgeois cliche 3 Hang deerreiheit
by the symbol of a red tie, tastelessly loud, an attempt to feign a vira
tue. The athlete's image, however theatrical and false, is likened to
that of Hercules. Here Ringelnatz reflects a human value judgement then
judges himself by adding that the statue is of plaster of Paris, a material
which fittingly signifies the innate fragility of the idol. Triviality is
added to triviality. The last line of the third stanza is again a hour.
geois cliche which, placed at the end of a sequence of meaningless signs,
represents the epitome of all inanity. The athlete is expected to have a
sensitive soul. The last stanza destroys with one blow the system of

values enumerated in the previous verses. At the height of his fame, the

 

3Bourgeois cliche: a trite saying commonly accepted by the middle
class citizen who is unthinking in his evaluations.

35
folk hero finally recognizes the hollow shell to which he has dedicated
his life and energies. With one stroke he destroys himself and negates
the system of values which he symbolizes. Ringelnatz thus makes us aware
of the discrepancy between appearance and reality. This poem recalls a
similar message conveyed by E.A. Robinson in Richard Cory. The only basic
difference between them is the American ideal of wealth contrasted with
the German athletic ideal:

And he was rich - yes, richer than a king -
. And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
‘Went home and put a bullet through his head.
Turnermarsch represents a disparagement of German nationalism with
all its emotional appeal, ethnocentric emphasis and rabble-rousing refine.

ments:

Turnermarsch
(Melodie: Leise flehen meine Lieder)

 

Schlagt die Pauken und Trompeten,

Turner in die Bahn 2

TurnerSprache lasst uns reden.

Vivat Vater Felix Dahn 1

Lasst uns im Gleichschritt aufmarschieren,
Ein stolzes Regiment.

Lasst die Fanfaren tremulieren 3

Faltet die Fahnen ent !

Die harte Brust dem wetter darzubieten,
Reisst die germanische Loden30ppe auf !
Kommet zu Hauf !

Wir wollen uns im.friedlichen Wettkampf flben.

Braust drei Hepp—hepps und drei Hurras
Um.die deutschen Eichenblume 2
Trinkt auf das Wehl der deutschen Frauen ein Glas,
Dass es das ganze Vaterland durchschnume.
Heil I Umschlingt euch mit Herz und Hand,

36

Ihr Brflder aus Nerd -, sud - und Mitteldeutschland 1
Dass einst um eure Urne
Eine gleiche Generation turne.

The satirical basis of this poem is primarily use of language. Ringel-
natz derides German nationalism by a use of language buffoonery. He
employs romantic terminology in an ironic context to produce a final ridi—
culousness. The mood is set in the first stanza by such pompous terms as
Pauken und Trompeten, Vivat, Fanfaren tremulieren. The mood is shattered
by the last line. The inseparable prefix 223 is separated from falten to
produce a shoddy rhyme for’Regimen . The allusion to drunkeness in lines
three and four of the third stanza is clear. .Also evident is the reference
to conservative ethnocentricism in the final four lines.

As we progress into the cycle the Ringelnatz reaction to bourgeois
life becomes ever stronger. He employs gymnastic imagery to illustrate the
vast discrepancy between appearance and reality, between the ideal, to
which lip service is paid, and the actual practice. The poem Freiflbungen
is one of the most crass examples of his method of revelation:

‘Wenn eine Frau in uns Begierden weckt

Und diese Frau hat schon ihr Herz vergeben,

Dann (Arme vorwarts streckt!)

Dann ist es ratsam, dass man sich versteckt.

Denn spater (langsam auf den Fersen haben!)

Denn spater wird uns ein Gefflhl umschweben,

Das von Familiensinn und guten Eltern zeugt.

(Arme beugt!)

Denn was die Frau an einem Hanna reizt,

(Huften fest - Beine Spreizt! - Grundstellung)

Ist Ehrbarkeit. Nur die hat wahren wert,

Auch auf die Dauer (Ganze Abteilung kehrtl).

Das ist von beiden Teilen.das begehrtste,

VOn dem.man sagt: (Rumpfbeuge) Das ist der

allerwertste.

The ideal is reiterated throughout as the basic framework of the poetic
context. The actual human practice is set off by parentheses and pre-

sumably represents a harmless position in a series of calesthenics.

37
The symbolic weight of the statements in parentheses is perceptible only
in the context of the ideal which it alienatesh and reveals as false. The
first four lines present the problem of illicit desire. The proper, ethi-
cal advice is in the direction of renunciation. The academic, ethical
plane is alienated.by the command of nature which is much too strong to
disregard. Thus renunciation is not practiced. 0n the contrary, the for-
bidden woman is approached with open arms. The discussion of the noble
ideal continues in the next four lines interpolated by two commands indi-
cative of the course of action pursued. The first shows the female reci-
procation to the advances of the male and the second reveals the completed
embrace. The remainder of the poem exposes the nature of the manewoman
attraction. woman is allegedly impressed by nobility, honesty, etc. How;
ever, through the vehicle of gymnastic symbol, our attention is drawn to
the true source of fascination which is obviously elemental and erotic.
The last three parenthetical remarks reflect a human value judgment which
points to the reproductive part of the body as the center of attraction.
The poet's revelation of human values and human self delusion is charac-
terized by a directness which borders upon crudity. It is difficult to
accept, especially in the lyrical context, but it is characteristic of

Ringelnatz' search for truth and honesty. It atteststo his courage in

 

“I use the terms “alienate" and “alienation effect" in this paper in
the sense of Brecht's dramaturgy. ‘Martin Esslin defines them thus: "...,
the audience must be discouraged from losing its critical detachment by
identification with one or more of the characters. The Opposite of iden—
tification is the maintenance of a separate existence by being kept apart,
alien, strange-etherefore the producer must strive to produce by all means
at his disposal effects which will keep the audience separate, estranged,
alienated from.the action.“ ‘Martin Esslin, Brecht. (London: Eyre and
Spottiswoode, 1959), 110-111.

To be sure, Ringelnatz' alienation effect is not an exact duplication
of'Brecht's. The phenomena are, however, closely enough related to justify
the application of a single term to define them.

38
calling things by their prOper name, however distasteful these designa—
tions may be. This very approach has been by and large responsible for
the rejection of Ringelnatz by.many proper people.

The following poem, entitled Kniebeu e, reproduces ironically the
Godpdefying tone we find in Goethe's Prometheus but with the additional
quality of expressing the futility of human existence:

Kniee - beugt!

‘Wir.Menschen sind Narren.

Sterbliche Eltern haben uns einst gezeugt.

Sterbliche Wesen werden uns sputer verscharren.

Schabige Gatter, wer seid ihr 7 und we 7

'Warum lasset ihr uns nicht lunger so

Menschlich.verharren 7

'Was ist denn Leben ?

Ein ewiges Zusichnehmen und Vonsichgeben. -

Schmach euch, ihr Gotter, dass ihr so schlecht uns
versorgt,

Dass ihr uns Geist und'wurde und scthe Gestalt
nur borgt.

Eure Schopfung ist Plunder,

Das Werk sodomitscher Nachtung.

Ich blicke mit tiefster Verachtung

Auf euch hinunter.

Und redet mir nicht lunger von Gnade und Milde 2

Hier sitze ich; forme Menschen nach meinem Bilde.

‘Wehe euch Gottern, wenn ihr uns druben erweckt !

Beine streckt 1

The use of the alienation effect is especially well developed here. The
gymnastic command which begins the poem.is obviously an admonition to
humility. The entire attitude is changed beginning with the fifth line.
As in Freiflbungen, lip service and apparent motivation are contrasted
against the true basis for human action. The exuberance of physical well.
being prompts an egocentric arrogance which seeks to assert itself against
all limitation. It is at this point that Goethe's form, language, and
theme are reproduced, exhibiting the ruthless arbitrariness of youth.
Then, with one stroke of the pen, again through the vehicle of a gymnas-

tic command, Ringelnatz shows the essential inanity of the human situation

39
which prompted these sentiments. The destruction of the created mood is
accomplished as much with language as with theme. The bubble of vain.
glorious expression is punctured by the point of a simple command, signi-
fying a loss of basis and rendering ridiculous all that has preceded.

A further parody of the German spirit, again identified with time-
honored ideals as proposed by Goethe, is seen in the poem Klimmzug:

Das ist ein Symbol fur das Leben.

Immer aufwarts, himmelan streben 2

Feste zieh 2 Nicht nachgeben !

Stelle dir vor: Dort oben winken

Schnapse und Schinken.

Trachte sie zu erreichen, die Schnfipse.

Spanne die Muskeln, die Bizepse.

Achte ver die Beschwerden.

Nicht einschlafen. Nicht mflde werden 3

Du.musst in Gedanken.wflhnen:

Du hortest unter dir einen Schlund gahnen.

In dem Schlund sind Igel und wolfe versammelt.

Die freuen sich auf den.Menschen, der oben bammelt.

Zu ! Zu ! Tu nicht fiberlegen.

Immer weiter, herrlichen Zielen entgegen.

Sollte dich ein Floh am.Po kneifen, '

Nicht mit beiden Handen zugleich danach greifen.

Nicht so ruckweis hin und her schlenkern;

Das passt nicht fur ein Volk von Turnern und Denkern.
‘ Klimme wacker,

Alter Knacker !

Klimme, klimb

Zum Olymp 1

Hoher hinauf 2

Glflckauf 8

Kragen total durchweicht.

1th - uh . uh .. endlich erreicht.

Das Unbeschreibliche zieht uns hinan.

Der ewigweibliche Turnvater Jahn.

Nething is left to the imagination in regard to the symbolic value of the
gymnastic climb. The first three lines state the problem in terms of
apparent seriousness. Striving toward the heavens has been symbolic of the
German spirit since the notion was formulated by Goethe in his‘Fgggt. In
Lines four, five and six, Ringelnatz shows the goals to which Goethe's

ideals have been applied. They consist of food and drink. In line eight

we find another example of ungrammatical prefix separation, again an
attempt to render an otherwise serious utterance ridiculous. The word pic.
ture which follows presents a caricature of human striving. Requiring
false motivation to persevere, man dangles desperately, convinced of the
worthwhileness of his goal. At this high point of tension, Ringelnatz in-
jects some of his characteristic humor; the picture of the climber being
suddenly diverted from his goal by a flea sting in the posterior. The
potential destruction of the entire mood by a flea is Ringelnatz' indica-
tion of his low regard for the seriousness and the consequence of human
purpose. Following this picture is a blow at the German ego. To surrender
to the inclination of the moment would indeed be undignified for a peOple
of athletes and thinkers. Ringelnatz points with scorn to this designa-
tion, so well conditioned by ethnocentric prepaganda, to show the Germans
their conceit and their inability to laugh at themselves. Thoy take them.
sleves much too seriously and are thus blameworthy. The poet traditionally
employs the short line of only two stresses to illustrate intensification.
The coup de grace is appended in the final two lines again with a tra-
vesty of Goethes Egggt. Here Ringelnatz not only names the initiator of the
German athletic enthusiasm, the romantic nationalist Turnvater Jahn, but
also judges him as unmasculine in the true sense of the word.

The same theme is treated somewhat more subtly in the poem M-
aufschgggg. Here Ringelnatz resorts to no humor at all but retains the
serious Goethe pose throughout. The form is traditional and regular, but
the indication of the futility of the ascent is no less evident: "Ein
seelenloses Steigen fiber nichts - ..."

Und abermals erlahmt die Kraft am.Ziel,
Um wieder sich von neuem.zu betBren.

In the second line of the fourth stanza he ironically alters a familiar

hl
quotation. He replaces the word schwach with weigh thus destroying its
dignity and injecting an ironic note. The line which complements its
rhyme likens the entire phenomenon to a parrot—like action, devoid of
decorum:

Der Geist ist willig, doch das Fleisch ist weich,
Sitzwellend einst demeellensittich gleich, ...

Interesting to note is the pun produced by a reversal of the compound
Sitzwelle to Wellensittich. The pun is particularly well chosen since

the picture of the squatting gymnastic exercise is indeed indicative of a
perched parrot. The poet uses this same device in the following poem
Wlhrend der Riesenwelle. He changes Riesenwelle to Wellenriese to describe
the man doing the exercise. The pun is here less successful because of its
more severely limited potential.

The theme of'WEhrend der Riesenwelle treats the braggart who boasts of

 

his masculinity in grossly exaggerated terms. This theme is an extremely
popular one in the Turngedichte. It is invariably treated with a great
deal of humor. Following is an example from.Der Athlet.

Ich wurde durch einen Kaiserschnitt

Geboren, mit Hilfe von Dynamit.

Dass ich noch lebte, war reines Glfick.

Von meiner Mutter blieb wenig zurflck.

‘More prevalent than the boasting in the first person is the exaggera-
ted folk ballad attesting to the virtues of some legendary figure. Ringel- '
natz makes use of this common human tendency to burlesque the folk hero.

He retains the ballad form and even the four lined ballad stanza with
alternating four and three stressed lines and an alternating rhyme scheme.
The themes already discussed recur. The satirical purpose thus remains con.
sistent. He underlines the antinationalistic sentiments with terminology

from.the Germanic past, thereby presenting a caricature of romantic

42
reverence for the German heritage: "Es lebte ein.Merowinger“, "Unter
leisem teutonischem StBhnen", "Wis Donner klang sein Frisch—FrommpFrBhlich.
Frei“.

The poet deplores the senseless brutality of athletics exhibited by
the participants as well as the bloodthirsty spectators. He cries out at
the complete disregard of the spirit and the reduction of the human being
to the level of an animal. His protests are ever tempered by characteris-
tic humor which even here is more conciliatory than devasting:

Am,Hangetau

Das HHngetau ist lang und steil.
Jedoch die fibung an dem Seil

Ist heilsam und veredelt.

Dieweil du kletterst, wachst das Tau
Dir hinten raus und wedelt

A la'Wauwau.

Marie, die unten nach dir blickt,
Kommt mit der Quaste in Konflikt.
Ich wette um ein Fass Gelee:
Drei Meter fiber der Erden
Erfasst dich pldtzlich die Idee,
Du mochtest Seemann werden.

Der Kletterschluss misslingt dir freilich.
Er klingt auch hasslich papageilich.
Schon dieserhalb und um so mehr

Schwankst du verzweifelt hin und her

Als atemloser Pendel.

Und jahsumgibt dich in der Luft

Ein unartikulierter Duft

Sehr abseits von Lavendel.

Und dann erreichst du ganz verzagt
Den.Balken unter Pusten,

Und weil Marie von unten fragt
Und weil die Stimme dir versagt,
So fangst du an zu husten.

Die Dame fragt, ob schwindelfrei
Und schflttelt die Manila.

Du mimst voll Angst und Heuchelei
Den schwfirmenden Gorilla.

Doch weil allmahlich Zeit vergeht
Und nirgends eine Leiter steht,
Entschliesst du dich voll Grausen

43
Und prasentierst dein Hinterteil
Und angelst lange nach dem Seil
Und lasst dich plUtzlich sausen.
Du plumpst der Dame auf der Brust
Und tust, als tatst du das bewusst,
Und blahst dich wie ein Segel.
Und nickst ein heiteres Allheil 2
Und lachst und fflhlst dich doch derweil
Teils Burschenschaft, teils Flegel.

Kein Mfldchen, nicht einmal die Braut,
Sieht gerne Hands ohne Haut.

The third line of the first stanza mirrors the propaganda of the athletic
promoters. The next three lines succeed in alienating the sentiments
expressed in line three. Man is dehumanized by the overemphasis on phya
sical activity. ‘With the exception of the crude allusion in the last two
lines of the third stanza, stanzas three, four and five are conciliatory
and humorous. Erotic motivation is bared in the first two lines of the
sixth stanza, the rest being devoted to a satirization of the political
implications of the gymnastic movement. The final line of stanza six
clearly shows the inherent ludicrousness of the entire movement. At its
completion one feels like a clown.

Ringelnatz views the emancipation of woman and their participation in
the gymnastic movement as a loss of femininity, an artificial situation
which will destroy woman as a symbol of love. In the poem.Am.Barren he
adds in parentheses "(alla donna tedesca)“ which apparently designates a
foreigner's opinion of the "new“ German woman. The daughters of Freya are
depicted in a manner which could hardly be considered flattering.

In the‘gprngedichte cycle, as in all Ringelnatz' satire, we meet an
eroticismuwhich is for the most part degraded and disgusting. It is inten-
tionally thus to exhibit the extent to which an essentially beautiful

experience is misused. Also, Ringelnatz presents a picture of the reality

##
of sex in an attempt to dispel popular notions of romantic love as pro-
pagated by popular communication media. ‘we have seen an example of the
fomer in Freiflbungen. The latter is exhibited, amcng other instances, in
Wettlauf:

Frieda denken!

Herrliches Weib!

Schade, dass Mund stinktz...
and further in Fussball:

Selbst vor dem Podex und den Brusten
Der Frau ergriff ihn ein Gelusten, ...

Typical of.Ringelnatz' use of crudity and the scurrilous remark for
shock effect is the following simile from.Boxkampf:

Kurz: Es verlaufen die heit'ren
Stunden wie Kinderpipi.

Approximately two-thirds of the way through the collection the cycle
breaks down. The limitation of the gymnastic pose becomes intolerable;
Ringelnatz' disgust, his rebellion, and his cry are much too strong to be
held within the bounds of the preconceived form. From this point we
encounter pictures of life which have the effect of total alienation. we
also find for the first time lyric poetry of consequence, filled with
empathy, emotion, and beauty.

The initial impression gained from the remainder of the poems in this
uneven cycle is that of disgust. Life seems to be a hopeless maze of
filth and disappointment with only brief moments of beauty and happiness.
Ringelnatz reacts to this life with screaming word pictures in terminology
calculated to shock, to induce sympathy with unfortunate creatures, and
simply to express a gross revulsion at the sight of human existence which
seems to have lost all direction and all hope. The most poignant illustra-

tion of this mood is found in the following word picture:

45
Die Lumpensammlerin

H81t sie den Kopf gesengt wie ein Ziegenbock,
Ihre Gemflsenase,

Ihr spitzer Hbcker, ihr gestflckelter Rock
Haben die gleiche farblose Drecksymphonie
Der Strasse.

Mimikry.

Selbstandig krabbeln ihre knochernen Hands

Die Gosse entlang zwischen Kehricht und Schlamm,
Finden Billette, Nadeln und Horngegenstande,
Noch einen Knepf und auch einen Kamm.

Uber Speichel und Rotz zittern die Finger;
Hundekotel werden wie Pferdedflnger

Sachlich beiseitegeschoben.

Lumpen, Kerk, Papier und Metall werden aufgehoben,
Stetig - stopf - in den Sack geschoben.

Der Sach stinkt aus seinem verbuchteten Leib.
Er hat viel spitzer: Hooker.

Er ist noch ziegenbocker

Als jenes arg mtrbe Weib.

Schlflrfend, schweigsam schleppt sie, schleift sie die Bflrde.
Wenn sie jemals niesen wflrde,

‘Was wegen Verstopfung bisher nie geschah,

‘Wflrde die gute Alte zerstluben

Wie gepusteter Paprika. -

Und was wflrde fibrigbleiben?
Eine Schnalle von ihrem.Reck,
Sieben Stecknadeln, ein Berleck,
Vergoldet oder vernickelt.

Vielleicht auch: Vielmals eingewickelt
Und zwischen zwei fettigen Pappen:
Ftnfzig, gultige, saubere blaue Lappen.

Irgendwo wurde ein Stall erbrechen
Fande man sortiert, gestapelt, gebundelt, umschnfirt
Lumpen, Stanniel, Strumpfenblnder und Knechen.

‘Was hat die Hexe fur ein Leben gefuhrt?

Vielleicht hat sie Lateinisch gesprechen.
Vielleicht hat einst eine Zefe sie manikflrt.
Vielleicht ist sie vor tausend Jahren als Spulwurm
Durch das Gedlrm eines Marsbewohners gekrechen.

The final stanza gives the tenor of the entire poem. It poses a question

as to the true nature and consequence of human existence. ‘Was life once

1+6
more beautiful? Perhaps. It is certain that it was once simpler. The
speculative mood cannot prevail long in the face of the horror of the
reality which Ringelnatz presents to us in the person of the old woman,
herself a symbol of life.

Serge dividiert durch 2 hoch x reveals the emptiness and meaningless-
ness of popular clichés. They are merely words without consequence. The
futility of words in the face of care and sorrow is reflected in the final
lines of the poem:

Oder - nein, ver allem und ausserdem - ..
Na du weisst — - Und ich weiss - ..

With Stimme auf einer steilen Treppg begins a theme which recurs
throughout Ringelnatz' poetry. Life is depicted as a cruel and senseless
circle the purpose of which is found solely in suffering and death. 1%
auf einer steilen Treppe exemplifies one mode of presenting this theme:

Drei SUhne hab' ich bei die Ulanen verloren,
Mein Mann fiel aus dem dritten Stock.

Aber .- es wird lustig weitergeberen!

Ich habe nur noch den einen, den Umstandsrock.

Macht es mir nach: Werdet schwanger, ihr Weiber!

Alle Weiber mflssen schwanger sein.

Dann springen die Manner ver eure geschwollenen
Laiber

Links und rechts beiseite und sind ganz klein.

Aller Anfang ist schwer.

Pfeift auf die Fehlgeburten und Missgeburten. -
Wenn nicht immer mal wieder zwei Menschen hurten,
Blieben zuletzt die Wirtshfiuser leer,

an's keine Soldaten mehr.

Die Schweinerei ist nun doch einmal Sitte und Branch.
Gett hat uns Weiber zu Schbpferinnen ge salbt.
Schiebt also trotzig euren geladenen Bauch
Uber die Friedhbfe hin. - Und kalbt!
These lines would tell us the purpose of life. Man is born apparently to

suffer and die. And yet life proceeds. Why? The second stanza reveals

47
part of the motivation. woman attains a status in childbirth.which ren.
ders her superior to man. This seems necessary since man assumes superi-
erity in most other facets of life including the procreative act. The
third stanza exposes the economic exploitation of the life cycle. If man
did not reproduce, there would be neither war nor sufficient economic
stimulus. But man is deluded by pepular notions designed to reconcile him
to the futility of life. These notions are reflected in the cliche which
begins the third stanza and the religious allusion in the second line of
the fourth stanza. The final two lines of the stanza vividly disclose the
paradox of all life. The loaded belly concurs with the previous military
references. Giving birth is thus placed on the same level as war. The
woman symbolically represents the loaded rifle. She is thereby a weapon,
perhaps the most dangerous weapon in the struggle which characterizes
human existence. The image of germinating life against the background of
death is cynically symbolic of a'weltanschauung of desperation.

Although the tone of Chansonette is essentially the same as that of

 

Stimme auf einer steilen Treppe, it exemplifies a different expository
technique. Through a revelation of the human thought process, Ringelnatz
illustrates the capriciousness of the human psyche. Elements of the sub-
lime appear in immediate proximity to the inane. The conglomerate of
human psychic experience is treated paradoxically.

'War ein echter Prinz und hat warzen im Bett.
Und kniete vor jeder Schleife.

Vaters Leiche lag auf dem.Bflgelbrett

Und roch nach Genever'und Seife.

‘wenn der Pfaffe unter meine Racke schielt,
Sagt die Alte, werd' ich Geld bekommen.
Meinem Bruder, der so sehen die FlBte spielt,
Haben sie die Nieren rausgenommen.

 

I IN.—

i.

Ye

are

Glaubst du noch an Gett? und spielst du Letterie?

Meine Schwester kommt im Juli nieder.

Doch der Kerl ist ein gemeines Vieh.

Schenk mir zwanzig Hark; du kriegst sie wieder.

Ausserdem: ich brauche ein Korsett,

Und ein Nadelchen mit blauen Steinen.

In ein Kloster mocht ich. Oder bei's Ballett.

Manchmal muss ich ganz ven selber weinen.
The romantic illusion of the prince is destroyed by the reality of his
unesthetic person and his dedication to empty symbol, represented by the
how. The dignity of death is eradicated by the human impression of it
which includes practical considerations. This is the significance of the
ironing board. Esthetic considerations are represented by the reference to
gin and soap. The religious ideal is exposed by a combination of the erotic
action of the clergyman and the superstition of the woman. The sublimity
”of art is annihilated by showing the physical incapacity of the artist.
The third and feurth stanzas repeat the above motifs and add a reference
to the caprice of human sentiment. The final line answers the question as
to the inner unity of the poem. All of the preceding remarks have exposed
a common life situation which, experienced on an intuitive level, reveals
itself as hopeless and vain, therefore the tears which are not directly
motivated.

Das Gesehwatz in der Bedurfnisanstalt in der Schellingstrasse is a
further testimony to the vulgarly futile nature of the human situation.
The sole innovation here is an allusion to the innate longing of all men
for beauty and happiness:

Ich mochte mal wieder eine Musik haren;
Das stimmt einen.wieder mal froh.

The depths of degradation and desperation are reached in worte eines

durchfallkranken Stellungslosen in einen waschkubel_gesprochen. Tears,

1+9
emotion, even words fail as Ringelnatz exclaims:

Nun warte ich auf gigantisehes'Weltgeschehn,

Wenn's mich.- zusammen mit den andern -
zerfleischt,

Wenn das Sterben der anderen, Glflcklichen mich
umkreischt,

- Dann -

Dann will ich mir eine Zigarette drehn!

Night produces a reversion to humane qualities and sentiments. The
sharp outlines of life are softened by diminished light, and even artistic
creativity returns to the desperate poet:

Nachtgalle

'weil meine beiden Beine

Erfolglos mflde sind,

Und weil ich gerade einsam.bin,

Wie ein hausierendes Streichhelzkind,
Setz ich mich in die Anlagen hin

Und weine.

Nun hab ich lange geweint.

Es wird sehen Nacht; und mir scheint,

Der liebe Gett sei beschaftigt.

Und das Leben ist - - alles, was es nur gibt:
wahn, Krautsalat, Kampf oder Seife.

Ich erhebe mich leidlich gekruftigt.

Ich weiss eine Zeitungsfrau, die mich liebt.
Und ich pfeife.

Ein querendes Auto tutet. -

Nicht Geld noch Stein waren echt

An dem Ring, den ich gestern gefunden. -

Die nachtliche Strasse blutet

Aus tausend wunden.

Und das ist so recht.
The title is intentionally misleading. The mellow mood exhibits anything
but gall. The creative simile in the fourth line of the initial stanza
exhibits more than a revitalization of the creative impulse. It shows also
compassion for the being with whom he compares himself. The ability to
weep demonstrates a renewal of those faculties which distinguish man from

unfeeling animals. The reference to God and to the newspaper woman seem

 

U
va-

50
insignificant, but they represent a step toward a renewed positivity, a
candle in the inky blackness of despair. The metaphorical reference to the
wet street is well chosen. It symbolizes the nature of the human situation.
The final line proposes a judgment of life. Perhaps suffering is deserved.
This conclusion seems to point to an explanation of the abject misery of
existence. The mood is still pessimistic but is beginning to acquire a
conciliatory note. This note is continued in the next poem, entitled‘flgnn
ich allein bin. Ringelnatz finds new hope and beauty in compassion and a
less of self. He finds positive value within himself and summons all of
(his strength and courage to impart that which brings him personally little
joy:
Ich reisse ausseinander meine Brust
Und lasse steigen all die vogel, die
Ich eingekerkert, grausam dort gefangen,
Bin Leben lang gefangenhielt, und nie
Besass. Und die mir niemals sangen.
Wenn ich allein bin, pups ich lauten Wind.
Und bete laut. Und bin ein uralt Kind.
wenn ich -
The elevated nature of his sentiment is revealed in this sudden exposition
of his poetic soul. Characteristically, he must defile and destroy the
beautiful image with a crude remark. Although the alienation effect may
superficially appear to have the same motivation as romantic irony, we
have seen sufficient evidence to the contrary in our discussion of the
Ringelnatz pose. It is a defense mechanism, a hard shell around a soft and
gentle core. The last lines show a return to the childlike simplicity
which fits Ringelnatz best. He has finally found strength in empathy and
simplicity.
The second part of this cycle is unified in tone as the first part is

unified in symbol and image. The organization of the cycle as a whole is

51
uneven. The lack of organization is, as we have already seen, an attempt
by Ringelnatz to discourage a literary historical approach and to mask his
poetic self in its complexity.

The above discussion seems to characterize the Turngedichte cycle as
entirely'pessimistic in nature. In the first part of the cycle, however,
we do encounter some of’Ringelnatz' old humor for humor's sake. Examples
of this are indeed rare, but their very presence indicates the fact that
the poet is able to induce laughter and good will even in the moment of
his most profound desperation. I

Kniehang

Ich wollte, ich war' eine Fledermaus,

Eine ganz verluschte, verlauste,

Dann hing ich mich frlih in sin Warenhaus

Und flederte nachts und mauste,

Dass es Herrn Silberstein grauste.

Denn Meterflaus, Fliedermaus, Fledermaus ..

(Es geht nicht mehr; mein Verstand lfiuft aus.)

Turngedichte was the first collection of Ringelnatz' postwar satire.
It reflected the repugaance which German bourgeois life and the defeat of
its ideals caused in him. He was no longer satisfied with the playfulness
of the pro-war grotesqueries of Die Schnupftabaksdose. He sought in the
gymnastic symbol a vehicle for the ezqaression of his revulsion. The
planned cyclic unity revolving about the gymnastic symbol and a revelation
of the ideal of German life and its disappointing reality was too constrain.-
ing; Ringelnatz soon abandoned it—-with uneven results. These faults would
render the Turngflchte collection indeed unsuccessful were it not for the
skillful satire and the first appearance of serious lyrics which hinted at
the gemination of a new, non- satirical style.
The title of Kuttel Daddeldu, (1920) , the third collection of Ringel-

natz' satirical verse, is characteristically misleading. The figure of the

52
rough and ready sailor, Kuttel Daddeldu, should give the cycle some sem-
blance of unity; it does not, however. As in the Turn edichte, the chosen
vehicle is too constraining, and Ringelnatz soon discards it. The process
of Ringelnatz' poetic maturation is particularly evident in this collection.
The ballad—like poems dealing with the antics and philosophical musings of
Kuttel Daddeldu are violently rebellious in every respect. Direct satire
is less prevalent, however; it is, rather, a case of positive action in a
disconcerting direction designed to serve the dual purpose of shock effect
and production of uproarious laughter. As one proceeds further into the
collection, the laugh—inducing buffeonery yields the field to a more
direct satire. Following a pattern which we observed in the Medichte,
the bitter satirical motivation mellows and transforms to attain a lyri-
cism we can respect. It seems as if his lyrical soul must take flight
despite the effort of the author to subdue it by means of a pose. An
avant - propos to the collection introduces us to the Kuttel Daddeldu pose.

Ich kann mein Buch doch nennen, wie ich will

Und orthographi sch nach Belieben schreiben 1

War mich nicht lesen mag, der lass es bleiben.

Ich darf den Sau, das Kleps, das Krakodil

Und jeden andern Gegenstand bedichten,

Darf ich doch unge start daheim

Auch mein Bedurfnis, wie mir's passt, verrichten.

Was konnte mich zu Geist und reinem Reim,

Was an Geschmack und zu Humor verpflichtent -

Bescheidenheit? - captatie - oho 1

Und wer mich hasst, .- .. sie mogen mich nur hassen 2

Ich darf mich grundlich an den Hintern fassen

Sowie an den avant - propos.
Indeed the premises (or threats) of the avmt-prepgs find fulfillment, at
least as long as the antagonistic attitude prevails. He can and does entitle
his book as he chooses. Some instances of orthographic eccentricity are:
LeHaver, Sidnee, Rd, Eiwie , Daddeldu, the old Seelerbeu Kutte], , Blu beus

blu, Pemm de Schwall, Meditteriniensi, Bei Jesus Chreist, etc. Often

53
orthographic and phonetic irregularities serve the rhyme scheme. At times
they merely represent a superimposition of the German phonetic system
upon foreign words. Most often, however, they are manifestations of
revolt intentionally directed against a society which Ringelnatz considers
to be based upon falsehood. The subjects of Ringelnats' lyrics include
such bizarre phenomena as a cadaver, swallows, a casket, a prostitute, two
molecules, an elevator, pork cutlets, a tapeworm, a flea and a bedbug, and
Brazilian butterflies. Characteristically, there is no". dearth of crudity
or smutty and ambiguous references. Ringelnatz reverts here to the use of
grotesqueries as in Die Schnupftabaksdose. They sometimes satirise human
foibles and sometimes merely reflect a pure joy in comic caprice and lan—
g’ugge creativity.

The figure of Kuttel Daddeldu is designed as a foil to bourgeois
society. Kuttel is everything the bourgeois is not. He is barbarous and
unasthetic. His language consists of a conglomerate of the worst eaqares.
sions from the various European languages:

Bulldog aheu 2 Ich bin nicht besoffen,

Wirklich nicht 1

Wirklich nicht 1

Her mir die Salbe krflmmt,

Dem renn ich die Klfisen dicht. .

Kola her, Deesy, wir schlagen die Bulldog entswei.

Wenn ich aus Kiatschu, Kiatschau ..

Porko die Madonna 1

Mary, du alte San,

Wordir die Salbe stieblt aus Schangei,

Der wird einmal Kapitln Daddeldus Frau.
He is honest, unpretentious and hard working. Rank and privileges of
birth are unknown quantities to him.

Daddeldu malts in Hafen mit Teer

Und Menni g den Gaffelschoner Claire.

Ein feiner Herr kam daher,

Blieb vor Daddeldu stehn

Und sagte: "Bier sind ffinfzig Pfennig,
Lieber Mann, darf man wohl das Schiff besehn?"

Daddeldu stippte den Quast in den Mennig ,

Dass es spritste, und sagt: ”Funfzig ist wenig.
Aber, God damn, jedermarm ist kein KBnig.”

Und der Fremde sagte verbindlich llchelnd: "Nein,
Ich bin nur First Wittgenstein.”

Daddeldu erwiderte: ”first oder Lord -

Scheiss Paris 1 Hanna nur an Bord."

He possesses an overwhelming lust for life.

Kuttel Daddeldu ging an Land.
Die Rt! Albani war ihm bekannt.
Er kannte nahezu alle HafenplItze.

Weil vor dem ersten Haus ein Madchen stand,

Holte er sich im ersten Haus von dem Mldchen die Krltse.
Weil er das aber natflrlich nicht gleich empfand,

Ging er weiter .- kreuste topplastig auf wilder Fahrt.
Achtzehn Monate Heuer hatte er sich zusammengespart.

He is an angel of mercy to all of the unfortunate creatures who have drawn
a short straw in the gamble with an unfeeling fate. He loves children and
considers the orphans of the world as his own progeny.

Wie Daddeldu so durch die Walton schifft,

Geschieht es wohl, dass er hie und da

Eins oder das andre von seinen Kindern trifft,

Die begrdssen dann ihren Eur0papa:

"Gud morning! .- Sdrastwuide! - Bong Jur, Daddeldu!

Bon tscherno! 0k phosphor! Tsching - tschung!
Bablabfl!"

Und Daddeldu dankt erstaunt und gerflhrt

Und senkt die Hand in die Hosentasche

Und schenkt ihnen, was or so bei sich fuhrt, ...

He knows only his simple needs: love and friendship. He suspects book
learning and trusts time-honored superstitions:

was die Studierten predigen, das ist alles Beschise.

Mein erster Bootsmann hat sich viermal die Syphilis

Nur mit Spiegelscherben und Branntwein geheilt. -
His forthrightness and guileless manner make him fair game for the false
promises of pretended countesses:

Zehn J ahre zuvor und ven Eisenach sehr entfernt
Hatte Daddeldu bei Schwedenpunsch, Whisky, Rotwein
und Kuchen

55

In Ganland eine Grlfin Pantowsky kennengelernt,

Die hatte gesagt: "Sie mussen mich mal besuchen."

Und sehn J ahre lang merlcte sich Kuttel genau:

Eisenach, Burgstrasse l6, dicke, richtig anstlndige Frau.

Rief also jetst die nlchtlichen Thflringer Leutchen

Mit englischen Fragen an. Splter mit deutschen.

Aber die Grlfin Pantowsky kannte keiner.
He is easy prey for the onloitation of unscrupulous customs officers,
tavern keepers, and scheming women:

Und ein Mldchen nannte ihn Trunkenbold

Und schrie: er habe sie an die Beine geneckt.
Aber Daddeldu sahlte alles in englischen Pfund in Gold.

Denn nun sangen sie wieder so schan und so laut.
Und Daddeldu hatte die Nansen nooh nicht verzollt,
Deshalb zahlte er alles in englischen Pfund in Gold.

The “Landlubbers” are the bourgeois. They represent the deceptive and
perfidious world which Ringelnatz so despises: ”Und lass dich nicht vor
den Landratten lumpen. ” Kuttel cannot understand the code of values of
bourgeois society:

Und verwirrt fiber die Falschheit des Binnenlands
Nannte Kuttel die Vorsteherin ”alte Spinatgans!"

His disappointment at the first encounter with human falsity causes
him, if only momentarily, to hare his sensitive soul and the deep sense of
melancholy which prevades his being:

Splter im D—Zug, unter der Bank hinter lauter Ingstlichen
FiIszigzgdeldu platslich an, sum einzigsten Male zu weinen
(Denn spiter weinte er niemals mehr.) -
Beide Flaschen Eau de Kolon waren leer.
The cologne represents something, sweet and beautiful which he has lost
through a bitter experience with human guile.
Kuttel Daddeldu, the noble savage , must inevitably lose in his encoun-

ter with a life fraught with deceit. He is cheated, beaten, and rejected.

56
Nevertheless, although hardened by his experiences, he remains a "rechter

Karl" and never loses his childlike faith in God and his captain:

Denn ein rechter Karl muss jedes Wetter vertragen
Und nur auf Gett und seinem Kaptein vertraun.

The figure of Kuttel Daddeldu is the public pose of Ringelnatz. As

a cabaret poet, he wore a middie blouse and bell-bottom trousers. He bel-
lowed his poetry into the crowd as a non-commissioned officer admonishes
his charges. Kuttel Daddeldu is one of the many instances of self.
characterisation to be found in Ringelnats' poetry.

Ich komme und gehe wieder,

Ich, der Matrose Ringelnatz.

Die Wellen des Meeres auf und nieder

Tragen mich und meine Lieder

Von Hafenplats zu Hafenplatz .

Ihr kennt meine lange Nase,
Mein vom Sturm serknittertes Gesicht.

Dass ich so gern spasse

Nach der harten Arbeit draussen,

Versteht ihr das?

Oder nicht 1

The above poem from a later collection (Kasperle Verse) gives us insight
into the nature of the sailor pose and a notion as to the motivation
behind it. Ringelnatz views binself as the wandering sailor minstrel,
completely identified with his songs and romantically transported from
place to place by the boundless seas always seeking, always longing for
but never finding peaceful refuge. A modern Don Quixote, he is the con-
scious champion of the unfortunate , the simple and the downtrodden. Humil-
ity and honesty are for him virtues which reconcile all faults and weak-
nesses. His poetry represents a chronicle as well as a confession of his
restless, driven existence. He tastes life in its most elevated as well

as its most degraded aspects. He remains throughout the sensitive,

57
childlike romantic , a strange mixture of benevolence and malice. As such,

he mirrors nature from which he takes his inspirationp-now beautiful and
sublime, now cruel and degraded, ever dark, hysterious and puzzling.

In the Kuttel Daddeldu, collection Ringelnatz begins to reveal him-
self. The following poem was inspired by an eaqaerience in England which
remained with himhis entire life.

Ansgrache eines Fremden an eine
Geschminlkte vor dem Wilberforcemonument

 

Guten Abend, scthe Unbekannte! Es ist nachts halb zehn.
Wllrden Sie liebenswurdigerweise mit mir schlafen gehn 1
Wer ich bin 7 .- Sie meinen, wie ich heisse 1’

Liebes Kind, ich werde Sie belflgen,
Denn ich schenke dir drei Pfund.

Denn ich khsse'niemals auf den Mural.
Von uns beiden bin ich der Gescheitre.
Doch du darfst mich um drei weitre
Pfund betrflgen.

Glaube mir, liebes Kind:

Wenn man einmal in Sensibar

Und in Tirol und in Geflngnis und in Kalkutta war,

Denn merkt man erst, dass man nicht weiss, wie sonderbar
Die Menschen sind.

Deine Ehre, zum Beispiel, ist nicht dasselbe

Wie bei Peter dem Grossen L'honneur. -

fibrigens war ich - (Schenk mir das gelbe

Band 3) - in Altona an der Elbe

Schaufensterdekorateur. -

Hast du das Tuten gehBrt 7
Das ist Wilson Line.

Wie T Ich sei angetrunken 7 O nein, nein! Nein 1

Ich bin vallig besoffen und hundsgeflhrlich geistesgestbrt.
Aber sechs Pfund sind immer ein Risiko wort.

Wie du nisstrauisch neben mir gehst 1

Wart nur, ich erzlhle dir schnurrige Sachen.
Ich weiss: Du wirst lachen.

Ich weiss: Dass sie dich auch traurig machen.
Obwohl du sie gar nicht verstehst.

58
Und auch ich -
Du wirst mir vertrauen .. splter, in Hose und Hemd.
Mldchen wie du haben mir immer vertraut.
Ich bin etwas schief ins Leben gebaut.
No air alles rltselvoll ist und fremd,
Da wohnt meine Mutter. - Quatsch 1 Ich bitte dich: Sei
recht laut 1
Ich bin eine alte Kommode.
0ft mit Tints oder Rotwein begossen;
Manchmal mit Fusstritten geschlossen.
Der wird kichern, der nach meinem Tode
Mein Geheimfach entdeckt. -
Ach Kind, wenn du ahnte st, wie Kunitzburger Eierkuchen schmeckt 1
Das ist nun kein richtiger Schera.
Ich bin auch nicht richtig froh.
Ich habe auch kein richtiges Herz.
Ich bin nur ein kleiner, unanstlndiger Schalk.
Mein richtiges Herz. Das ist anderwlrts, irgendwo
In Muschelkalk.
These lines disclose with an honesty bordering upon psychological exhibi-
tionism the true nature of the Ringelnatz psychology. The setting is
characteristically elemental and plebeian. Ringelnatz regarded this niveau
as the one which most closely approached truth. It also represents a fur-
ther manifestation of his revolt against his own bourgeois origin. His
need for love is simple and direct. It is misleading, however, as his
philosOphical musings beginning with his puzzled interpretation of the
girl' s question as to his identity indicate. The question goes intention-
ally unanswered since arw simplification would be a falsehood as this
entire artificial love situation is. The poet is careful to delineate its
implications to the girl thereby showing his respect for her and reveal.
ing the relative nature of human attributes and evaluations. The rough
and drunken pose presents the framework of the poem. The true nature of
his sentiment is reflected in his interspersed remarks which show a great

tenderness for the unfortunate woman. He is frank withher because he is

59
confident that she will trust him. He hapes to make her laugh, but knows
that she will be sad, not because she will understand his mirth, but
because it is prompted by a deep feeling of melancholy and Weltschmerz.

His musings in regard to his identity disclose his humility and his inten-
tional msteriousness. The alienating remarks which conclude stanzas nine
and ten represent an effort to reconstruct the pose, the defense mechanism.
He reveals the pose in the statements of the last stanza, indicating that
the beauty, the goodness within him must remain hidden. The cruelty and
baseness of the world would otherwise surely destroy it. This sentiment is
aptly symbolized in Jene brasilianischen Schnetterlin , a poem concern-
ing the fatal beauty of certain Brazilian butterflies which must perish
because of their beauty:

Denn euch brachte das schane Kleid
Um euer junges, brasilianisches Leben.

The Anmche an eine Geschminkte is an indication of the pose which
Ringelnatz presented the world, contrasted with his true nature. Out-
wardly he was crude, loud, a woman chaser, and a drunkard. One does
indeed discover his Geheimfach if one searches deeply enough. His spirit
was quiet, introverted, even shy. He owned a sensitive, delicate and com.-
passionate heart. "Er soff und sang und lachte und verdrtlckte mit jedem
Gellchter eine kleine Trans" .5

The recurring crudity which we have not thus far is understandable if
we think of it in terms of its therapeutic value. Ringelnatz must be
classed among the moralists, as the following poem testifies:

 

5Walter Abendroth, "Grosses Elend und kleines Glflck," Die Zeit
mg 13e8e1953e

vm- Treppen hoch bei DImmerung

Du musst die Leute in die Fresse knacken.
Damn, wenn sie aumerksam geworden sind, .-
Vielleicht nach einer Eisenstange packen, -
Musst du zu ihnen wie zu einem Kind
Ganz schamlos from und lrmlich einfach reden
Von Dingen, die du eben noch nicht wusstest.
Und bittst sie um Verzeihung - einzeln jeden - ,
Dass du sic in die Fresse schlagen musstest.

' Und wenn du siegst: so sollst du traurig gehen,
Mit einem Witz. Und sie nicht wiedersehen.

His firm moral purpose is viewed as a calling which must be heeded although
it grieves him and alienates him from those whom he loves. Thus his jokes
and smutty stories conceal an elevated purpose and a deep melancholy.
Ethical relativism is one of his favorite targets. He knowa sin and
condemns it.
W

Das war die sonst nooh ziemlich fesche

Marie, die ihrem Prinzipal

In der Fabrik fur Sterbewlsche

Drei schwarze Unterho sen stahl.

Und sandte, als er ruchbar wurde,

Dann das Gestohlene zuruck.

Und diese mindestens absurde

Ides gereichte ihr zum Glflck.

Der Prinzipal fur Sterbewlsche,

Der nicht Karrieren gern verdarb,

Gab ihr so viel verdiente Dresche,

Dass sie ein Kind gebar und starb.

To Ringelnatz the capital sin is hardheartedness, and he fights it

with the strongest weapons at his comnand. The following is one of his most
grim castigations of the hardheartedness of man clothed in a gruesome

sailor ballad.

61
Seemannstreue

Nafikare necesse est.

Heine llngste Braut war Alwine.

Ihrer blauen Augen Gelatine

Ist schon llngst zerlaufen und verwest. -
Alwine sang so schon das Lied:

I'Ein J lger aus Kurpfalz".

Wie Passatwind stand ihr der Humor.

- Sonntags morgens wurde sie bestattet
In der Heide, wo kein Blumchen schattet,
Und auch.ihre Unschuld einst verlor.

Donnerstags grub ich sie wieder aus.
Da kamen.mir schon ihre Ohrlappen
So sonderbar vor.

Freitags grub ich sie dann wieder ein.
Niemand sah das in der stillen Heide. -
Montage wieder aus. 'Von ihrem Kleide,
Das man.ihr ins Grab gegeben hatte,
Schnitt ich eine Handbreit gelber Seide,
Und die trlgt mein Bruder als Krawatte. -

Gruslig war's: Bei dunklem oder feuchten1
'Wetter fing Alwine an zu leuchten.
Trotzdem parallel zu ihr verweilen

'Wollt ich ewiglich und immerdar.

Bis sie schliesslich an den weichen Teilen
Schon ganz anders und ganz flflssig war.

‘Aus. Ein. Aus; so grub ich.viele‘Wochen.

Doch es hat zuletzt zu schlecht gerochen.

Und die Nase wurde blauer Saft,

'Wodrin lange Fadenwflrmer krochen. -

nichts fur ungut: das war ekelhaft. -

Und zuletzt sind mir die schlflpfrigen Knochen
Ausgeglitten und in lauter Sticks zerbrochen.

Und so nahm ich.Abschied von die Stdcke.

Ging mit einem.Schoner nach Iquique,

Ohne jemals wieder ihr Gebein

Auszugraben. Oder anzufassen.

Denn man soll die Toten schlafen lassen.
The final line is a biblical imperative purposely set off and in this con-
text to show its delusive ridiculousness and emptiness in pOpular usage.

The euphemistic approach to the realities of life is particularly odious

62
to Ringelnatz. This is also treated in Das Terrbarium:
Nichts stimmt trauriger als ein menschlicher Todesschrei.
Aber was bedeutet solch kurzer Ton
Gegen die furchtbaren Greuel der‘Vivisektion!
--an allusion to the cold ruthlessness of science.

In Das Gesellenstuck Ringelnatz reveals the materialistic motivation
behind many apparent acts of generosity and kindness. Das Gesellenstuck
is a casket. In this poem we find a description of it as well as the
reason for its existence:

Kurz herrlich! herrlich! - wasman und Peter
Hltten.mir glattweg fhnfzigtausend Mark

Und doppelt soviel gezahlt fur den Sarg.

Und das war damals ein Geld, wenn man's denkt.
Aber ich hinge nicht so am Golde. -

Und so hab ich ihn.dann meiner Tante Isolde
Zum 70. Geburtstag geschenkt.

Ringelnatz is repelled by the misuse of the helpless little people
who are somehow credulous of the delusions designed to disguise exploi-
tation of them. The following lines are from was der Liftqu;lussert.

Am.Zahltage sagte Herr Silberstein:
Ich dflrfte stolz auf den Posten sein,
Wb ich immerfort stiege,

Und ich beklme nur kleines Sallr,
weil ich fflr's Lift so geeignet wlr',
'Weil ich so sehr wenig wiege.

Vicious and destructive gossip is upbraided in.Mutter Frflhbeissens

Tratsch.
Das geht auf keine Kuhhaut, was or erduldet.
So einer ist ja zu.nichts zu gebrauchen.
Und will doch auch einmal atmen wie wir, und hauchen.
Wenn er lir auch noch sieben Hark schuldet.

In Kuttel Daddeldu and elsewhere Ringelnatz parodies Goethe and his

style. In.Abendggbet einer erkllteten.Neggrin we find the following unmis-

takable evidence of mimicking Goethe:

63

Kam in mein Wigwam
Weit fiber das Meer,
Seit er zurnckschwamm,
Das Wigwam

Blieb leer.

DrflbenamWalde
nngteinGuruh--

Warts nur balde
Klngurst auch du.

Emphasizing the discrepancy between blown—up terminology and the base-
ness of reality, Ringelnatz parodies some famous lines from Goethe's
Erlkonig: the title satirizes Goethe's fondness for synthesizing science

and poetry:
Stoffwechsel

Wie gluht er in Glass! Wie flammt er so hold!
Geschliffnem Topase vergleich ich sein Gold.“
Ich aber meinte den Urin

Und dachte mich in Gross-Berlin

Und dachte eine junge Braut ,

Ganz eingehflllt in Bflckingshaut.

Da brachte mir der Pikkolo

Den Grog. Ich schnupperte und floh.

In the description of a night-time experience in Berlin we observe
Ringelnatz' understanding of life:
Nachtambulatio

Sie drdckten sich schon beiseiten

Fort aus dun Tanzlokal

Und suchten zu beiden Seiten

Der Strasse das Gast- und Legerhaus Continental.

So dringlich: Man bitte annen glauben,
Er triebe sie vorwlrts wie ein Rind.

Und doch handelten beide im besten Glauben.
Er wollte ihr nur die Unschuld rauhen.

Sie wollte partout von ihm ein Kind.

Da geschah es, etwa am Helleschen Tor,

Dass Frieda fiber dem Knutschen und Schmusen
Aus ihren hitzig gekitzelten Busen

Eine zertanzte, verdruckte Rose verlor.

Und ein sehr feiner Herr, dessen Eleganz
Nicht so rumtoben tut, folgte den beiden.
J edoch hielt er sich vornehm bescheiden
Immer in einer gewissen Distanz.

Er wollte ursprflnglich zum Bierhaus Siechen.
Aber nun hemmte er seinen Lauf,

Zog die Handschuh aus, hob die Rose auf

Und begann langsam daran zu riechen.

Er wflnschte aber keinen Augenblicksgenuss;
Deshalb stieg er mit der Rose in den Omnibus.
Derweilen war Frieda mit ihrem Soldaten

Auf einen Kinderspielplatz geraten.

Dort merkten sie nicht, wie die Nacht verstrich,
Und dass ein unruhiger Mann mit einem Spaten
Sie dauernd beschlich.

Als sich nach lingerem Aufenthalt
Das Paar in der Richtung zur Gasanstalt
Mit kurzen, trippelnden Schritten verlor,

Sprang der unruhige Mann pletzlich hervor.
Und fing an, eine Stelle, we er in Sand
Die Spur von Friedas Stiefelchen fand,
Mit einem Spaten herauszuheben.

Worauf er behutsam mit zitternder Hand
Die feuchte Form in sin Sacktuch band,

Um sich dann leichenblass heimzube geben.

Wie um das dummste Mldchen

Sich sonderbare Fldchen

Nachts durch die Strassen ziehn -

Die Dichter und die Maler

Und auch die Kriminaler,

Die kennen ihr Berlin.
Stanza two clearly shows the motivation for male as well as female love.
The male is propelled by an illicit desire. The female's strongest impulse
is the maternal instinct. Thus love is shown to be the impersonal conse-
quence of a natural circumstance. Nevertheless the situation, no matter
how degraded, has its beautiful aspects. Beauty is symbolized by the rose.
The fine gentleman is the artist, modest, elegant, and detached, in search

of beauty. His seeking is not frustrated, for he finds beauty in the most

65
insignificant and debased phenomena. In the hands of the artist, anything

can become beautiful. The sex pervert is a foil to the artist. He is the
symbol of depraved eroticism, the destructive aspect of love peculiar only
to humans. Thus the same unlmowing girl inspires sentiments which reveal
the inherent paradox of all life, a queer mixture of beauty and ugliness,
of sublimity and degradation. Only the poet can see the beauty as well as
the ugliness. The rest live blindly, intuitively on, never realizing the
import of the signs and the symbols which point to the spirit of existence.
The final poem of the cycle is indicative of Ringelnatz' poetic develop.
ment. It is an example of the pure lyric, a return to a romantic theme
without resorting to traditional language:
Vorm Brannon in W fen

Du bist kein du,

Wasser. - Hlttest nicht Ruh,

Mich auszuharen.

Ihr fliesst inmrzu
Und immer weiter und mBglichst weit.

Wie euch der Brunnen aus ei semen thren
In den heissen Althluserplatz speit,
Erdengellutert und ausgekllhlt;

Da ihr alte und neue Zeit

Und den Himmel abkonterfeit , ..

Siehet mein durstiges Staunen
In euch doch iJmnerzu andre.

Immer wieder mit fiber den Rand gespfllt,
FIngt es aus eurem Raunen
Nur eines auf: Wandre 1

Von ouch mflcht' ich trinken.

Ihr whrdet lau, wenn ihr stehenbliebt,
Ihr wnrdet trub. Ihr wirdet verweilend
Faulen und stinken .

Was kUmmert's ouch, ob ein Mensch euch liebt.
Dauernd zerteilt euch selber einteilend,
Seid ihr getrieben ein Treibendes

Ganzes, rein Bleibendes.

1!

Nu

- eh.

«m

‘M...

Cw

fir..-

vll

.Hd

Q

YE

66
As an aspect of'nature, the water remains cold and unfeeling, but it speaks
to himbwho has eyes to see and ears to hear. It is boundless, formless,
yet tangible and clear. It symbolizes the romantic synthesis for which the
poet longs, a mystical union with life which is cool, distanced and ele.
vated, a union without suffering. The incessant movement is a constant
renewal, an eternal growth, an ewiges werden, a driven driving, an incom-
plete whole, comprising the entire scope of united opposites which consti-
tute life.

In Kuttel Daddeldu, Ringelnatz' third collection of satirical verse,
he again intends to present a poetry cycle revolving around a central
theme, the primitive sailor and his exploits, but again he abandons his
theme midway through the collection.

The satirical technique is novel in‘ggttel Daddeldu since direct
satire is replaced by positive action in a direction which foils the hour-
geois world, the target of'Ringelnatz' derision. Kuttel Daddeldu is the
”noble savage", primitive and rough but honest and genuine. His adven-
tures'in the world of the proper bourgeois show him to be their ethical
superior, but because he is trusting and naive he meets with sorrow and
defeat wherever he goes. He is a stranger everywhere except at sea where
he can be united with nature which he understands and respects.

The figure of Kuttel Daddeldu is the poet's public pose. It afferds
insight into his psychology both.when the pose is successful and when it
fails.

The Geheimes Kinderspielbuch (1924) marks a further develOpment of
the poet's satire, though often.disguised. This collection is truly cyclic
in.nature. The tone and the style are the unifying elements. Ringelnatz

was able to sustain the satirical vehicle here because of the relative

6?
brevity of the collection. As was often the case, Ringelnatz' purpose in
the Geheimes Kinderspielbuch was misunderstood. Reinaldo Bossmann writes:

Den Kindern schenkt er sin Kinderverwirrbuch und ein Geheimes

Kinders ielbuch, in denen er sie aufregende, abenteuerliche

Sachen, tolls Streiche und Spiele lehrt. Aber er schaut in

die kindliche Seele, weiss um ihre NUte und Bedrhckungen,

aber auch um.ihre Freuden beim.unschuldigen Spiel. ‘Wie Klst-

ner ist er Fachmann, der zu Kindern den richtigen Eon trifft,

die Sprache, die Kinder aufnehmen und beherzigen.
Erich Naused judges Ringelnatz' children's books as follows:

Onkel Ringelnatz lehrt hier aufregende und abenteuerliche

Sachen; wie man eine Erfindung macht bei der man Salzsaure

auf die Elfenbeintasten vom Klavier giessen muss, wie man.mit

richtigen Kohlen unter dem.Bett (das ist der Schacht) Bergmann

spielt, wie man die Eltern am'besten hintergehen kann. Aber

er weiss auch.die Grausamkeiten und Khmmernisse der kindlichen

Seele. Er denkt Kindergedanken und spricht Kindersprache, er

kennt Kinderwunder, Kindersand und Kinderschlummer. 7

It is true thathingelnatz captures the proper tone for speaking to
children. He is also aware oftha nature of the child's thought processes.
But it is inaccurate to lump a judgment of the children's books into one
group. ‘We have already seen in our discussion of Fur kleine Wesen that
Ringelnatz began with purely conventional didactic allegory in his collec-
tion of children's poetry. The Geheimes Kinderspielbuch can, however, by
no stretch of the imagination, be classed either with Fur kleine‘wesen or
withwgasperle Verse which we will discuss later. The latter two collections
are indeed adressed to children and exhibit the characteristicsmentioned
in the above quotations. The Geheimes Kindergpielbuch, however, is pure
satire and, in spite of its apparently being directed to children, is meant

for the adult inhabitants of a ridiculous world.

 

Guanine Bossmann, "KHstner und Ringelnatz,” Welt und Wort, XII,
(1957 ): 235-

7Erich Naused, 'Eskimoschlips aus Giraffenhaar," Neue literarische
Welt, 11:, Nr. 24, (1952), 3.

68

We saw in the discussion of Kuttel Daddeldu that Ringelnatz, as a
conscious moralist, addresses adults as one would children, merely adding
a shock effect to insure the undivided attention of his audience.8 It is
this attitude which also explains the tone and purpose of the Geheimes
Kinderspielbuch. Not to be disregarded are mrther manifestations of
rebellion against bourgeois society.

The introductory poem gives the first indication of the fact that this
collection is not intended for children. The poem is apparently comic non—
sense. It successfully captures the child's tone and his fondness for like
sounds placed in sequence and employed in rhyme regardless of semantic
import. References in the final two stanzas, however, to gross crudity,
sex, and drunkenness are obviously not children's reading material. Ringel—
natz is speaking to an adult audience and assuming full responsibility for
his utterances by referring to his own name in the text:

Stachus, Kios, Kaos, Kies,
SMe, Speise, Scheisse, schiess.

Sexu Elefant Asia.

Fische haben nie kein Knie.

Ritze Rotze Ringelratz
Zwei Miezeschwein, ein Grunzekatz,

Mein Grosspapa heisst Lali,
Der wird des Nachts ganz lila.

Further evidence of a concealed purpose is found in the sub-titles of
some of the verses. The poem Eine Erfind machen, for example, carries
the sub-title "(Nur rm- Kinder, die keinen Schiss haben)“. The poem itself
is a satire on the wild race for riches and fame. Man hopes to acquire
wealth and renown by means of an inherently useless gimmick:

Wer was erfindet, wird furchtbar reich.
Was man erfindet, ist ganz gleich.

 

8Ringelnatz, loc. cit. , ”Vier Treppen hoch bei Dimmerung", 108.

69

Wenn man nur allerlei Dingo zusammenmi scht,

Noch langer, als bis es zischt, und das Richtige rausfischt,
Dann wird man in weni gen Stunden

Beruhmt oder macht Gold.

The sub-title of Sich interessant machen reads ”(Fur einen grossen
Backfisch)". It shows a debutante trying to draw attention to herself.
Further references in the verses point a derisive finger at dilettantes.
At any rate, the poem is clearly not directed at children from five to
fifteen years of age, as is stated in the sub-title of the collection.9

Du kamtdoch schweigen? Du bist doch kein Kind
Mehr! - Die Lederblnde im Bacherspind

Haben, wenn du die umgeschlagenen Deckel hlltst
Hinten eine kleine HBhlung im Rdcken.

Dort hinein musst du weichen Klse drflcken.
Ausserdem kannst du Klsepfropfen

Tief zwischen die Sofapolster stepfen.

Lasse ruhig eine Woche verstreichen.

Dann musst du immer traurig herumschleichen.

Bis die Eltern nach der Ursache fragen.

Denn tu erst, als wolltest du ausweichen,

Und zuletzt musst du so stammeln und sagen:

"Ich weiss nicht, - ich rieche hberall Leichen -."

Deine Eltern werden furchtbar erschrecken

Und uberall rumchnuffeln nach Leichenge stank,
Und dich mit Schokolade ins Bett stecken.

Und zum Artzt sage dann: "Ich bin seelenkrank."
Nur lass dich ja nicht zum Lachen verleiten.
Deine Eltern - wie die Eltern so sind ..

Worden bald hberall verbreiten:

Du wlrst so ein merkwhrdiges, interessantes Kind.

In addition to the allusions mentioned above, this poem shows the tone
of the entire collection. In an attempt at unabashed honesty, Ringelnatz
paints a picture of an absurd world as it is viewed through the guileless
eyes of children. Having no basis for discrimination but their parent' s
example, they imitate the absurd behavior of their elders. What is most

puzzling to the childish mind is the subsequent punishent which results

 

9Fhr Kinder von fflnf bis fhnfzehn J ahren. (Gedichtet und gebildert
von Joachim Ringelnatz) .

70
from their imitation. Through this vehicle Ringelnatz exposes the dis.
crepancy between theory and practice, between the hypocritical admonitions
of the parents and their actual behavior. The latter falls far short of
the ideal which they arbitrarily set for their children.

In shockingly crude terminology Ringelnatz urges children to paint
and draw'by dipping beetles into ink and turning them.loose on the bed.
In this same poem (Maikifermalen), he good.naturedly pokes fun at his own
artistic gifts. He also shows thereby his inherent humility and the fact
that he recognizes himself as a part of the world which he finds so ridi-
culous. ‘Why does Ringelnatz counsel the children to lie? Is not lying a
learned response? Where could it have been learned save from adults?

Setze Maiklfer in Tints. (Es geht auch mit.Fliegsn.)
Zweierlei Tints ist nooh besser, schwarz und rot.
Lass sis aber nicht zu lange darin liegen,

Sonst werden sie tot.

Flhgel brauchst du nicht erst rauszureissen.

Dann musst du sis alle schnell aufs Bett schmeissen
Uhd mit sinem.Bleistift so herumtreiben,

Dass sis lauter komische Bilder und'Wbrte schreiben
Bei mir schrieben sis einmal sin ganzes Gedicht.

‘Wenn deine Mutter kommt, mache sin dummes Gesicht,
Sage ganz einfach: "Ich war es nicht!“

Giving apparently serious advice in poems of this nature, Ringelnatz
often satirizes adult behavior. Superstition is ridiculed in Himmelsklhsse.
Schlacht mit richtigen Bomben disparages war. The hardheartedness of doc.
tors and scientists is derided in Des Doktor Knochensplitterspiel. Modern
man is a machine without feeling: ”Er hat einen Splitter im Herzen sitzen".
‘Ringelnatz mocks the falseness of conventional honor and pride inwéfrikg-
nisches Duell. The inanity of human values is revealed in a grotesquerie
entitled lher ewich . The fondness of mediocre people for mimicking great

figures is burlesqued in Die Rakete und der Kater.

71

As in all of Ringelnatz' collections of poetry so also in Geheimes
Kinderspielbuch we find evidence of Ringelnatz' characteristic humor for
humor's sake. The following verse approaches Morgenstern's technique of
removing the meaningful basis of language and thereby unveiling the tenuous
foundations of all existence. Parody of the Volkslied is only too obvious
in the form and the title of the poem.

Volkslied

Wenn ich zwei VUglein‘wlr,

Und auch vier Flflgel hatt,

Flag die sine Halfte zu dir.

Und die andere, die ging auch zu Bett,

Aber hier zu Haus bei mir.

Wenn ich einen Flagel hltt

Und gar kein'VUglein wlr,

'Verkaufte ich.ihn dir

Und kaufte mir dafur sin Klavier.

'Wenn ich kein.Flugel war

(Linker Flhgel beim Militlr)

Und auch keinen Vogel hatt,

Flag ich zu dir.

De's aber nicht kann sein,

Bleib ich in signen.Bett

Allein zu zwein.
The erotic references in the last two lines of the first and last stanzas
serve to illustrate further my initial contention that Geheimes Kinderspiel-
buch is not for children.

‘With this discussion of the Geheimes Kinderspielbuch I have attempted
to illustrate aspects of Ringelnatz' final stage of satirical development
as well as to dispel some prevailing notions concerning his children's
verse. Some critics have falsely claimed or implied that Ringelnatz was
attempting to corrupt youth by inspiring mischievous notions.

Ringelnatz' satire, viewed in perspective, becomes less successful

with each new effort. Die Schnupftabaksdose remains the most widely known

72
and recognized.' Ringelnatz' satirical strength lies in his minute gro.
tesqueries; had he persisted in the use of this vehicle, he would surely
have gained wide renown. He attempted over new vehicles to carry'his
message, however, and each successive collection became less effective.

He apparently intended to maintain cyclic unity with his vehicles but
found them too constraining and was unable to maintain unity throughout
the collection. The vehicle itself was ineffective in the Turngedichte
and Kuttel Daddeldu since it was unable to carry his message to its
logical conclusion. Ringelnatz therefore found it necessary to abandon
it thereby causing uneven poetry cycles which failed to accomplish his
original intention. The Geheimes Kinderspielbuch is the least successful
of the collections since it offers a subtlety the meaning of which
escapes even literary critics. The symbolic vehicle is so successful that
it neutralizes the effectiveness of the intended satire. Ringelnatz must
have been aware of his satirical insufficiency since Geheimes Kinderspiel-
'bggh,is his final attempt at a collection of poems primarily satirical.
With this collection we reach the end of a phase in.Ringelnatz' poetic

development. After 1924 he no longer sought his poetic raison d'etre
primarily in satire.

CHAPTER III
THE QUEST FOR PURPOSE AND TRUTH

Although Ringelnatz' early collections of poems did not always main-
tain what we have called ”cyclic unity" , he continued to publish verses
which were related to a single topic or theme. The cyclic unity was lack.-
ing, however, in his later collections even more so than earlier. Never-
theless as pure lyrics the poems gained in stature with each successive
collection. To be sure, Ringelnatz did experience periods of technical
and philosophical regression as in the Kindervsrwirrbuch which in some
ways recalls the splenstic satire of the Turngedichte or the scurrility of
Kuttel Daddeldu and the Geheimes Kinderspielbuch. On the whole , however,
the Reisebriefe eines Artisten, published in 1927, marked a turning point
in Ringelnatz' attitude and in his modes of poetic expression. Satire,
sourrility, and even humor became less and less prevalent. The tone was
softened, the emotions less violent.

In 1920, Joachim Ringelnatz, after dabbling in many occupations and
after having spent eight years at sea, finally established himself as a
cabaret poet. Although he had appeared in Kathi Kobus' ”Simplizissimus"
in Munich before World War I, his major success as a cabaret artist came
with his engagement in the famous "Schall und Ranch” in Berlin in 1920.
From this time on he was engaged without pause in night clubs and cabarets
in all the major cities of Germany and Austria. His reputation grew by
leaps and bounds, and soon he was the most famous night club artist in

7t:
Germany. His popularity was attributable to the fact that he was more
than a night club artist; he was an original figure and a poet. The lead.
ing personalities of his time were fascinated by his uncommon talent.
Some of Gemany's most distinguished poets considered him a genial col.
league and a model for imitation. Hermann Hesse wrote:

.. . Und nun wollte ich gerne auch den Mann sehen, der die
Artistenbriefe im 'Simplicissimus' schreibt, den Joachim Rin-
gelnatz... Es war die phantastische Gestalt des Humoristen
.und fahrenden Singers, der ich einigemal in kollegialer Sym.
pathie' begegnet war, ... Viol eher war or selber eine Art

Don Quixote, ein adliger Schwnrmer edler Art mit einem Dichter.
herzen und einem kleinen Vagel im ritterlichen Kopf, ein Mann
unit Knabenidealen, humoristi scher Rhapsode, der einem eatten
und vergnfigungsgierigen Publikum zwar Spass machen aber auch
hitters Pillen zu schlucken geben wollte. 1

Erich Klstner writes of Ringelnatz:

Ich bin Ringelnatz wiederholt begegnet, allerdings nur als einer
aus dem Publikum. Er trat Ja lange Zeit in Munchen bei Kathi
Kobus im Simpl auf, und ich versnum‘te keinen Manchener Auton-
thalt, disses Kabarett zu besuchen... Er erimIerte mich viel
mehr an vagante Dichter a. la Villon als an Sohriftsteller

seiner Zeit. In seinem Work hat mich immer wieder von neuem
diese eigenar‘tiger Mischung aus ruppiger Alltagssprache und
sarter, echter Poesie gefesselt.2

Herbert Ganther describes Ringelnatz on the stage:

0ft habe ich Ringelnatz im 'Simpl' gehBrt, und es war lair Jedes-
mal ein Fest su erleben, wie er zauberte: kaum stand das ver.
bogene Mannchen im Matro senkleid aui‘ dem winzigen Podium, wichen
die Wlnde der engen, aberfflllten Kneipe gleichsam surflck, Welt
drang von allen Seiten herein, man sah, was er in seinen Ge-
dichten beschwor. Er sprach sie so, dass man besser sagt: er
spielte sie. Die Drolerie seiner Mimik und Beweglichkeit kenn-
te bis zur Grote ske gehen, seine stllrkste Wirkung aber rand

er in der Kunst der Andeutung. Ringelnatz, der wortschapfer.
ische Dichter, der hinter die Menschen und Dinge schaute , war
zugleich ein Schauspieler, sicher der bedeutendste Kabarettist
seiner Zeit, weil weit mehr als das.

 

1Hermann Hesse, "Weihnachtsgaben - Ein Rflckblick,” Insel Almanach
auf das Jahr 1252, (Leipzig: Insel Verlag, 1957), 11.2 .

2’Bossma.nn, loc. cit., 235.237.

75

Im Vor‘trag seiner Kutteldaddeldquedichte war er ein Morris-
k‘erl wie Mhnchhausen, T111 Eulenspiegel," Don Quijote und
blieb doch immer sugleich ein armer Teufel ven Seemann, der
sich als Saufbold und Weiberkerl gibt, um seine Seele hinter
Whisky und Llrm zu verstecken.3
A Don Qui‘j‘ote, a Francois Villon, a Till Eulenspiegel, Ringelnatz

was indeed a stranger to the cabaret and to the world outside it. His

restless spirit could find no refuge; this compelled his deep melan-

choly and his necessity to travel in search of truth and purpose. Wherever

he landed, he remained a stranger, an itinerant preacher, masking his sen-

sitive spirit behind the guise of a rough sailor. He once intimated to

Herbert GUnther:

Ich hatte Wedekind zur Leute singen gthrt , bewunderte Abend
fur Abend Erich Mnhsam und Ludwig Scharf und die anderen ge-
feierten Grassen des Kabaretts. Gluhend hatte ich air ertrlumt,
auch einmal dort oben zu stehen, zu sprechen und beklatscht su
werden. Kaum hatte ich's erreicht, war ich's leid.“

Herbert Gflnther adds:
u.ErhfiemthmrhflmfizannmflmTmhmum
sachsischen Komikern. Seine eindringlichste Wirlcung ruhrte
daher, dass er gar nichts mit dem Kabarett zu tun hatte. Er
war artfremd auf dem Brettl. Deshalb bewegte er es. Und uns.5
This was Joachim Ringelnatz and the world he knew. The Reisebriefe

eines Artisten (1927) represent an account of the impressions, inspirations,

feelings, visions and experiences of the vagabond poet between the years

1920 and 1927. The collection is unified by the epistolary nature of the

poems. They are for the most part letters to his wife whom he had to leave

at home. The poems comprise a wide range of themes; I will treat them

according to theme.

 

3Gflnther, loc. cit., 103.
"Ibid., 10a.
51bid., 126.

76
Ringelnatz views the world with melancholy and pessimism—an eternal
circle of senseless struggle and suffering, filled with depressing pic-
tures of decomposed cadavers, filth, and spittle.
Die StrUmung

Die SterImg strUmte sad—NordJJe st
Und bog sich dann im Bogen.

In ihrer Mitts kam ein Rest

Von einem Boot gezogen.

Dann kam ein Wasserleichelchen;
Es war von aussen offenbar

Noch ziemlich frisch.

Dahinter trieb ein Speichelchen,
Das ‘ abgesondert war

Von einem Fisch

Dem folgte sehr viel Kohlendreck.
Das Wasser wurde trflber.

Dann gondelte verdorbener Speck
Fischunterzupft voruber.

Dann trieb ein Balkan stumpf vorbei

Dann nichts, dann ein Stuck Dichtung,

Ein Flaschenkork und andrerlei, -

Alles in gleicher Richtung.

Dann kam ein Rest von einem Boot.

Ihm folgte eine gelbe

Chinesenleiche, stark zersetzt.

Und alles, was ich sah, war tot,

War unbedeutend und zuletzt

Im Grunde stets dasselbe.
The stream symbolizes life, projecting itself in all directions and multi—
dimensional. It turns back to retrace its course, approaching circular
(Erection; thus life is a circle with neither beginning nor end, apparently
devoid of a goal. Life brings with it various experiences and impressions,
most of them fragmentary and lacking meaning in the context of the whole
of life. A picture of human death appears, the victim of life's senseless
cruelty. The word Speichelchen fits well into the poem because it men—
tions a part of human life that must be considered and provides further.

more a rhyme for Wasserleichelchen. The use of the diminutive, unexpected

77
in this most serious context, illustrates a favorite Ringelnatz technique.
At times he employs the diminutive out of pure joy in language creativity.
Primarily, however, it further illustrates his respect for and preoccu—
pation with life in the minute. He consciously places the significant
and the insignificant side by side to show that the one is equally as
important as the other in the totality of life experience; thus in this
poem we meet spittle and a cadaver, a piece of bacon and a beam, poetry
and a bottle cork, a decomposed body and part of a boat in close proximity
to one another. All of these move in the same senseless direction and
remind the poet of death which he views as the sole consequence of a life
without hope since it never changes.

Life also has a brighter side. It offers at least some diversion
from.drab dirty boredom; but even this is finally senseless and pointless,
a mere momentary delusion, a narcotic:

Ruf zum.Sport
Auf, ihr steifen und verdorrten
Leute aus Bflros,
Reisst euch mal zum Wintersporten
Von den Ufen los.
Bleiches Volk an Wirtshaustischen,
Stellt die Glaser fort.
'Widme dich dem freien, frischen
Frohen‘Wintersport.
Denn er ffihrt ins lodenfreie
Gletscherfexlertum
Und bedeckt uns nach der'Reihe
All mit Schnee und.Ruhm.
Doch nicht nur der Sport in Winter,
Jeder Sport ist plus,

Und mit etwas Geist dahinter
Wird er zum Genuss.

78

Sport macht Schwache selbstbewusster,
Dicks dflnn, und macht

Dflnne hinterher robuster,

Gleichsam fiber Nacht.

Sport stlrkt Ame, Rumpf und Beine ,

Kflrzt die Ode Zeit,

Und er schfltzt uns durch Vereine

Vor der Einsamkeit,

Nimmt den Lungen die verbrauchte

Luft, gibt Appetit;

Was uns wieder ins verrauchte

Treue Wirtshaus zieht.

No man dann die sporttrainierten

Muskeln trotzig hebt

Und fortan in illustrierten

Blfittern weiterlebt.
Ironically mimicking the platitudes of sport promoters, Ringelnatz shows
that, although sport seems to be the answer to all problems, its final con-
sequence is entirely vain. It leads people away from the vicarious exis-
tence of cheap literature near the stove or in the tavern, through a series
of empty efforts, back to the point of departure. Nothing has changed and
life remains as pointless as it ever was. Similarly Ringelnatz enlarges
upon his view of life as an eternal and senseless circle in Aus meiner
Kinderzeit and Die Brfider.

Ringelnatz" world is filled with braggarts and self-important crea-
tures who describe their insignificant actions in terms which distort
reality. Despite their gadgets and pretentious terminology, they remain
petty beasts of prey.

Weltverkehr
Horch 2 Eine Stimme aus dem Radio rief:
"Ich bin der unbekannte Fisch Plattunde.
Ich lebe auf dem Meeresgrunde
So schltzungsweise fflnfzehntausend Meter tief.
Ihr Menschen hart, ich machte gar zu gem

Einmal den Flieger Udet kennenlern."
In einer HBhe von genau szlftausend.

79

Elfhundertmetern durch die Lifts sausend,
Erwiderts Herr Udet so:

"Mein lieber, unbekannter Fisch im Meere,
Ich habe Ihren Wunsch vernommen.

Auch ich ersehne sin Zusammenkonnnen.

Auf meiner Seite ware ja die Ehre.
Bestimmen Sie per Radio

Nur bitte wann? und wie? und wo?"

Kaum war dies Zwiegesprach gesprochen,

So ward das Meeresspiegelglas

Von einem kleinen Fisch durchbrochen,
Der sine Fliege schnappte und sie frass.

This grotesquerie cries out for humility and honesty and an open and frank
attitude toward life. It not only satirizes the pretentiousness of man
but also his hardheartedness and basic untruthftflness.
Life is frustration. Man longs for innocence, for peace and beauty.
He is granted only a hint of his desires, however, and is prevented from
acquiring them:
‘ m

Zwischen den Bahngeleisen

Vertrlnt sich morgenrotsr Schnee. ..
Artisten mussen reisen

Ins Gebirge und an die See,

Nach Leipzig - und immer wieder fort, fort.
Nicht aus Vergnflgen und nicht zum Sport.
Manchmal tut's weh.

Der ich zu Hause bei meiner Frau

So germ noch wochenlang bliebe:

Mir schreibt sine schane Dame :

"Komm zu uns nach Oberammergau.

Bei uns ist Christus und Liebe,

Und unser Schnee leuchtet himmelblau. " -
Aber Plakate und Zeitungsreklame
Befehlen mich leider nicht dort- ,
Sendern anderswohin. Fort, fort.

Der Schnee ist schwarz und traurig
In der Stadt.

Wer da keine Unterkunft hat,

Den M311" ich.

Der Schnee ist weiss, wo nicht Menschen sind.
Der Schnee ist weiss fur jedes Kind.

Und im.Frflhling, wenn die Schneeglackchen bluhn,
Wird,dsr Schnee wieder grfln.

Beschnuppert im,grauen Schnee ein.Wauwau

Das Gelbe,

Reisst eine strenge Leine ihn fort. -

Mit mir in Oberhimmelblau

'er's ungefnhr dasselbe.

‘ Earthly travel evokes deep pain and sorrow, symbolized by the snow, red
from.the rising sun and seemingly crying as it melts. The snow, purity and
goodness, is trodden upon and besmirched by people; the poet longs for tran-
quility and respite from.hummns. The beauty of nature affords him.a hint
of'the object of his longing, but he dares not indulge in the enjoyment of
the dream for he knows that he will be torn away‘by his commitment to life
as the domesticated dog is torn awey from the object of his desire by the
fetters of the world, at once his material benefactor and the keeper of
his soul. Life is thus a dirty, gray prison and man is the prisoner. 'Qgg
Gelbe in line 6 of the final stanza carries with.it the connotation of a
faint hope, not yet green, but approaching it. The use of this symbol is
also a typical.Ringslnatz device--crude and alienating, designed to divert
attention from the sentimentality in which he is indulging and to present
an honest picture of the real world, a conglomerate of beauty and filth.

Life consists of inexplicable trifles which bear the germ.of tragedy;
These exert an irresistible power over man and drive him to destruction.
Ringelnatz treats this motif in the poem.Lappalien, not included in the

collected poems.6

 

)6Joa‘nhim Ringelnatz, Reisebriefe eines Artisten (Berlin: Ernst Rowohlt,
1929 .

81

Auf einer Hochzeitsreise von Italien
Nach Senegalisch—Dakar

Gessllten sich zwei Lappalien

Und sin Deckoffizier zu dem jungen Paar.

Der Deckoffizier trat dazwischen,
Und die Lappalien baton ihn leise,
Sich einzumischen
Aufbauschsnderweise.

Als die Lappalien beim Landen verschwanden
Schritten das Paar und der Deckoffizier
Aufgeregt fiber den Pier,

Bis sie zuletzt sine Kerbe fanden.

Da wurde der Ehemann zornig blau.

Da schlug der Deckoffizier mit der Frau

In dieselbe Kerbe. .

Da rief die Frau: "Zu Hilfe! Ich sterbe!"
Da wurde der Deckoffizier backbordrot

Und schoss den Ehemann tot.

Der Frankfurter Eherechtsanwalt Stett

Schickte zum Begrlbnis zwei Dahlien,

Ass sieben Zwiebeln und ging dann zu Bett

Und verfluchte die beiden Lappalien.

The last of the poems in this cycle dealing with Ringelnatz' view

of life enlarges upon the above-treated subject. Life is altered and to a
great extent determined by the irrational powers of the ”twilight zone" ,
and man is most fascinated by the way they Operate. The indefinable also
brings him hope and comfort which a purely rational view of life is unable
to do. These ponderings we find in the poem Menu, the only poem of this
cycle which reflects an optimistic view of life. It also does not appear
in the collected works.7

Ich fuhr in Auto heim, von Freunden fort,

Morgans, da alles still und dunkel war.

Ein Toter lag quer fiberm Trottoir;

Wir sahen' s beide, der Chauffeur und ich,
Fuhren vorbei und sprachen nicht ein Wort.

 

7mm.

82
War liebte nicht
Der Sonne warmes Licht 1
Wem grauste nicht seit fruhster Kindheit
Vor Finsternis, vor Schmerz, vor Blindheit 1
Und doch, mich deucht:
.Am tiefsten packt uns stets die Stelle,
Wo Schimmer ahnen llsst, doch keine Hells
Die wunder scheucht.
Mach deinen Weg, wie dir's Dein befiehlt,
Mit Reehnen oder Hoffen.
Doch: Besser recht gezielt
als gut getroffen.

Uhd als Kompott:
Es glaubt auch jedes Tier an Gett.

The light of hope breaks through in this didactic verse. Life itself is
senseless and vain, without apparent goals. Faith and hope provide the only
enlightenment. Human values and deeds must be judged in terms of the meti-
vation behind them. This solution is indeed a Christian one and thus far
novel for Ringelnatz.

Ringelnatz' paradoxical and restless nature longed for adventure when
he was quietly living with his wife and longed for the comforts of home
while travelling. He writes after hearing that his trip to Finland must
be cancelled: ‘

er Geld, wir kannten die ganze Zeit

Mal burgerlich behaglich zu zweit,

Die Abende zu zweit allein

In mein-dein-unserm Heim verleben.

Ach.Helsingfors soll herrlich sein.
Here the expression of the adventurous spirit follows immediately after
the desire for bourgeois stability, typical for'Ringelnatz in its alienating
effect.

The poet's expression of his adventurous spirit occurs far less fre-
quently than complaints of his loneliness while travelling. Each new'depara

ture is met with growing melancholy. It alters his view of life and

83

produces a great revulsion in him:

Ich stierte framd und sprach kein Wort.
Doch all main Laid erwachte,

Dass ich mich einschloss im Abort

Und rauchte dort und dachte.

Es stinkt im Eisenbahnklosett

Nach jedermann und klflglich.

Doch sowas stinkt wohl tlglich

Aus jedermann und jedem Bett.

Yet his loneliness prompts noble thoughts. He thinks of his mother:

he feels love and compassion. His heart is overflowing with love which he

wishes to share. but he is misunderstood and rebuffed and must remain alone

and separated:

Ich will mir denken,
Dass mains Mutter jetzt noch wacht
Und will den Hut fur sis schwenken.

Und mir ist das Herz heut so voll.

Da kommt sine Frau mir entgegen,
Ich will was Gutes fiberlegen,

Wail sie so arm und eckig aussieht.
Aber die Frau entflieht.

. Ich bin ihr zu verwegan.

Nun wird as still und wunderbar.
Kain Laut auf der Strasse Mitts.
Nur drliben am andern Trottoir
Gehn mains eignen Schritte.

Observing the carefree antics of children, he longs for their inno-

cence, for their love and for the love that they receive from their parents.

To him childhood is the ideal state. One should die in childhood so that

one need never experience the suffering of maturity.

Sia sind so sauber; ich bin sin Schwein.
Wenn ich Kinder - oder sine Mutter h!tt'-

Wie sie schraien, ihr Ringalreihe 1
War muchte ihnen das Spiel verderben.
Aber doch: J stzt - so - mflssten sie sterben.

8#
In the midst of the joyous ecstasy of a masquerade ball, he notes the
inherent inanity and the loneliness of the human situation.

Wis wir uns heute nur fur andre kleiden,
Zulatzt erlebt ein jeder doch nur sich.

In the following line, Ringelnatz characteristically ends the poem with an
alienating remark, fraught with crude allusions which at once mask his own
melancholy and, through humor, relieve the seriousness of the mood.
Dul: Mbrgan, flbarm.Eimer dank an mich!
The melancholy, disappointment and loneliness of life prompt an
observation of the inescapability of fate and death. The thought of death
brings with it feelings of guilt and a profound fear. The poet attempts to

bolster his own courage but fails.

Ich pocha darauf: Ich war manchmal gut.

'Weil ich sakundenlang redlich gawesen bin. -

Ich Bffns die Hands. Nun saust das Schicksal dahin.
Ach, mir ist ungeheuer bangs zumut.

The profound pessimism of Ringelnatz' view of life occasions one of
the most prevalent themes in this collection: a longing for death which
at times assumes the proportions of the suicidal. The dreary confusion of
big city'life with its lack of opportunity for self recollection becomes

unbearable to him.

'we das aufregsnd gefahrlich flutet und wimmelt
Und tutet und bimmelt

Am Kurfurstendamm.und am.Zoo.

Das Leben in Palzen und Ledsr.

Es drangt einen so oder so

Leicht unter die Radar.

Especially Berlin seems to bring with it thoughts of death and suicide.

The poem above treats a mood evoked by experiences in.Berlin. The follow;
ing poem, antitlad'ggrlin (an den Kanalsn), reproduces by means of the short
line of two stresses and a simple, alternating rhyme scheme, the turgid

flow of a canal. The water is a symbol of life.

85

Auf den Blnken

An den Kanllen
Sitzen die Manschen,
Die sich verqullen.

Sausende Lichtsr,
Tausend Gesichter
Blitzen vorbei: Berlin
Ubers Gswisser

Nebelt Benzin ...
Druntsn er's besser.

Hinter der Brflcks

Floh sine Macks

Ins Nassnloch.

Loch meiner Nasa,
Nasanloch, niese doch
In die stills Strasse 1

Auf dem Omnibus, im.Dach,

Rhtteln meine Knochen,

‘Werdsn guts Wbrte wach,

Blaiben ungesprochen. -

Ach, da flllt .lir die alte Zeitungsfrau ein -

Vanblix oder Blax soll sis heissen -

Die hat sin so seltsames Schnttsln am.Bsin,

Dass alle Hunde sis beissan. -

An den Kanulan

Auf den dunklen Bunken

Sitzen dis Menschen, die

Sich morgens ertrlnken.
The poem's first climax occurs in the final line of the second stanza with
an expression of the death wish. The third stanza exemplifies one aspect
of’Ringelnatz' alienation technique which here consists of placing the inane
and crude in immediate proximity to the sublime and the profound. As
elsewhere, it here relieves the deep pain and gloom of the mood with a
note of humor. The seriousness of the mood returns in the fourth stanza in
which the post refers to the goodness within him that must remain concealed
because of the cold and impersonal nature of human existence especially as
it is manifested in the big city. The next stanza is a picture of life's

abject cruelty. The old woman, a symbol of helpless creatures who have

86
been cheated by nature, is in no way compensated for her handicap, but
rather must be subjected to even further torture and pain. The dogs are
symbolic humans whom Ringelnatz castigates as unfeeling and hardh'eartsd.
The last stanza returns to the death wish theme.

The death wish is also the topic of a further poem, entitled Am Kanal.

Aus dem Paket antglitt sin Rlucheraal

Und fiel ins Wasssr und trieb fort gen Shdan.
”Bitts nach Ihnen!" sagte am Kanal

Ein Lebensmfldsr einer Lebensmuden.

And then, suddenly in the very next poem, Der traurigg Onkel, Ringelnatz
reveals apparent suicide motivation as a lie, a bid for attention and here
even worse, an attempt to seduce a guileless young girl.

Wundre dich nicht, wenn ich weine,
Wail sin Mensch doch dann und wann
Trotz das besten Willans seine
Sorgen nicht vsrbergsn kann.

Nimm aus meiner Schrsibtischlade
Den Revolver mir nicht fort,

Auch das Gift nicht. Und verrate
Nismandsm davon sin Wort.

Und du selber sollst nicht weinsn,
Wenn du fiber mich was liest,

Oder wenn du plUtzlich meinen

Hut im Wasser treibsn siehst.

Frags nicht, warum ich heute
Etwa stwas ssltsam bin.

Grussa bitte mains Leute. -
Schau das Laub! - Es wslkt dahin.

Blsibe glflcklich und genissse
Du das Leben im Erblflhn.

Wenn du Zeit hast, so begissse
Manchmal disses Immsrgrun.

Was ffir Absichten ich bags 7
Frags nicht. - Nimm diesen Kuss,
Und dann gsh ich jens Wags,

Die ich einmal gehan muss.

8?

Noch sin Kusschen auf das kleine
Naschsn. Noch sins auf den Mund.
Ach was hast du susse Beine. -

Zeig mal! - Und wie bist du rund!

Ach, mir darfst du das schon zeigen,
Denn du bist doch schon so gut

Wis arwachsan und kannst schwsigsn,
Wenn dsin Onkel etwas tut I?! ‘

The last three stanzas are examples of the alienation effect, but here it's more
than an attempt‘to relieve the gravity of the situation. They also reveal

a disgusting eroticism and show the curious mixture of motivations which
constitute the human psyche.

Having renounced the death wish and the suicide theme with one anni-
hilating blow in the above-quoted poem, Ringelnatz paints word pictures which
show neither great joy nor great pain. They are merely fraught with a color.
less and resigned indifference. Indifference brings with it objectivity and
even a touch of humor, often distanced by the grotesque device as in gisggl
(.Di...Iarpzfen in der Wilhelmstrasss 15).

Man hat sis in den Laden

In sin intimss Bassin gasetzt.

Dort dflrfsn sis baden

Xusssrlich etwas ausgefranst, abgswetzt -
Scheinsn sis inwendig

Doch recht labendig.

Sie murmeln Formeln wie die Zauberer,

Als whrde dadurch ihr Wasssr saubersr.

Sis kauan Mayonnaise stumm' in His ssl

Und triumen sich gagan den Strich rasiert,
Sodann gellutert, getatat, erwflrmt und garniert
Auf sine silberns Schflsssl.

Sis endsn in Kommsrzienrlltsn,

Senden die witzigste von ihren Gratsn

In sine falsche Kehle.

Und ich dsnks mir ihre Seals

Wis sine Kellerassel,

Die Kniabeuge dbt. -

Ja und sonst hat mich in Casssl

Nichts waiter errsgt oder betrllbt.

88
Mam; stations in his wanderings are described with the same cold
indifference verging upon scorn:

Ich brauchte ndndestens zwei FlBhe
Fur einen Reim auf Wilhelmshbhe, . . .

Und schrieb mit stumpfer Feder
An alle Freunde: “Grfisse aus
Frankfurt an der Entweder.”

The resort town Bad T612 fares no better in his description. The post's
inspiration extends no further than to the composition of a pun on the name
of Schweinfurt, itself indicative of his opinion of Bad lez:

Schweinmrtig schwemmt sich die Isar
vor unseren Blicken.

The melancholy and depression of Ringelnatz' view of life caused him
to seek a purgation in satire and humor. Soon, however, this was not
enough. He longed for the world of pure poetry, .the quiet realm of the
spirit, the gemaine, the good. His search for these seemed frustrated,
thus he turned to‘alcohol for a brief escape from the meaningless confu-
sion of the life which he was forced to lead.

W

Und vieles andere: Applaus und Nein,
Freunde und Freiheit, wie es immer hiess.

Am scthsten aber, wenn ich ganz allein

In einem Winkel, der die Grflsse mied,

Das taumelnd Aufgewirbslte sich setsen liess
Und ruhig Tluschendes vom Echtsn schied.
Dann gingsn Gott und Teufel durch dis wands;
Dann sah ich Schiffe im Polar vereist

Und sah in Waschfass deine fleissgen Hinds.
Und ob mitunter llppi sch oder fei st

Die Nachbarschaft ndch starts oder stank,
Was ich errechnete, war immer Dank

Nebst einer Rechnung fiber Apfelwein. -

Um diesen Winkel, diese Stunde -

So zwischen Tageslicht und BflhnenJieht -
Mag, so wie andres anderswo, Frankfurt am Main
Um mich gewesen sein,

Das weiss ich nicht.

89
Tired of life and its meaningless platitudes (Freunde und Freiheit) , the
poet seeks peace, beauty and truth within himself and in the pain-reliev.
ing balm of alcohol. Alcohol invokes dreams and hopes, allows the love,
which the coldness of the world would inhibit, to find ecstatic expres-
sion. The state between intoxication and sobriety (so zwischen Tags;-
licht and Bfihnenlicht) is the most beautiful and true, for it is only in
this state that the reality of the spiritual man can be experienced. It
is only then that goodness can slowly warm the entire being, unhampered by
bitterness and filth. The world assumes soft, rounded outlines, and rot
and corruption are blacked out by goodness and beauty which cannot be per.
ceived when the senses are completely alert. Ringelnatz seeks this state
with increasing frequency. It is his consolation. There he finds not
only beauty, truth, and peace but also loyalty and friendship. Most impor-
tant, however, he finds himself. He discovers the goodness, the melancholy,
the hope and the disappointment which lie buried within his soul. This
brief moment of truth is indeed enviable and the poet finds it only in
alcohol.
Guter Rausch

Denken wir jetzt nicht an den Halunken,

Der betrtlgt, indem er sich besluft,

Auch nicht an den andern, der betrunken

Schimpft und androht oder Amok lluft.

Nicht an Witzler, nicht an Vielversprecher

Noch an den, der morgen fruh bereut,

Der am Tag vor Nacht- und Nacktheit schaut.

Was ich meine, gilt fur andre Zecher.

Ihrer denk ich. Nach dem sechstsn Glass,

Oder nach dem dritten oder sehnten,

Kommen sis .- nicht etwa in Ekstase ..
Sondern in den variiert ersehnten

Zustand, klar und dennoch mild zu sehn,
Mild zu horchen auf die Andsrn, Frsmden,
Und wie Engel in schneeweissen Hemden
Sozusagsn vor sich selbst zu stehn.

Manchmal schiessen sis mit der Pistols
Dann in sich sin swig tisfes Loch.
Manchmd llcheln sis und trinken noch
Koglak, Zwetschenwasser, Sekt und Bowls.

Aber immer nehmn sis sich vieles
Vor und nehmsn vieles still zurflck
Und erkennsn in Betreff des Zielss
Und der Zukunft ihren ng zum Glflck.

Und man wird um solch entrflckte Zeit
Sie beneiden, und man wird sic lieben. -
Wenn sis doch - zu frflhsm Tod bereit ..
Unverflndsrt derart trunken blieben!

Drunken carousing means loyalty and camaraderie:

Und am Dammtor stehsn Leip und Kllrs,
Die wie Whislqsoda zu mir spricht.
Und ich melde dann

Mich bei dir an Deck,

Dicker, treuer Kaptsin Muckelmann.
Und du llchelst fiber mein Geplck.
Abends lassen wir uns hin und her
Bis nach Altona

Durch die Hafsnkneipen treibsn,

Nur damit wir unsrem Peter Scher
Nach Amerika

Eine schane Ansichtskarte schreiben.

Alcohol conjures up memories of his youth ani his life at sea; he longs for
renewed contact with those rough children of nature who brave the dangers
of the elements. Nevertheless he cannot quite recreate the old days. His
attempts are constantly interrupted by the present which is more secure,
more solid, but infinitely less genuine and interesting.

Zwischen den Reedern sitze an der Bar,

Die scheinbar nur um Whiskysoda knobeln.

Dann die, die sich aus den Schiffen sich vsrstreuen.
Unangenehme , plumpe Wunderlinge ,

Sis schenken bluterlsbte Wlmderdings

Und wollen nichts, als sich mit andern freuen.

91

Mhss man den Schlflssel selbst erschmiedet haben,
Um ihre ssltnen erchen zu erschliessen.

Und alles Kenn' ich: Backbord, Luv und Lee,
Das "Rundstuck warm”, die Ssgsl und die Lichtsr,
Die hellsn abgssalzensn Gesichtsr.

Fuhr ich vielleicht umsonst sechs Jahr zur See!
Hier'bunte Ratsherrn flatternd um die Masten,
Dort stsife Flaggen, die zur Burse hasten.

Und stsife Grogs, Qualm, Tabak, Nebsldunst.

Du frugst nach Kunst? ach Hummel, Hummel-Kunst!

Nachts klang zwfilf Glasen - (nein, vielleicht szlf ‘Uhr)-...
Intoxication means freedom.and boundless joy.

‘Was war nun an msinsm Geschrei
Schlimmes dabsi?

'Wenn ich doch heute so frBhlich bin.
'Was wissen die Polizein

Vom rsdlichen Frbhlieheein.

Am Sfldpol darf jeder Seelawe schrein
So laut wie er will. - ...

Intoxication also occasions a fearful introspection:

Frflhling hinter Bad Nauheim

Zwei Eier, sin BrBtchen, sin Hut und ein Hund -
Am.Himmel die weisse watts,

Die ausgezupft

Den Himmel ohne Hintergrund

So ungebildet fibertupft,

Erzlhlt mir, was ich hatte.

Erzlhlt mir, was ich war.

Ich hatte, was ich habe.

Aber was weiss ich, was ich bin?!
Genau so dumm und vierzig Jahr?

Ich flisge, sin krlchzsnder Rabe,
Uber mich selber hin.

Ich bin zum Glflck nicht sehr gssund
Und. Gott sei Dank -

Auch nicht sehr krank.

Der'Wind entfflhrt mir meinen Hund.
Die Eier, der Kognak, das Brfltchsn
Schmecken heute besonders gut:

Und siehe da: mein alter Hut
Macht‘Mhnnchen und gibt Pthchsn.

92
The poet seeks his identity in his environment. Unable to reach a satis.
factory conclusion, he becomes confused and decides that he knows nothing
about himself other than the state of his health. He has obviously
increased his consumption of alcohol quite considerably between the third
and fourth stanzas. This has been necessary because of fear incurred by
his philosophical musings. The fourth stanza represents a completely
topsyaturvy world of comic, grotesque confusion. Orientation is lost
except for the enhanced taste of food, symbolic of the poet's final con-
clusion regarding his identity. He is sure only that he exists; anything
beyond this is incomprehensible and even ridiculous.

In the last three poems discussed. the delicate state ”zwischen Tages-
lieht und Bflhnenlicht” has been passed and a new, more elemental stage of
intoxication has been reached. The sense for the beautiful has fallen by
the wayside and has been replaced by the crude, the comical, and, innggge
‘Egg,‘by the grossly erotic:

EiniRiesenhummer lag in einsm.Laden.

Wis der die Arms eissrn von sich reckts,
Als wollte er durchs Glas in.Frauenwaden,
In Bremer Brflste platzlich fassen

Und - wie wir's von den Skorpionen lesen -
Restweg im Koitus sein Leben lassen, - ...

Ringelnatz employs the grotesque device to distance and conceal the nature
of his own desire. 'He is unsuccessful, however, and feels guilt despite
the advanced state of his inebriation:

Und als ich, wie um.eine spanische wand

Mich schllngelnd, sine seltsam.leere

Doch wohlgspflegte Villengasse fand

Und darin viel verlorene Ehre, ...

Ringelnatz often unites eroticism, drunkenness, and humor. These

phenomena seem.to be on the same level in his scale of experience, thus it

93
is only natural that they should occur in immediate proximity to one

another. The effect produced is rather one of amusement than disgust.
Liebesbrief

So kann es nun nicht weitsrgehn I
Das, was besteht, muss bleiben.
‘Wenn wir uns wieder wiedersshn,
Muss irgendwas geschshn,

'Was wir dann auf die Spitzs treibsn.
was - was auf einer Spitzs tut?
GeWiss nicht Plattitddsn.

Denn was auf einer Spitzs ruht,
Wird nicht so leicht ermnden.

Auf einer Bank in Grunewald

Zu zweit im Regen sitzsn,

Ist bled. nut, MEdchen 1 Schreibe bald 1
Dein Fritz! (Remember Spitzen)

Ringelnatz' erotic references are characteristically elemental and frank.
This is a further manifestation of his extreme honesty:

So lange von dir getrennt zu sein,
Ertragt aber niemand. Ich bin doch kein Stein,
Und ich brauche - ganz schroff gesagt: mehr Verkehr.

or his distaste for the double standard:

Sei mir dis ideal ersehnte Sau,
Doch sage nicht von mir, dass ich sin Schwein bin.

fiberall, one of the most widely quoted Ringelnatz verses, represents
the best example of a conglomerate of eroticism, humor and drunkenness,
spiced with feareengsndering philosophical references which the poet must
characteristically relieve and alienate.

322mm ist Wunderland.

rall ist Leben.

Bei meiner Tants im Strumpfenband.
'Wie irgendwo daneben.

Uberall ist Dunkelheit.‘

Kinder werden Vltsr.

Ffinf.Minutsn Spatsr

Stirbt sich was fflr sinigs Zeit.
Uber-ell ist Ewigkeit.

94

wenn du einen Schnsck behauchst,

Schrumpft er ins Gshause,

‘Wenn du ihn in Kognak tauchst,

Sieht er weisss Muse.
The first two lines represent an apparently serious attempt at establish.
ing a world view. Humor is produced by the identification of the "wonder-
land": a state of sexual pleasure. The fifth line is alienating in the
dimensions of its extreme gravity. It is fraught with Weltschmerz, fear
and despair. The next three lines are semi-serious and contain a crude
erotic allusion, designed to draw attention from the desperation of line 5.
Line 9 is again serious and fearful in its connotations. The last stanza
is typical of.Ringelnatz' technique and his motivation. He is consumed by
compassion for a suffering world. His poetic utterances show that he is
unable to escape the darkness and the seemingly pointless suffering of
life's eternal circle even when he is apparently mirthful. This he can-
not control, but he can relieve and dispel the sorrow of the world for
brief moments. He is aware of his gift and he idealistically employs it
to bring sunshine into a world of tears. This he often accomplishes by
means of his alienation technique which has often been mentioned in this
paper.

In many'instancss, when his shy inhibitions were eliminated, we have
noticed.Ringelnatz' all-embracing love for humanity. His capacity for love
was great. The deep love and esteem.he felt for his wife finds expression
repeatedly throughout his poetry and especially in the Reissbriefe. There
were also other loves which he wrote of in terms of great tenderness and
sorrow:

Mir ist so dienstmhdchsn-donnerstagweh,
'Weil ich.nun weiterfahre.
Und ich war hundsrt Jahre

Mit dir zusammen,
Renee.

95

His greatest love, however, was for humanity. He deplored the nature of
human relationships: fumbling, inarticulate, embarrassed. Only from a dis.
tance is it possible to experience a quiet hint of the latent potential for
love which humans possess. Life prevents the realization of this potential,
however, and humans are damned to loneliness and pain.
Kfirzsste Liebe

Blade Bauern, die den biedern

Grass der Burger nicht erwidern,

Mbnschen, die mit halbem Nicken

Danken, ohne aufzublicksn.

Prflde, scheue Frauen, leise

Kinder, whrdevolle Greise - - -

Aber wenn an Dorf und.Fsld und

weld vorbei dsin Schnellzug braust,
Du aus deinem wagen schaust:

Ja dann stehen,- stehn auch.diese
Ganz dir zugewandt am.Hange,

Vor dem Stalltor, auf der Wiese -.
Und sis winken, Winken lange.

Grflsssn voll und grflssen frei
Dich und deine Fahrtgenossen.

Und die reinste Liebe wird vergessen
Im‘Vorbsi.

Ringelnatz saw in the stiff conventions of bourgeois society one of
the reasons for human.misery and man's inability to communicate. He fought
stiffness and formality at every opportunity and accomplished his goal in
most instances by means of the shock effect.

Ich habe vor stsifen Lenten

Einen Pferdsapfsl gespissst.

Ob die sich innerlich freuten 7
Also in the Reisebrisfe, Ringelnatz reveals the facade of the "good life"
as false and unnatural.

Und wie fflrstlich wohnts, wie gssagt, ich hier!

Dass ich niemals mich auf's Nachtgeschirr
Und auch sonst mir vieles nicht getraute.

96
He views the bourgedhie as limited, ignorant, intolerant and only half
alive.

Sie sehnen nie, sis beten nis.

Sis wissen, dass sis besser sind.

Die Luft ist dort gefroren.

Und keiner - scheints - macht dort Pipi.
Sis rdmpfen, wenn man sagt: Ein Kind
Whrds gezeugt, geboren.

Ringelnatz' satire in the Rsisebriefe does not end with a derision
of bourgeois life. He beratss a pompous and ceremonious clergyman for his
arrogant, evasive, and insensitive sermon:

was redest du so duster und fremd?
Lache doch einmal laut! .
‘Was tragst du fur sin feierlich Hsmd?
Damit wir bangsn? Damit uns grant?

e-an untruthful girl for her preoccupation with appearances regardless of

truth:

und.Muttsr kann ganz ruhig sein,
Sis ist versorgt im Spittel.
Und ihre Einzige bleibt rein.
Denn Arthur weiss sin Mittel.

The cities in which he worked did not escape his scathing opinions.
He writes of Dresden:

Ich habe Angst, hier zu verwildern.
August dsr Starks und Paris

Sind weit von diessm.Tumerspisss,
Auch Halter von der Vogelwiss.

Leipzig fares no better:

Fast alle Sachsen sind slchsisch. Sis zeigsn sogar,
Dass dis Parissr und die Londsner Mods
ver zwei Jahren eigentlich auch sachsisch war.

The puritanical atmosphere of Zflrich inhibits him and makes him uncomfortable.

Ihnen, mir, auch anderen wahrscheinlich,
Ist die Stadt zu Ebertrisbsn reinlich.
Nirgends Pferdsfruchts auf dem Pflaster.
Nirgsnds sands, nirgends Laster.

Und die Polizei berflhrt uns peinlich.

97

The unreliable effusiveness of the Viennese earns his special disdain:

Ich werde wohl in wenig Wochen

Bischof und Bdrgermsister sein von dieser Stadt.

Nach dem, was man mir allwo hier versprochsn

Und mit viel Kussdiehands betsusrt hat.
Of all of the German cities that he knows, it seems that only Munich and
Bremen give him pleasure. Abroad he is impressed by Copenhagen and Paris.
We have noted the suicidal depression which Berlin evoked in him and the
derision, even disgust with which he viewed other cities. The big city
per se began to unnervs him:

... - das tolls Welt—und Grosstadtlsbsn
zermflrbt mich ganz und gar.

He longs for the peaceful satisfaction of a union with nature. He envies
a former colleague who has married a farmer.
Ist da Wald, wo dein Hauseheh steht,
Und habt ihr sine Huh?
Und wer mslkt sis? Dein Mann oder du?
Ach das ist seit swig und immerzu
Ein Wunsch, der auf meinen Kopfkissen steht.
To him, nature is more than peace; it is elemental honesty, and deeply
sensual and artless beauty. Ringelnatz describes with exceedingly rich
imagery his impression of a group of cows:
... A18 wie im Paradiess!
Warns Mastbauchs rauchen ,
Ruhrende RotzmAulsr tauchsn
In die Champagnsrblasschen dsr Wiese...
Nature, especially the water of unsullisd streams, engenders in the post a
wild and violent thirst for life.
Ich chhte sin wilder. Gebirgsbach sein,
Klar, schnumend, rauschend und blinkend,
Unhaltsam. kampfsnd von Stein zu Stein
Mich an mir selber betrinksnd.
The most admirable virtues for Ringelnatz are honesty, humility,

generosity and compassion. He often reveals his own attitude toward them,

98
and his pedagogical turn of mind frequently occasions him to urge his
readers to a practice of these virtues. Nowhere in Ringelnatz' poetry do
they find more beautiful expression than in Malsrin Klugschnack.

‘Wenn ich einmal grossen.Appetit

Auf sin grosses Wiener Schnitzel habe,

Uhd ich ssss Kass. Und sin Knabs,

Grellsr Bettelknabs sasse

weinerlich am Strassenrand;

Und ich drflckts sin Stuck Klse

In die vorgestreckte Hand.

Und ich sags magenknurrig

In der Anekdots weiter

Und belbge michz‘Wie heitsr

Das gewesen sei, wie schnurrig.

Und es kame irgendwis

wer, dessen fidsle Gflte

Mich zu einem Schnaps einlflds.

Und dann klmen Sis. -

Ja, dann.wollts ich Ihnen, dis ich eben

Kennsnlernte, junge Malsrin,

Anfangsuntsrricht im.Malsn geben,

0b ich auch durchaus kein maler bin.
The picture is one of self-sacrificing goodness. It presents a poor but
ideal world in which one good deed begets another and man freely exhibits
his potential goodness. The poet is quite aware of the reality of life in
contrast to the picture that he has painted. This is evident in his use of
the subjunctive. The mere fact of its potential truth, however, is indi-
cative of the poet's faith in humanity and, with this simple parable, he
exhorts man to an awareness of his potential for good and shows him the
utopia of satisfaction which can result. 'we see here a development of Rin—
gelnatz' didactic technique. In the satirical poems, Ringelnatz hoped to
teach through the media of humor and shock. Now he resorts to the presen-
tation of concrete examples of the virtues which he hopes to promote. His
didactic poems in the Reisebrisfs are beautiful and simple pictures of virb
tue in practice, attempts at gentle and subtle persuasion. Employing this

technique, he sings the praise of his colleague and friend, Asta Nielsen.

99
She was to him the ideal of modesty and humility.

So sins Landschaft gibt's: 'we man den bleichen
Mend fiber weiten Ebsnsn Sieht,

Der glanzlos, deutlich durch dis Ferns zieht,
Die - weil sis in uns liegt - wir nis errsichen.

Jemand deutete auf sine Dame hin,

Die die Treppe scheusrte.

Er betsusrte:

Sis sei sine Kbnigin.

Und ich wollte Klarheit, fragte

Sis, ob sis das sei, was jsner dachte.
Uhd sis sagte:

”Nein!" - Schsuerte und lachte.

Zu.der grossen Kdnstlsrin kam.ein Verehrsr,

Schenkts ihr sin schweres Stuck

Gold. Sis gab es freundlich ihm zuruck,

Dankts wie sin gutiger und weiser Lehrer.

Man verwundets und scheuchte sis,

Base oder dummbslehrt gezielt.

Taten konnte man sis nis.

'Weil sis sinfach.Msnsch ist, und weil sis

Es auch bleibt, wenn sis Theater spielt.

Blicke lange ihr ins Gesicht

Und dann denke nicht

Ihrer, sondern deiner selbst. Und Sprich

Lange du.mit mir fiber dich.
The moon in the first stanza represents the potential good in all men. ‘We
cannot attain the ideal but we can approach it. This is shown in the exam_
ples of humility in the second, third and fourth stanzas. These quiet and
unpretentious deeds and attitudes are the most effective lessons in virtue,
therefore the reference to Asta Nielsen as a "weiser Lehrer". The expres-
sion ”dummbelehrt gezielt” alludes to Ringelnatz' notion that virtue can
be fostered by teaching and direction. The final stanza shows what power
for good a virtuous person possesses in his exemplary behavior. A thought.
ful look into the eyes of such a person suffices to inform us as to what we

must do to approach this near perfection.

100

With his own example, he teaches gratitude despite a deterioration in
relationship with the person who has done him a good deed. His teaching is
by no means pious and unmasculins but rather shows a keen insight into
the human psyche and a firm knowledge of human reactions.

... Das heisst
Wenn er mich jemals wieder «-
Wis nsulich im Hofbrlu - udt Kalbsknochen schmeisst
Hau ich ihm sins in die Fresse.
Denn ich bin doch kein Magistrat. -
Aber niemals vergesss
Ich, was mir Biegemann Gutss tat.

There is no dearth of Ringelnatz' humor in the Rsisebriefe. Charac-
teristically it is often spiced with crudity, but crudity is no longer an
end in itself as was the case in many of the earlier poems. He writes from
Jerusalem:

Am Sonntag kam auf einem Gnu
Der Sultan aus der Whats

Und als ich keck ihn mit "Jeru.
Salem Aleikum!" grassts,

Da lud er mich in sein Palais
Und liess mich dort entklsiden
Und schenkte mir sein Portemonnaie
Und wollte mich beschnsidsn.

Ich absr schlich mich leise fort
Und floh im weiten Bogen. -
Mein liebes Gold, auf Ehrenwort:
Ich hab' nooh nis gelogen.

Partially comical, yet exhibiting an attitude significant of Ringel-
natz' patriotism, is the poem Mein YesL but an Mr. X. in dsr Bar. Aside
from the humoristic aspects of the impure language, it shows Ringelnatz'
deep love for Germazw and German life. This is indeed a reversal of his
sharp indictment of Germany in the Turngsdichte. His country is his sle...
msnt: warm, colorful, interesting. In the Rsissbrieie, he flirts with

Switzerland, Austria, France, Denmark, Finland and America, as below,

101
but finally, he is a true son of Germany and feels himself immediately
bound up in her fate.

Yes -, but this Volk is mein See,

Darin ich als Huflquappe schwamm.

Hells Bllschen brodeln im Grunds

Im weichen, warmen Schlamm.

Ich triers in surem.Schnee.

In suren Trepen werd'ich zum durstigen Schwamm.

Wir sehen mit grossen Augsn und offenem.Munds

Bei such alles besser.

'Wir suchen sure weiten Gewasser,

Gshsn ganz darin unter. Sagen dann "leek" statt Lake.

Und werden lauter und zu laut im neuen Gequake.

Aber wir sehnen uns einen Tages doch heim,

Einmal wieder in unseren Tsich, unsren Tumpsl
zu tauchen.

Go back -- eilen heim,

To take a bath after interesting time.

The Reisebriefe eines Artistsn marks a turning point in Ringelnatz'
attitude and in his modes of poetic expression. The tone is softened and
the emotions are less violent than those exhibited in earlier collections.
This collection is a chronicle of the impressions, inspirations, feelings,
visions and experiences encountered on.Ringelnatz' travels as a cabaret
poet between the years 1920 and 1927. The poems present a world view of
extreme pessimism. Many verses bespeak deep loneliness, melancholy, long.
ing for death, and indifference. The poet seeks relief from life in
drink where he finds love, beauty, truth, adventure, eroticism and humor.
He attempts to undermine self-satisfied smugnsss with crudity and scurrile
remarks. .Most of the cities through which he travels do not impress him.
He longs for the tranquility and the sensual beauty of nature. He shows
through examples that the most admirable virtues are honesty, humility,
generosity and compassion. Ringelnatz still fosters humor for its own
sake. In contrast to his attitude toward German life in the guaggsdichts

he shows his identification with and great love for his German homeland.

102

After tsn.years away from.the sea, Ringelnatz returns to thoughts of
his youth spent among rough sailors in a dangerous occupation. Eight years
have passed since the publication of Kuttel Daddeldu and, although his
attitude toward the sailor remains the same, distance has softened his tone.
He is no longer at war with bourgeois society. He has successfully recoup
oiled himself to it but he cannot forget the sea and sailors, and the more
difficult but lustier, more vivid existence associated with them. The
poems of the Matrosen collection (1928) appear in a documentary volume
treating life at sea. The prose selections are written in an easy, con-
versational tons and reflect the strong, even naive admiration which the
poet fosters for sailors. His intention in the book is to acquaint the
"landlubbers" with the sea and sailors; to stimulate understanding for
their superstitions, their barbarousnsss, the nature of their work, their
camaraderie, courage, joy, drunkenness, love and sentimentality, and pore
haps, by gentle persuasion, to promote some of the sailor virtues which he
holds in such high esteem.

Duett dss Schiffsjungsn mit einem.Passagier mirrors the poet's recon-
ciliation with bourgeois life. The cabin boy, the non-bourgeois, and the
passenger, the bourgeois, agree in their appraisal of life and its plea—
sures and values. Their song ends in a friendly embrace:

Passagier: ... Und schon sind zwei Freunde.
Junge: Und schon ist das Paradies!

In Die Kartsnleggrin, Ringelnatz reproduces a superstitious sea
ballad which shows the power that sailors attribute to magic formulae.
Da lsgte dis Kartsnlegerin
Die Karten, dis ihn betrafen,

An Deck und.murmelte vor sich hin.
Kuttel war eingeschlafen.

103

Sis murmelte Worte in den Wind.

Das Schiff fing an zu rollen.

Das Schiff und die Henschen darauf sind
Verschollen.

Startsbekerlied shows the camaraderie and barbarousnsss of sailors.

It also reflects their good nature, their crudity and honesty. Ringel-

natz writes in the original edition:

Sis sind gutmfltig wie dis Berglsute, Schornstsinfeger und Ar-
tistsn, wie moist Leute sind, die viel im.Freien und unter
Lebensgefahr schaffen oder htufig sterben sehen. 'Wie Leute,
dis etwas Positives leistsn mussen, die nicht markisren, sich
nicht um.ihre Arbeit herumdrucken kannen... Ihre Gutmntigksit
gibt sich grob, absr shrlich. Matrosen sind shrliche Leute.

... Und singt recht schweinischs Lieder.
Vielleicht ist einer von uns morgen tot.

... Aber wer uns geflllt,
Weil sr's shrlich mit uns hllt,
Dem sei das Leben gsschunken.

.Das Lied von der Hochseekuh is a work song. Ringelnatz explains the

musical preferences of sailors in the original edition:

Unbewusst bevorzugsn Sseleute Lieder, die die Monotonie einer
ruhigen Ssefahrt oder den Rhythmus eines durch die wollen strei.
chenden Schiffes tragen. Zwischen Auf und Nieder, zwischen

Hin und Her, also jumpend und rollsnd macht sin Schiff eigen—
artige, mannigfaltig kombinierte Bswegungen.

ZwBlf Tonnen wisgt die Hochseekuh.
Sis lebt am Mseresgrunde.

Ohei! -- Uha!

Sis ist so dumm wie ich und du

Und lluft zshn Knoten in dsr Stunds.
Ohei! -- Uha! .

A lesson in sailor courage and selflessness is presented by Daddeldu

vsgprugglt den Schiffsjgpgsn:

‘Wenn.du erst dich besinnst, was du selber riskierst,
Dann ist das sins Hundeschweinerei!

Denn, wenn du wirklich dein Leben verlierst,

“was wire dann schon Schlimmes dabsi?!

lot
The sight of land after a long voyage is the sailor's greatest joy:

Schon steigen die Turme vom Hafen
Wis Krautsrklss gran aus dsm.Grau.
Old sailorboys, heute nacht schlafen
'Wir alle an Land bei der Frau.

With drunkenness sailors allay their fears and social insecurity in
a strange environment. They want no more than to be liked and respected by
the inhabitants of dry land. Their artless attempts at popularity are sel-
dom,successful:

Wir wollen alle alle nur noch lallsn
Und brflllsn‘wis sin Rind,

Dass wir den Leuten gefallsn,

Dis nflchtern sind.

A sailor's love is light—hearted and capricious. It mirrors the
fickleness, the hardheartedness of nature, the only force that a simple
sailors knows.

Wir Fahrensleuts
Lisbon die See...
Die Seemannsbrfiuts
Gelten fur heute,
Sind nur fur to-day.

Dis Mldchen, die weinen.
Sind schwach auf den Beinen.
Was schert uns ihr'Weh!

Das Weh, ach das legt sich.
Unsre Heimat bswegt sich
Und tragt uns in See,

Far - away.

Having vicariously relived the joys and sorrows and hopes and
disappointments of his years at sea, Ringelnatz closes the Matrosen col-
lection with a verse fraught with sentimentality and yearning:

Ach, ich machte einmal wieder
Als Matrose im Atlantik kreuzen,

Um mein Herz und meine Lieder
In dis wilden wetter auszuschnsuzsn.

105

Matrosen is an attempt by Ringelnatz to recapture his years at sea
and to promote the virtues of the sea: honesty, courage and friendship.
He reproduces sailor ballads and work songs in a sentimental and naive tone.

Allerdings (1928) is the first collection of Ringelnatz' verse which
was not planned as a poem.cycle. It is not characterized by a unified
symbol, theme or technique. The poems merely deal with the poet's opin-
ions, ideas, impressions, inspirations, feelings and visions. The verses
are less autobiographical than those of the Reisebriefe and the themes are
less numerous. Satirical verse again becomes rather prevalent, but the most
dominant tendency is a didacticism which advocates the poet's entire sys.
tem of values. Other important themes include impressions of life, com.
passion, love, longing for life, political views, and the inevitable Ringel—
natz humor.

Noteworthy in Allerdings is the close unity of Ringelnatz' paintings
and his poetry in theme, technique and style. He had never attended an
art school or academy but began to paint seriously some time after 1920.
His public debut as a painter came with an exhibition of his paintings in
the Flechtheim Gallery in Berlin in April of 1925. His style in this art
genre defies formal classification in the same manner as does his poetry
although he approaches the basic premise of the Impressionists who contend
that "truth” lies in the mental processes, not in the precise representa-
tion of external reality. Indisputable is the unity of motivation, theme
and technique of the paintings and the verses. Certain experiences, impres-
sions and reflections become the raw material which.Ringelnatz transforms
into art, be it poetic or pictorial. Verse and painting often represent
the same theme. At times, they even consciously originated at the same

time. In other instances, the theme appears separated by an interval

106
of time in its expression as a painting and a poem. This unity shows
that Ringelnatz sought to come to terms with a theme and to exhaust it
of its artistic possibilities.

Beginning with Allerdings, we see that the key to all Ringelnatz' art

 

lies in simple, serious receptivity. As a self-taught artist, his desire
to create has no other motivation than playfulness and a need for self.
expression. This art and its effect are thus based upon naive creativity
which is stimulated by a completely personal experiencing of life, untu.
tored and original. The poeme as well as the paintings are immediate and
elementary reproductions of the world, most often nature studies which
attempt nothing other than a reflection of the artist's observations. ‘23:
waisenkinder originated simultaneously as a painting and as a poem.

Zwanzig grobe Strohhnte gehen

Zwei und zwei wie Militlr.

Zwanzig schwarze Pelerinchen wehen,
Als wenn's zum.Begr!bnis war.

Magre Lehrerin voraus,
Hinten magre zweite,

Eine dritte an der Seite,
Also zieht aus engem.Haus
Eine Schlange in die Weite.

Hilfe! Mitleid! Und Beschwerde!
Zwanzig arme'waisenkinder,
Streng getrieben, eine Herde
Junger’Rinder -.

weil mich.meine Mutter knufft,

Und um Starkres zu.vermeiden,

Sag ich: "Ja, man lasst sie weiden
In der frischen, freien Luft.“

‘Weiden? - Dummheit! Siehst du nicht,
Was hier vorgeht, roher .Bengel!
Junge Blumen brauchen Licht,

'erme, Erde,'wurzel, Stengel -.”

107
"Manche brauchen Mist, mama,
weil sie anderes vermissen,
Und der ist - wer kann es wissen -
Hier vielleicht sehr reichlich da.”
Maine Mutter ruckt, - schluckt:
"Treibt mit diesen Engeln Spott!
Und mich will er nicht verstehen.
Warts, dir wird's schlimm ergehen!
Und das wflnsch ich dir. Bei Gett.”

Heine Mutter dreht
Rucken zu und geht.

Und nun sauf ich wo, wo keine

Binder, Blumen, Engel sind,

Bin fur mich oder fur meine

Mutter Naseweisenkind.
The impressionistic technique is unmistakable. Ringelnatz paints the
picture of the orphans as he experiences it. Lines 1 and 3 in the first
stanza are detached and merely descriptive. Line 2 illustrates the impres.
sion of regimentation and is still fairly neutral. The final line of stanza
1, however, reveals the pessimistic associations which this experience
evokes in the author. The thin, stern nature of the teachers and their
positions give an impression of austerity, sterility, lack of warmth and
love. This hint is strengthened by the third stanza which is completely
subjective and personal. The poet's heart cries out to the orphans who are
deprived of all of the pleasures and needs of childhood. He understands
completely the plight of the orphans, but the expression of his sympathy
is misunderstood by his mother. The perceptive statement in stanza 6
represents a precocious and melancholy view of life, characteristically
colored by a touch of crudity. Indeed the connotations implied by manure
will be found in the world into which the children are being led in such
an insensitive manner._ The misunderstanding of the mother and the cursing

of her son increase a view of life already pessimistic and melancholy.

108
Her insensitivity causes him the loss of the very things which the orphans
need and seek. Finally, he, too, is an orphan. He feels himself worth-
less and alone and attempts to console himself with drink. The pun in
the last line of the final stanza shows that he considers himself even
more pitiful than the orphans since he has lost even the little compassion
which they receive because of his remarks which were understood as
impertinence.

The impressionistic technique is evident in many instances in the
poems of the Allerdings collection. The following verse, entitled §_s_
schneit, illustrates Ringelnatz' impression of a snowfall.

Es schnit dicks Flocken,

Nicht warm, aber frisch gebacken.

Die setzen sich in meine Dichterlocken,
In meinen Schiebernacken,

Auf meine Smoking-Socken

Sie machen den Polizisten

Gemutlich zumfweihnachtsmenn.

Da legen die Touristen
Ihre Polarausrflstung an.

Es schneit fur die Zukunft Strassendreck.
Auf Grlber schneit's weisss Rosen.

Doch es schneit Erbsensuppe mit Speck

In die Taschen der‘Arbeitslosen.

Ringelnatz reproduces in poetic or pictorial form products of his
imagination which often unite unrelated elements in an attempt to produce
a certain tragicomic effect. Most of his humorous poetry,as we have seen,
falls into this category. In Allergiggs we find the following example,
entitled Ich habe dich so lieb.

Ich habe dich so lieb!
Ich.wurde dir ohne Bedenken

Eine Kachel aus meinem.0fen
Schenken.

109

Ich habe dir nichts getan.
Nun ist mir traurig zu.Mut.
An den Hlngen der Eisenbahn
Leuchtet der Ginster so gut.

Vorbei a verjlhrt -
Doch nimmer vergessen.
Ich reise.

Alles, was lange wahrt,
Ist leise.

Die Zeit entstellt

Alle Lebewesen.

Ein.Hund bellt.

Er kann nicht lesen.

Er kann nicht schreiben.
Wir kennen nicht bleiben.

Ich lache.
Die LBcher sind die Hauptsache
An einem Sieb.
Every stanza presents unrelated elements in immediate proximity to one
another. A glazed tile, for example, is hardly an appropriate sign of
affection. The second stanza is comprised of four completely unrelated
elements. Thus continues the entire poem. Often the choice of elements
is less capricious than necessary. Some are essential to the rhyme scheme.
The lyricist in.Ringelnatz prompts him to produce verses of pure
feeling:
An.M.
Der du meine‘wege mit mir gehst,
Jede Laune meiner Wimper spflrst,
Heine Schlechtigkeiten duldest und verstehst -
”Weisst du wohl, wie heiss du oft mich ruhrst?
'Wenn ich tot bin, darfst du gar nicht trauern.
Meine Liebe wird mich dberdauern
Und in fremden Kleidern dir begegnen
Und dich segnen.

Lebe, lache gut!
Mache deine Sache gut!

110
Ringelnatz poeticizes visions experienced in a state somewhere
between sleep and waking, between drunkenness and sobriety, in which the
normal life orientations are confused and out of focus ("so zwischen
Tageslicht und Bflhnenlicht"). Often these visions are humorous, as in
Heimatlose.

Ich bin fast

Gestorben vor Schreck:

In dem Haus, wo ich zu Gast
war, im Versteck,

Bewegte sich,

Regte sich

Plbtzlich hinter einem.Brett
In einem.Kasten neben dem Klosett,
Ohne Beinchen,

Stumm, fremd und nett
Ein.Meerschweinchen.

Sah mich bangs an,

Sah mich lange an,

Sann wohl hin und sann her,
wagte sich

Dann heran

Und fragte mich:

"we ist das Meer?“

Ringelnatz' artistic technique thus consists of life experience and
life perception. Often the empirical and the intuitive occur in the same
artistic expression as in most of the satirical and didactic poems. He
“experiences the world and then criticises it in terms of an ideal arrived
at by intellectual processes as in the following didactic poem, based upon
his experience with his less successful colleagues.

Jene kleinsten ehrlichen.Artisten
Jener kleinsten, ehrlichen Artisten
Denk' ich, die kein Ruhm.belohnt,

Die ihr Dasein lrmlich, fleissig fristen,
Und in denen nur die Zukunft wohnt.

In Programmen stehsn sie bescheiden,

Und das Publikum bleibt ihnen stumm.

Dennoch geben sie ihr Bestes und beneiden
GrOssre nicht. Und wissen nicht, warum.

Grober Dunkel drdckt sis in die Ecken.
Ihre Grenze ist der Rampenschein.

Aber nachts vor kleinen Mndchen recken
Sie sich auf in Kflnstlerschwarmerein.

Die ihr bleiben sollt, wo wir begonnen,
Mbgt ihr ruhmlos sein und unbegabt,

Doch euch trastet: Uns ist viel zerronnen,
Schenes, was ihr jetzt noch in such habt.
Ehrlichkeit ist Kunst und derart selten,
Dass es wenig'Wichtigeres gibt.

Euer Schicksal wird euch reich vergelten,
Dass ihr euer Schicksal habt geliebt.

The unity of Ringelnatz' painting and poetry is further evident in
some of his favorite motifs:8 waves and meadows, sky and water, jungle
adventures, park moods and sea experiences-and again and again the lone-
liness of man and animal. .A small ship on the far horizon of the ocean, a
frightened animal in a storm, lovers in the misty gray of morning bespeak
a forlornness of all living creatures in nature and a profound fear in the
contemplation of existence. The loneliness expressed in Allerdings is of
a universal nature, personal yet filled with compassion for all living
beings that are able to experience it. This was the case with.Die waisen-
kinder which we have already considered. In Missratenen Kindes Lied, not
included in the collected poetry,9 Ringelnatz expresses concern for the gen-
erations of the future who will have to experience the torment of loneliness

that he has known.

Ich weiss im Lands Leute verstreut,

Die saufen sich wissend zu Tode;

(Saufen sich, hungern sich, harmen - ganz gleich!
Sind alle, die ich.meine, nicht reich.)

 

8l‘he recurring nature of what is commonly called a literary motif is
referred to here as am identifying label for certain subjects or ideas which
Ringelnatz often treated.

9JoachimRingelnatz, Allerdings (Berlin: Ernst Rowohlt, 1928).

112

Mein Vater sagte: "Die Leute‘von heut
Die haben so unsinnige Mode."
Ich antwortete: "Ja die Leute - heut - Leut -"

"Ansehnlich.unauffallig gemein"
Das scheint mir das Ziel der Mode zu sein.

Ich bin von die Leute von heute
‘ Ein Antipode dsr'Mode.
Ich bin meines Vaters missratenes Kind.
Gestern starb er. Und heute
‘Weiss ich, dass viele von uns zu Tode
,Sich qualen und trotzen, die ebenso sind
Wis Vater, Urahns, Grossmutter und.Kind. -

Da pfeift sich was wie Seemannswind:
Sauf zu! Hihi! Sauf zu! Hihi!

Ich habe keine Sorgen;

HUchstens vielleicht die sine, die
Um.die Leute von morgen.

His empathy extends beyond the human realm to include all life, even
that of a beetle.
Marschierende Krieger

Vor mir her schritt Infantsris,
Eine ganze Kompanie

Kraftiger Soldaten.

Stramm im Takte traten

Sie den Sand,

Schritten achtlos fiber einen
Kleinen aner, den ich fand.

Ich blieb stehen,

Um.ihn zu besehen,

Und weil's hinter jenem.Militar

Stark nach Schweiss und Leder roch.

Da: - Der Kafer kroch

Plbtzlich fort, als ob er lebend war.

Doch ich konstatierte nooh:

Nur zwei Steinchen an zwei Seiten retteten -
Gleichsam wie als Felssnwflnde - diesen -
Gleichsam zwischen ihnen eingebstteten -
Kafer vorm.Zertrampeltwerden durch die Riesen.

Grosss Rissen - kleine Tiers -

Und ich lief, die wandersohlen,

Dis so stanksn, einzuholen,

‘Weil ich gar zu gern im Takt marschisre.

113

Und ich hustete und spuckte

Staub und musste viermal niesen.

Und ich schluckte, Und ich duckte
Mich vor Felsenwanden und vor Riesen.

This poem.illustratss much more than loneliness and compassion; it includes
allusions to Goethe's principle of reverence for all life and an indict—
ment of the hardheartedness of man, especially as it is evidenced in the
military which ”stinks”. The last stanza is a further illustration of’Rin—
gelnatz' humoristic reconciliation with life.

Ringelnatz views loneliness as an inevitable precondition of life.
Man begins to be aware of his existence at a stage of development which is
elemental, less conscious and thus less sensitive than later, more mature
stages. This embryonic stats of being is indeed lonely but it is happy
because of its simplicity.

Seepferdchen

Als ich noch sin Seepferdchen war,
Im.vorigen Leben,

'Wie war das wonnig, wunderbar

Unter wasser zu schweben.

In den traumenden Fluten

ngte, wie Guts, das Haar

Der zierlichsten aller Seestuten,

Die meine Gelisbts war.

'Wir senktsn uns still oder stiegen,
Tanzten harmonisch umeinand,

Ohne Arm, ohne Bein, ohne Hand,

Wis Wolken sich ianblk n wiegen.

Sis spielte manchmal graziBses Entfliehn,
Auf dass ich ihr folge, sis haschs,

Und legts mir manchmal im.Ansichziehn
Eisrchen in dis Taschs.

Sis blickte traurig und stellte sich froh,
Schnappte nach einemflwasssrfloh,

Und ringelts sich

An einem Stengelchen fest und sprach so:
Ich liebe dich!

Du.wieherst nicht, du apfelst nicht,

Du trfigst sin farbloses Panzsrkleid

Und hast sin bekflmmertes altes Gesicht,
Als wusstest du um.kommendes Leid.
Seestutchsn! Schnbrkelchen! Ringelnass!

114

Wann war wohl das?

Und wer bedauert wohl spater meine restlichen Knochen?

Es ist beinahe so, dass ich weine -

Lollo hat das vertrocknete, kleine

Schmerzverkrflmmte Seepferd zerbrochen.
The structure of the poem is symbolic of human maturation. Through the
twenty-first line the poet speaks of the sea horse in the first person,
thereby attributing its sensations to himself. Beginning with line 22,
the poet distances himself from the sea horse and addresses it in the
second person. This signifies the point in human exi stence when experi-
ence becomes perceptive and is no longer purely intuitive (traditionally
regarded as age 21, thus Ringelnatz ends the intuitive period at the twenty.
first line). He still has the image of the embryo before him,‘but now he
sees more than the carefree, happy existence which he described at the
beginning of the poem. He now sees the potential for suffering which must
inevitably come. This he shows us again to be undeniably bound up with his
own existence when he refers to the sea horse with the sailor term from
which he has derived his own name. He then realizes that the time of suf-
fering is upon him and soon death will come. This causes fear and retro-
spection. The total circle of human existence is reviewed and finally the
pain and suffering of life breaks the being which began life so painlessly.
Thus the universal concept of life is shown to be characterized primarin
by loneliness and suffering.

Ringelnatz does not avoid the positive aspects of loneliness as an
escape from the inevitable conflicts of life. He writes in Einsiedlers
Heiliger Aband:

... Und sang aus burgundsrnder Kehle
Das Pfannenf’lickerlied.

Und pries mit bewundernder Seele
Alles das, was ich mied.

--or in Rettende

Ringelnatz'

115

Ich zog mich aus und ging leise
Zu bett, ohne Angst, ohne Spott,
Und dankte auf krumme weiss
Lallend dem lieben Gott.

Insel, not included in the collected poetry.lo

Wenn Parteien sich und Hassen
Sichtbar und gsrfiuschvoll hassen
Klingt das mir wie Meeresrauschen.
Und dann mag ich henkelltrocken
Still auf einer Insel hocken,

Dis mich zusshn lasst und lauschen.

view of life as reflected in Allegdiggs is still basi-

sally pessimistic and melancholy. ‘We do not find, however, the extremes

of filfth, disgust and depression that were evident in earlier collections.

In a grotesquerie, entitled Umweg, Ringelnatz shows that he is convinced

of the basic probity of human intuition and illustrates the reasons why

goodness can seldom reveal itself openly:

Ging sin.Herz durchs Hirn Guts suchen,
Fand sis nicht, doch hurts da durchs 0hr
Zwei Hatrosen landbegeistert fluohen,
Und das kam ihm.so recht ruhrend vor.

Ist das Herz dann durch die Nase krochen.
Eine Ross hat das Herz gestochen,

Hat das Herz verkannt.

In dsr Luft hat was wie angebrannt
Schlecht gerochen.

Und das Wasssr schmeckts nach Vsrrat.
Leise schlich das Herz zuruck,
Schlich sich durch dis Hand zur Tat,
Hannner‘be e

Und da dummsrte

Ihm.das Glflck.

The heart symbolizes intuitive goodness which seeks a complement. None

is to be found in the cold sterility of the brain, but the brain does

 

lonae.

116

possess perceptive potential. Through the ears the heart encounters a
rough and honest brand of goodness with which it can identify. The second
stanza shows how goodness often goes unrecognized and, more than this, is
repulsed and hurt by the wiles of beauty, symbolized by the rose, and by
betrayal, mentioned in the first line of stanza 3. The heart knows no
other reaction than that prompted by intuition. Rspulsed and wounded, it
strikes a defensive blow'and thereby destroys the happiness which might
have been possible had the meanness of the world not repelled its natural
inclination toward goodness.

The baseness of the world and of the human beings who populate it is

further revealed and castigated in another grotesquerie, called Hinrich.

tungen.

KUpfe und Rumpfe trennen sich
fiberall 1m Blllte

fiberall beksnnsn sich

Leute zum Henkersmut.

fiberan wird dis Rache satt.
fiberau tut sich sin Recht,
Birgt sich, wenn es ingste hat,
Hinter einem.beschr!nkten Knecht.

Ferns Unwetter grollen.

Es gruselt dumpf:

was werden die KUpfe wollen,

‘Wenn sis wieder hupfen auf ihrem.Rumpf?

Even those things which are dearest and most beautiful to us prove
to be ugly and repulsive upon close observation.
Genau besshn

wenn man das zierlichsts lechen
Von seiner liebsten Braut

Durch sin'Vergrbsserungsglaschen
Naher beschaut,

Dann zeigen sich haarige Berge,
Dass einem graut.

117
Life and all of its manifestations are transitory and frail. It
seems pointless to the post, but it is also bearable if one can laugh at
it. Life also has a positive side which cannot be dismissed: relief upon
awakening from.a nightmare, the excitement and promise of a telegram, the
satisfaction of a letter bearing good news.
Missmut

Ein.Rauch verweht.
Ein wasser verrinnt.
Eine Zeit vergeht.
Eine neue beginnt.
Warum? 'Wozu?

Denk' ich dein Fleisch hinweg, so bist
Du sin dunntraurigss Knochengerust,
Allsrschbnstss Mudchen,du.

Wer hat das Fragen aufgebracht?

Unssre Not.

'Wsr niemals fragte, ware tot.

Doch kommt's darauf an, wie jemand lacht.

Bist du aus schlimmem Traum erwacht,
Ist sine Postanweisung da,

Ein Tslegramm, sin gutsr Brief, -
Du atmest tisf

Wis sine Zishharmonika.

Happiness in life is an attitude which can give life meaning and worth:

Hsimat? 'Wir alle finden keine,

Oder - und allerhuchstens — sins
Improvisatorische.

Es kommt auch gar nicht darauf an. -
.Man tue mbglichst, was man kann.
Sch!um.aus, was du zu schenken hast;
Das Letzte ware dir noch Last.

Und warts fresh, doch fromm.auf Leiden.

Acceptance of life as it is provides a solution to many of life's

problems. Ringelnatz also shows that acceptance of God is important in

Verflucht und Zugenaht:

118

Man sollts den Gssetzen

In Kleinigkeiten

Ein Bein stellsn und sis verlstzsn

Und sis, von Gonnern gslduntsrstfltzt,
fiberschreitsn.

Man sollts den Richter,

Der Kflnstler, Dichter

Oder nur Mensch ist, unbandig vsrehren.
Man sollts das andre, kontrare Gelichter
Zermalmen und sich selber vermehren.
Man sollts so sein, wie ich es bin.
Man sollts - -

wenn nicht dsr liebe Gott es hin

Und wieder ganz andsrs wollte.

--and in was warden Sis tun, wenn Sis das neue Jahr regisren kannten?
Ich wards vor Aufregung wahrschsinlich
Dis ersten Nachts schlaflos verbringsn
Und darauf tagslang angstlich und kleinlich
Ganz dumme, selbstsuchtige Plane schwingen.
Dann - hoffentlich - absr laut lachsn
Und sndlich dsn lieben Gott abends leise
Bitten, doch wieder nach seiner Weiss
Das neue Jahr gUttlich selber zu machen.
Increasing evidence of Ringelnatz' trust in God seems to give his life
some meaning, direction and purpose. This contention is strengthened by

the preponderance of didactic verss--his poetic raison d'etrga—to be found

 

in Allsrdings. We saw a germinating didacticism.in the Rsisebriefs. Rin-
gelnatz glorified honesty, humility, generosity and compassion by the indi-
rect method of examples. We have noted his use of allegory to promote his
teachings; these indirect techniques are also in evidence in.Allsrdings.
For the most part, however, the didacticism here is forward and direct
although it often occurs in a context which is designed to embellish and
soften its directness. Henesty is the virtue which is most often empha—
sized. The poem Jene kleinsten ehrlichen Artistsn, quoted above, repre-

sents one of Ringelnatz' most articulate sulogies of honesty.

119
Ringelnatz shows that honest people will finally find their satis-
faction and their reward although they may be outwardly unsuccessful.

... Der Schwindel trotzte unvsrblMt.
Er ward bekannt. Er ward bertthmt.

... Der Schwindsl war gsschfltzt, gemacht.
Nur ruhelos bei Tag wie Nacht.
Denn er gedachts ohne Ruh,
Des Ehrlichsn; doch gab's nicht zu,
Der Ehrliche kam fromm und schwer,
Ganz mude, spat, dss Wegs daher,

Ging still vorbei und fromm und schwer.
Und er erreichte sehr viel mehr.

There is no doubt as to the message of the above poem, entitled Wegg
11
and not included in the collected poetry. The lesson is basically the
same in Meditation:

Du musst dich schon andsrs sntladen.
Du musst dsinen sigsnsn Schaden
Riskisren und Mut verraten

Oder wenigstsns Witz.

Many poems in Allerdings treat this theme. Honesty and humility are
associated with one another, thus they are often treated int he same con-g
text. Ringelnatz rsSpscts the quiet, the unassuming and the humble, however
these qualities may manifest themselves. In Alte Winkslmauer, he praises
these qualities in an inanimate wall:

see Wail du. gar niCht perigSte
Wail du nichts srledigst.
Wail du gar nicht willst sein.
Wsil mir deine Flecksn

Ahnungen erwscken.
Du, eines Schattsns Schein.

Seit ich dich gefunden,
Macht mich fur Sekundsn
Meine Notdurft an dir fromm.

and in An Peter Scher, he teaches them to a friend:

 

llIbid.

120
... Oder weil du, dsr auch du mich liebst,
Das nicht zugibst.
Und gerade auf das Zugebsn
Kommt's an im Leben.
In An danMann in S is e1, he admonishes himself, showing that he intends
to practice what he preaches:

see DU, Spring niCht fiber Schranken,
Dis hoher, als du selber bist, sind.

Man selber, not included in the collected poetry,12 is also addressed to
the poet himself. It exhibits rare humility and modesty.

wenn wir fiber uns selber springen,

werden uns alle Plane gslingsn.

Hopla! - Das werfe ich nur so hin,

Weiss ich doch gar nicht, wer ich bin.

We have seen in the Ansprachs eines Frsmdsn an sine Geschminkte vor
dem Wilberforcemonument, in the Kuttel Daddeldu cycle, Ringslnatz' regard
for prostitutes. He again defends them in the longest poem of the Allard
.dings collection, entitled Bordell. He shows the bordello through the
various opinions of the people who encounter it. The mother type is
characteristically sharp in her criticism. The poet dismisses her opinion
as misinformed:

Du hast das von dsinen lieben

Eltern und aus Buchern entnommen,

Darin die Wahrheit umschrieben

Ist, weil man sis richtig und scharf

Nicht leicht einsehen kann, nooh sis drucken darf.
With similar strictures upon conventional value judgments the poet exhorts
the father not to feign righteousness since.he is aware of the father's
experience in the bordello. In stanza 3, the sister, too, is upbraided

for her attitude. Here the poet's great compassion for prostitutes finds

 

12mm.

121
expression. The stanza ends on a typically alienating note with irony
and sarcasm:

Aber, liebe Schwestsr! Ei ei!

Geh, so du.magst, wie an Klossttsn vorbei.
Reizt ss dich dennoch, hinzusehen,

warum muss das dann spottisch geschehen?
Denks: was reizts dich wohl, hinzusehen?
Wusstsst du, wie sis dich laut beneiden,
Wis sis, getrstene Tiers, dort leiden

In dem.Gsf!ngnis dsr.Allzufrein,

Wurdsst du trotz dsr Geschmside und Seiden,
Des offsnsn Scheins, dsr blendsndsn Beine,
Trotz dsr Erfolge ihnen nicht nur verzeihn.
Sollst sis weder beachtsn noch meiden;

Lass sis sinfach in Huh.

Sis sind gemeine, beflsckte Schweine.

Nicht so vornehm und rein und welterfahren wie du.

Stanzas 4 and 5 show the hardheartsd attitude of the madame toward the
unfortunate girls. Ringelnatz attempts to remain factual in his descrip—
tions but he is unable to disguise his compassion and pity. The sixth
stanza again reveals the hypocrisy of the righteous father as he warns his
son against frequenting the bordello. Stanza 7 is the poet's impression of
the house of ill repute, frankly'and directly addressed to his wife. In
the final stanza, the author practices the humility and honesty which he
preaches by describing in terms which approach psychological exhibitionism
what was apparently one of his own visits to the bordello:

Gutsn Morgen, mein Schutzchen,

st wohl! Du bist wie sin Kltzchsn

So schmisgsam und samtig

‘Was? Du willst heute kein Geld?

was dir doch sinfullt!

Tust du's denn etwa shrenamtlich?

Viellsicht fur das Kartsnlegsn?

Sag doch, Liebling, weswegsn

Willst du kein Geld heute? Nimm es doch hin!
‘Weil ich sin armsr Kunstler bin?

Freilich, wir sind Kollegsn.

Das nlchstemal leg ich dir wieder die Kartsn.
Nun muss ich fort. Heine Frau wird wartsn.
Du weisst doch, dass ich verheiratst bin?

Du absr bleibst meine sflsss kleine

122

Freundin. Und Beine hast du! Beine
Wis sins Kbnigin.

This stanza bespeaks a great positivity. The poet shows how grateful
the girl proves herself after she has been treated kindly. Ringelnatz
thus admires prostitutes for their humble and honest generosity which
needs only kindness to make itself evident. Their generosity, manifested
in their ability to give of themselves, renders them superior to the cold
and righteous women who disdain them. Ringelnatz strengthens this view
further in Letztes wert an sins Sprods:

Finds ich unten im.Hafsn

Heute sin hurendss Kind,

Will ich bei ihr schlafen;

Bis wir fertig sind.

Dann: - dis Tflre klinket

Leise auf und leise zu.

Und dis Hurs winkst -

Glucklicher als du.

Honesty and humility are Ringelnatz' favorite teachings. ‘Ws saw in
the discussion of Bordsll also a praise of generosity. The poet often
treats this theme. To him, the greatest expression of generosity is in
the giving of oneself. He discusses this point with characteristic
directness in Schenksn:

Schenks mit Geist ohne List.
Ssi eingedsnk
Dass dein Geschenk
Du selber bist.
--and in Zu einem Gsschenk:
Und zum Schluss hab' ich doch nur dies kleine,
Lumpigs beschissne Ding gefunden.
Aber gsrn hab' ich fflr dich gswacht.
was ich nicht vermochts, tu du's: Drflcke du
Nun sin Augs zu.
Und bedenks,

Dass ich dir funf Stundsn‘Wache schenke.
Lass mich such in Zukunft nicht in Huh.

123
Courage is also a favorite Ringelnatz didactic theme. It is dis.
cussed in Der Mut dsr reifsn Jugsnd and in other verses:

Hab' Mut! Jedoch nicht, um ihn zu bsweisen.

Schick deinsn Hut niemals auf’Reissn.

Man kann mit Kuhnheit, doch mit Hut nis scherzsn,
Denn dsr, dsr Mut zeigt, hat auch.Furcht imlerzen.

Ringelnatz also teaches compassion and reverence for all life as in
Tisrschutz-WOrts:

... Ssien Sis lisb zu den Hunden!
Auch zu den scheinbar basssten.

--or in Antwort an einen Gelangweiltsn:

... Du sollst an dem Schicksal nicht mnksln,
Sollst nichts stsndigss quuln.

--or in Hilflose Tiers:

wenn sin Hund kotzt, soll man keinen Augenblick
Ihn dann storsn,

Soll man auf ihn harsh.

TBne sind Bruchstflcke von Musik.

Will das Ruhrende dir hasslich scheinsn,

Dsnke: Grosses spiegelt sich im.Kleinsn.

Wirst dich doch.der eigensn Ubelksit

niemals schamen.

Gunne Tiersn wenigstsns die Zeit,

Widerwartigss zuruckzunshmen.

‘Ws have seen the poet's capacity for profound compassion on many occasions.
Nowhere is it more beautifully expressed than in Gswisse_junge Burschen.

... Gaunt doch den jungen, frischen
Tiersn sin freudiges weichmaulgsfrass.
Ihrsm.Zahnartzt sntwischsn
Sis doch nicht. Bestimmungsgsmass.
Nebsn mir, still, vom Ball abgswandt,
Stsht so einer derglsichsn.
Ich machte so gsrn aus dsr flachen Hand
Ihm sin Stuck Zucker reichsn.

The love poems to be found in.Allerding§ lack the universality and
the tenderness of those of the Reissbrisfe. With the one exception of

An.M, quoted above and addressed to his wife, which shows deep love,

124
appreciation and devotion, the love lyrics are primarily erotic and seem
to present a mere chronicle of the poet's sexual sXpsrisnces. Although
the sexual allusion in line 2 is unmistakable, Nach kurzer Fahrt getrennt
presents a fine example of Ringelnatz' style.

Es reimt sich was,

Und es schleimt sich was,

In den Austern im KBlner September.

Ich sitze - und nismand sonst ist dabsi -

Vor blinksndsn Lichtern in.der Bastei,

And I remember.

Heute wird nicht gegsizt,

Wird mit Champagner gsheizt,

Fflr dich saffs ich Tints.

Paris ist nicht weit von hier.

Konnten wir! - Wellen wir

Uns dort treffsn, Lobintts??
Both stanzas begin with two lines which place totally unrelated elements in
close proximity to one another. Line 3 of both stanzas is so far-fetched
as to evoke a note of the ridiculous. The last three lines of both
stanzas regain a sense of coherence. The combination of caprics and
necessity in the rhyme scheme which rhymes schleimen with rsimen, Septem-
'bgr‘with the seemingly emergency choice of the English remember, and
ggizsn with heizsn is characteristic of Ringslnatz' use of language. Not
only are the various elements of the posm.unrelated but the serious is
placed in immediate proximity to the ridiculous. One could hardly con.
ceive of more bizarre combinations than the above-cited rhymes represent.
It is exactly this technique which distinguishes the Ringelnatz lyric
style 0

In the Reisebriefe, we noted a suicidal longing for death on the part

of the post on numerous occasions. The tone of.Allsrdings is generally
more positive, thus longing for life replaces the death wish as a dominant

theme even though the quest for life is by and large frustrated as in

125
Alter Mann sprichtgjungss Madchen an.

Gutsn Tag! - Wis du dich.bemuhst,

Keine Antwort auszusprschsn.

”Gutsn Tag" in die Luft gegrusst,

Ist das wohl sin Sittlichkeitsvsrbrechsn?

Jags mich nicht fort.

Ich will dich nicht verjagen.
Nun werde ich jsdss weitere Wort
Zu meinsm Spazierstock sagen:

Sprich mich nicht an und sieh mich nicht,
Du Schlankes.

Ich hatte auch einmal sin so blankss,
Junges Gesicht.

Wis viele hattsn,

was du noch hast.

Schenks mir nur dsinen Schattsn
Fur sins kurze Rast.

Pessimistic expressions such as that above and in Seepferdchen, are com.
pletsly neutralized by Ostern, a poem fraught with humor and even enthu-

siasm for the simple joys of life.

Wenn die Schokolads keimt,

Wenn nach langem.Druck bei Dichterlingsn
”Glockenklingsn“ sich auf "Lenzssschwingsn”
Endlich reimt,

Und dsr Osterhase hinten auch schon presst,
Dann kommt bald das Osterfest.

Und wenn wirklich dann mit Glockenklingsn
Ostern naht auf Lenzssschwingsn, -

Dann mit jsnen Dichterlingsn

Und mit deren jugendlichen Brautsn
Draussen schwelgen mit berauschten Handen -
Ach, das denk ich mir sntsetzlich,
Ausssrdsm.- unter Umstlndsn -

Ungssetzlich.

Aber morgens auf dem.Frflhstflckstischs

Funf, sechs, sieben flaumweich gelbe frische
Eier. Und dann ganz hineingekniet!

Ha! Da spurt man, wie dis Frflhlingswarme
Durch gsheime Gangs und Godarme

In dis Zukunft zieht,

Und wie dankbar wir fur solchsn Segsn

Ssin mflsssn.

Ach, ich kannte alle Hennen kfisssn,

Dis so langgszogsns Kugsln legen.

126
The first two stanzas present a good—natured satire of traditional spring.
time verse, characterized by'wellaworn clichsss. In the final stanza,
Ringelnatz outlines his own concept of happiness: simple, down to earth ,
and more satisfying than the forced pompousnsss of what is considered
traditional lyric sensation.

Interesting to note in Allsrdings is a political awareness which is
indeed novel for Ringelnatz. Previous to this collection he has remained
fer the most part discreetly aloof of political comment. A number of laws
which he deemed unreasonable curtailment of his freedom.stimu1ated the first

five lines of Vsrflucht und zugsnaht:

Man sollts den Gesetzen

In Kleinigkeiten

Ein Bein stellsn und sis verletzsn
Und sis, von Gennern geldunterstutzt,
Uberschreiten.

In Auskshr, he names the law in question with a subtitle (Zum Schmutz und
Schundggsetz November 1926) and indulges in revolutionary excess when he
sxclaims in the final stanza:

Sagen wir nur: Nein!

In die Ecke, Bessn, Bssen!

In dem Dreck, wo ihr gewesen

Seid, macht eusrn Drsck allein!

Nicht verhandeln.

Denn wir wollen rein,

Und auch durch Schmutz und Schund, in Freiheit wandeln.

In Die zwei Polis, not included in the collected verse,13 Ringelnatz attacks
politics and the police, both of which the post regards as sinister usurpsrs
of freedom. The style of the poem is characteristic of Ringelnatz in its
use of word separation, internal rhyme, and in its humorous yet serious

tone 0

Ich drshs aus der Tik
Nismandsm einen Strick.
Denn wir wollen frei
Sein in der Republik

 

13Ib1d.

127

Und wie dsr Tik so auch dsr Zei
Geh ich am liebsten weit vorbei.
Ich habe sie beide dick.

So werfe auch kein andrer solchsn Strick
Mit dsr Tik mir ums Genick.

Denn ich.will von der Tik nichts verstehn.
Und dis Zei und alle Zein

Kannsn mich - o nein! o nein! -'

Kannsn mir aus dem Wegs gehn.

Bei dsr Tik verlangt man Krummheit
Im gegebenen Moment.

Und dis Zei wunscht fags Dummhsit,
Wsil sis keinen Shakespeare kennt.

Und die Zei will meinen Willem.
Meins Meinung will die Tik.

Beide wunschen sis im.stillen
Hypothsk auf jedermanns Geschick.

Es muss doch Leute geben,

Die ehrlich sein wolln,

0nd weil sis nur ihr Ausmass leben,
Darum auch freisr sein solln.

Darum.flbe dis Zei nicht an mir Kritik,

Und die Tik mbge mir es verzeihn,

'Wenn ich nochmals gestshe, dass ich jeden Augenblick
Mbglichst fern von beiden mochte sein.

In a poeticized discussion with an American, entitled Gold, Ringelnatz

criticizes German bureaucracy.

Doch sis haben recht, mein lieber Mister,
Deutschland nnhrt sin bisschsn viel Minister.
In den.Einzelstaats-Beamtenheersn

Kannts man dis Hllfte gut entbehren.

Der Wilde Mann, die weiche MannI das Violemann, also not included in
the collected verse,1“ offers Ringslnatz' view of politics. All positions
seem ridiculous to him. The definite articles employed in the title hint
at the references made in the three-part poem. Part 1 shows the extremes
of ruthless and senseless masculinity. Part 2 represents the feminine
approach which Ringelnatz views as abject cowardice. Part 3 represents

 

1"Ih1d.

128
the middle-of-ths-roader, less repugnant than those depicted in parts 1
and 2 but nevertheless colorless and unsatisfying. Politics as a whole
seem to the poet highly ineffective means of solving the problems of

humanity.
1.

Auf! Lasst uns irgsnd jemandsn erschlagsn!
Sis fragen: Wen?

Wis feig schon, tbsrhaupt zu fragen.

Halt irgsnd wen, den oder den.

So irgendjsmand mitten aus der Mitts
Urplatzlich taten, hei , wie das belebt!
Weil's Aufsehn macht.

Denn Teten ist nicht Sitte,

Sondern sin Sport, vor dem die Mshrbeit bebt.

Nicht solchs taten, die uns Grund gegeben,
Noch stwa Grei se oder Weib und Kind,

Auch lasst uns Tater gsgenssitig leben,

Weil wir doch schliesslich keine Henksr sind.

Was fiber achtzig Jahr und unter zshn

J ahr ist, sind faule, unbrauchbare Drohnsn.

Den andern absr muss man zugestehn,

Dass sis was leistsn, und die lasst uns schonen.

2.

Auf! Lasst uns all mitnander Ei-si machen!
Auf! Fistet Pazi und seid friedJich froh!
Verklsbt aus liebe unter heitrem Lachen
Mit Bruderkuss den feindlichsten Pepo.

Krisg, Hess und Nsid und alle widrigen
Gsfahle fort! Dem Herzsn geht GshBr!

Wir wollen uns frsiwillig selbst srniedrigen.
Und wsr uns anspsit, sei uns Perfumeur.

Ein Reich zu grandsn und dafflr zu werbsn

Gilt es, dass ganz und gar dem Himmsl gleicht.
Seid fiberzeugt: Wir werden drflbsr sterben.
Doch, wenn wir leben bleiben, wars erreicht.

3.

Warum denn immer alles libertreiben?

Warm denn links? Warum denn rechts?

Um Gottes willen, lasst uns massig bleiben,
Nicht mlnnlichen, nicht weiblichsn Geschlechts.

129
Hflbsch angspasst und jsde Reibung meiden!
Nicht hart, nicht weich! Nicht Ja, nicht Nein!
Auf alles haren und sich nis sntscheidsn.
‘Wsr weiss, wie's kommt. Man muss gewappnet sein.
Denn golden ist dsr goldns'ng dsr Mitts.
Man isst und zsugt und schlaft schbn ungsstort,
ngt sich nicht auf um "denke" oder "bitte"
Und weiss und lebt und stirbt, wie sich's gehort.

Ringslnatz' political satire. includes a broadside at the parliament
in Des Parlament, not included in the collected postry.15 He is especially
revolted by the pretentious inefficiency of the representatives.

... Nur manchmal, wenn dsr Prlsident
laut lautst, gibt es Ruhs.
Doch alles, was im Parlament
Geschieht, ist nur Gstus.
Sis wollen sich in Wirklichksit
Nur grosstun und Vsrtragen
Und freun sich auf die Fsrisnzsit
wo wir dis Stsusrn tragsn!

The remainder of the satire in Allsrdings follows a pattern set in
the poet's satirical period. He deplores nationalism, militarism, and
exaggerated masculinity. He disparagss liars and attention-seeking exhibi-
tionists. A burlesque of the exaggerations of modern advertising is a
satirical innovation to be found in Allerdings. In thche, Ringelnatz
caricatures underwear advertisements by attributing spiritual, intellectual
and moral value to clean underwear. This poem also exhibits the poet's

humoristic technique of placing the sublime in immediate proximity to the

ridiculous.

WHsche ist von.dss Menschen Umfiusssrung
Das Innsrste, also das Fsinsts,

Und sollts immer das Rsinsts

Sein, wie im.Menschsn selber dis Sesls.

‘Was immer ihr fehls,
Dis Sauberksit fehls ihr nie.

 

lSIbid.

130
Und schon und schbner, wenn ausssrdsm sis
Noch wohlgeschmack, einen frsien Geist
Und das Vsrstandnis fur nsussts Zeit
Und fur die Gesstze dsr Ewigkeit
Bsweist. -
Wis doch dis innsrstsn.Blhttchsn deerlutsn
Die innigstsn sind. -
'Wasche sollst du wie dsin GeWisssn
Und wie dsin Kind
Peinlich pflegen und zartlich behutsn.

There is no dearth of humor in Allsrdings, some of which I have dis.
cusssd in conjunction with other topics. In Der Komiksr, however, Ringel-
natz draws our attention to the deadly serious motivation behind humor and
the humorist.

Ein Komiker von erstem.Rang

Ging sins Strasse links entlang.

Dis Leute sagten rings umber

Hindsutsnd: "Das ist der und dsr!"

Der Komiksr fuhr aus der Haut

Nach Haus und wurgts seine Braut.

Nicht stwa, wie von ungefahr,

Nein ernst, als ob das komisch.wfir.
The remainder of the humoristic verse treats drunken visions and amusing
experiences such as the grotesque Heimatloss, quoted above.

Allerdings is Ringslnatz' first collection of non-cyclic verse. It
is less autobiographical than the Reisebriefe, and the themes are less
numerous. The dominant tendency is a didacticism which presents Ringel-
natz' entire system of values. Other important themes include: impres-
sions of life, compassion, love, longing for life, political satire, and
his humor. Noteworthy in.Allerdings is the unity of Ringelnatz' painting
and poetry in theme, technique and style. The paintings and the poems
can be considered a unified artistic expression, in technique approaching
impressionism. Ringelnatz reproduces with brush or pen his impressions of

the world. He poeticizss products of his imagination which often unite

131
unrelated elements to produce a tragicomic effect. His purely lyrical
productions bespsak deep emotion. He relates visions experienced in a
state somewhere between sleep and waking in which normal life orientations
are confused and out of focus. One of the favorite motifs of both his
painting and poetry is the loneliness of man and animal. Ringslnatz' view
of life as reflected in.Allerdings is still pessimistic and melancholy,
but he also shows that he is convinced of the basic probity of human intui-
tion. Life is cruel and mean,but a purposeful attitude and faith in God
can give life meaning and evoke a certain happiness. The poet finds this
saving attitude in a didactic purpose which he pursues with characteristic
frankness and directness. To Ringelnatz, honesty is the cardinal virtue,
followed by humility, generosity, courage, reverence for life and compas-
sion. The love lyrics of ths.Allerdings collection are less universal,
less tender than those of the Reissbrisfe. The longing for death of the
Reissbriefe is replaced by a longing for life in Allsrdings.

The Flugzsuggedanken (1929) represent a renewed effort to create a
poetry cycle. Here, as in most of Ringelnatz' poetry cycles, the unity
planned by the author fails to be maintained throughout the collection.

We saw the cyclic unity of the Turngsdichte, Kuttel Daddeldu and Geheimes
Kinderspielbuch suddenly'disintsgrats in the middle of the collection.
Ringelnatz had obviously become aware of the effect of this inconsistency
upon the reader since the poems which are pertinent to the title and to
thematic unity are interspersed throughout the Flugzsuggsdanken. This
creates at least the impression of unity even though cyclic unity in the
strict sense of the word is not maintained. This organizational awareness
illustrates Ringslnatz' increasing technical SOphistication which is also
obvious in the form of the poems. The earlier poetry is highly irregular

in meter, rhyme scheme, and use of language. Irregularitiss were

132
particularly evident in Ringelnatz' satirical period. One could perhaps
attribute this to the revolt which he was proclaiming against society.

His poetic forms might merely have been an extension of his philosophical
rejection of polite society. They may also be attributable to a certain
lack of technical finesse which is acquired only through time and practice.
The most plausible explanation seems to be a combination of the above
reasons. ‘We have noted a tone which has become increasingly conciliatory
as we progress chronologically through.Ringelnatz' poetry. This tone has
been accompanied by‘a poetic maturation which has shown definite stages of
develoPment. The satirical verses exhibit for the most part highly
irregular form. Included in the satirical collections, however, are verses
which show the author's striving for regular, even traditional form. What
could be more regular than, for example, Die Ameisen in Die Schngpftabaks-
.gggg or Bumerang in the Turngedichte:

‘war einmal ein Bumerang;

war ein weniges zu lang.

Bumerang flog ein Stuck,

Aber kam nicht mehr zurnck.

Publikum - noch studenlang -

'Wartete auf Bumerang.
Form regularity increases with the increase of non-satirical poetry. The
examples of regular form are still by no means preponderant in the 52322'
briefe eines Artisten but they occur with greater frequency than previously.
Kflrzeste Liebe is an attempt at regularity and is relatively successful.
Flaws are observable only in the first line of the second stanza and in
the last line of the poem. Am.Kanal is perfectly regular with five
stresses per line and a regular a b, a b rhyme scheme. Der Komiker in

Allerdings is highly regular as is Meine erste Liebe?

133

Erste Liebe? Ach, ein'wustling, dessen
Herz so wahllos ist wie meins, so weit,
Hat die erste Liebe lungst vergessen,
Und ihn interessiert nur seine Zeit.

Heine letzte Liebe zu beschreiben,
‘Ware just so leicht wie indiskret.
.Ausserdem? Wird sie die letzte bleiben,
Bis ihr Name in der "Woohe" steht?

Meine Abenteuer in der Hinne

Mussen sehr gedrlngt gewesen sein.
Wenn ich auf das erste mich besinne,
Fallt mir immer noch ein fruh'res ein.

EngerKunstlerschaft shows a concerted effort at regularity and is success.
ful except for metric flaws in line 2 of the fourth stanza and the third
line of the fifth stanza. Regularity becomes increasingly frequent as we
progress chronologically. The Flugzeuggedanken collection has the greatest
number of regular verses and also shows an improvement of the impressionis-
tic technique which became noticeable in.Allerdings. AMany poems inwglug-
zeuggedanken record, in the true impressionistic tradition, Ringelnatz'
sensitivity to experience, not the experience itself. In.Fruhlin , for
example, the poet experiences springtime in the middle of the winter.

Die Baume im Ofen lodern.
Die VBgel locken am Grill.
Die Sonnenschirme vermodern.
Im fibrigens ist es still.

Es stecken die Spargel aus Dosen
Die zarten Kbpfchen hervor.

Bunt ranken sich kflnstliche Rosen
In.Faschingsgirlanden empor.

Ein Etwas, wie Glockenklingen,
Den Oberkellner bewegt,

Mir tausend Eier zu bringen,
Von Osterstoren gelegt.

Ein Susser Duft von Havanna
Verweht in ringelnder Spur,
Ich fuhle an meiner Susanna
Erwachende neue Natur

134

Es lohnt sich manchmal, zu lieben,

Was kommt, nicht ist oder war.

Ein Frul'flingsgedicht, geschrieben

Im kaltesten Februar.
In addition to the undeniable impressionistic technique, this poem
represents the greatest form of finesse of any verse yet encountered. The
meter and rhyme are flawless.

In Sonntagspublikum vor Bflhnen, Ringelnatz uses color to convey his
impression of innocent peOple enjoying themselves on Sunday: “Sonntagskinder
sind himmelblau." In Drei Tage in Tirol, he impressionistically combines
verbs with illogical objects in order to convey the totality of his
experience with one unified utterance.

... Ich habe viel Freiheit gefressen
Und viel Gesellschaft gespeist.
Landschaften hab ich gesoffen
Und Illusionen geraucht.

Ringelnatz' treatment of animals approaches Rilke's technique made
famous by his poem Der Panther. In par aus dem Kflfigentkommen, Ringel-
natz paints a picture of the world in terms of the bear's experience. He
has observed the bear closely and is thus able to experience the world
vicariously through the bear. He thereby also forces the reader to
empathy with the bear.

Was ist mm jetzt?

Wo sind auf einmal die Stangen,

An denen die wunschende Nase sich wetzt?
Was soll er nun anfangen?

Er schnuppert neugierig und scheu.

Wie ist das alles vor ihm so weit

Und so wunderschan neu!
Aber wie schrecklich die Menschheit schreit!

Und er nfihert sich geduckt

Einem fremden Gegenstande. -
Platzlich wfllzt er sich im Sande,
Weil ihn etwas juckt.

He does the same

135

Kippt ein Tisch. Genau.wie Baum.

Aber eine Peitsche knallt.

Und der Bar flieht seitwarts, macht dann halt.
Und der Raum um ihn ist schlimmer Traum.

Lasst der Bar sich locken. Doch er brflllt.
Lasst sich treiben, lasst sich fangen.
Angsterfullt und hasserfflllt.

wunscht er sich nach seines Kafigs Stangen.

thing with two elephants in Stalltfiren:

Zwei dicke Elephanten

wollten inkognito

Heimwandern. Doch alle Passanten
Erkannten die Elephanten

Als Fluchtlinge aus dem Zoo.

Und wenn sich auch nismand getraute,
Sie anzufassen, ward ihnen doch klar,
Dass man ihre Absicht durchschaute
Und dass nun bald was in Gange war.

-and with giraffes in Giraffen im Zoo:

Wenn sich die Giraffen recken,

Hochlaub sucht die spitze Zunge,

Das ihnen so schmeckt, wie junge
Frflhkartoffeln mit Butter mir schmecken.
Da sie von uns weiterschreiten,

Traumt in ihren stillen, schbnen

Augen etwas, was erschflttert, ...

In.Ringelnatz' imaginative perception, inanimate objects acquire life

and are able to express their sensations and experiences through the poet.

This technique is very similar to that employed by Rilke in his

Dinggedichte.16

‘flugzeug,amHWinterhimmgl
Ich fliege im Flockengewimmel.
Ach, guter Himmel, lass das doch sein!
Ich Flugriese bin nur klein.V8gelein
Gegen dich, schflttender Himmel.

 

mflainer mug Rilke, ”die Leute," "das Bett," "der Ball," "die
Sonnenuhr," ”ramische Fontane," etc., Neue Gedichte.

136

Sag Schneegestflber, ich bate es sehr,
Ein wenig nachzulassen.

Denn meine Fltigel tragen schon schwer
An sechs ganz dicken Insassen.

Die spielen Karten in meinem Leib

Und trinken, weil 816 so frieren.

Und llen nach Zoppot, um Zeitvertreib
Und rtliches zu studieren.

Und kdme ich dort nicht pflnktlich hin,
Die warden es niemals verzeihen.
Lieber Himuel, wenn ich gelandet bin,
Dann darfst du gem wieder schneien.

Flying and flyers are the elements which Ringelnatz chose to give
unity to the Flugz suggedanken, This choice of theme illustrates a return
to the romantic and Rousseaui stic17 sentiments exposed in Kuttel Daddeldu
and Matrosen. Flyers have replaced sailors as the objects of the poet's
admiration. The flyer is no noble savage, however, and Ringelnatz is
attracted by his sophistication. Like sailors, flyers are drawn together
by the danger that they must constantly encounter and by the necessity of
teamwork and technical prowess to cheat the unfriendly elements. Such a
performance requires courage, honesty, knowledge , polish, humor and
modesty. Flyers seem to possess all of the saving virtues which Ringelnatz
extols. He enthusiastically sings their praise in Eliegerleute.

Vielleicht wird sich das spater lndern.

Auch ist es vielleicht in verschiedenen Landern
Anders. Doch wie das in Deutschland heute
Liegt, muss ich sagen: Die Fliegerleute,
Piloten, Bordmonteure, Flugleiter,
Bezirksleiter, Funker und so weiter,

Auch die in Bflro und der luftige Boy
Sind goldige Kerls. - Ihnen Gutes! Ahoi!

 

17Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) sentimentalized homely, everyday
virtues and glorified the simple untutored instincts of plain men,
peasants, villagers, and artisans. Rousseau's attack upon intellectual
analysis isolated from genuine emotion and his faith in the immediate in-
sights of sentiment and feeling stimulated romantic intuitions of realities
higher than arm which mere reason alone might grasp.

137

Nur ehrliche Leistung bringt nach der Ferns
Durch Wetter und ngen ein Schiff

Doch bei der Luftfahrt kommt die moderne
Weltmannische Bildung hinzu.und der Schliff.

Humorvoll und kuhn, sich beherrschend, bescheiden -.
Heraus ohne Schmeichelei:
Ich mag deise Kerls leiden.

Ihre Welt ist noch frei.

So, wie sie sind, und dort, we sie sind,
'Wehn alle Flaggen und ein guter Wind.

Wie wohl das heute tut.

Prost Fliegerleute, ich denke an euch!
Xndert euch nicht. Ich schwenke vor euch
Meinen,Hut.

Flying brings with it a new life perspective. Ringelnatz is able to judge
life more fairly from.above. He feels himself detached and nearer death.
His view of life, basically unchanged, remains pessimistic. Flight makes
the poet aware of the beauty of life, however, and causes him to express
his love of life and fear of death. Thus Ringelnatz attains a new posi-
tivity in his flying adventures. Life gains meaning and purpose. Flying

enhances the life experience by bringing one close to death.

Fluggeugggdanken

Dort unten ist die Erde mein

Mit Bauten und Feldern des Fleisses.
‘Wenn ich einmal nicht mehr werde sein,
Dann graben Sie mich.dort unten hinein,
Ich weiss es.

Dort unten ist vie1.Mflhe und Not
Und wenig wahre Liebe. -

Nun stelle ich mir sekundenlang
Vor, dass ich oben hier bliebe,
Ewig, und lebt und wlre doch tot -
Oh, macht mich der Gedanke bang.

Mein Herz und mein Gewissen schlagt
Lauter als der Propeller.

Du Flugzeug, das so schnell mich trlgt,
Flieg schneller!

138
Flying engenders feelings of love and melancholy so profound that the mood
has to be shattered by a defensive humor.
Einsamer Spazierflug

Nun ich wie gestorben bin
Und.wurde ein Engelein,

Fliege ich fiber dein Wehnhaus hin.
HEuschen klein.

Die du als Witwe wieder umworben
Sein magst,

Da ich doch schon verstorben

Bin -. Was du wohl sagst?

Ob du gefasst bist oder klagst?
Oder ob dein Humor wieder steht,
Du dessen eingedsnk bist,

Dass ein aufrichtiges Gebet

Ein unterweges Selbstgeschenk ist?
Ach, wie es dir wohl geht?

Ob du.dich verlassen meinst?

Ob du gar Gott verneinst,

.Anstatt dass du dankbar

Bist. 'Wusste ich, dass du jetzt so weinst
Wie einst, da ich.krank war,

Kippte ich die Maschine kurz

Steil ab auf Sturz.

Oder sollts einem.Bngelein
Solch ein Kegelpurz
Verboten sein??

It prompts pious and humble thoughts:

werden der Himmelsnahe jah bewusster.
Wie klein sich doch da unten alles lebt.

-but also courageous thoughts:

Es stirbt sich sowieso und fiberall,
Und jedes Ding veranlasst Unglflcksfall.

-and an incomparable feeling of freedom:

vergessen sie nicht taricht fiber diesen
Gedanken, schbnste Freiheit zu geniessen.

--and humoristic impressions.

139
Aus der Vogelkunde

Ich spreche von Flugmaschinen.

Sie summen lauter als Bienen

Und sind eine Kreuzung von Taube,
Ente, Maikafer und Schiffsschraube.

Sie nisten einzeln, paar- und gruppen-
Weise in Hallen und Schuppen.

Ich habe persbnlich festgestellt:
Sie bringen lebendige Junge zur Welt,

Die wie Menschen aussehn,
Wenn sie aus ihnen herausgehn.

Auch legen sie Eier und bruten
Im Krieg. Zeus mOge das kunftig verhflten.

Ihre Nahrung sind Menschen, Koffer, Benzin
Und Zeitungen aus Berlin.

Sie sind fiber die ganze Welt

Verbreitet und auch sehr zahm in Freiheit.
Ausserdem sind sie der Polizeiheit

Und der Zollbehbrdlichkeit unterstellt.
Volkstflmlich nennt man sie schlechthin Maschinen.
Ich kennte Ihnen mit Naherem dienen, l
Aber ich verlange dafur

Eine Flugzeugengebilhr.

Thus flying represents a definitely positive stimulus in Ringelnatz'
view of life although his basic contentions as to the nature of human
existence remain essentially the same as those discussed in connection with
the earlier collections. A new side is revealed, however, when Ringelnatz
discusses nature. He sees in nature the reflections of all life: cold,
hard, cruel, and unfeeling. Thus he remains quite indifferent to nature
and views its manifestations as no greater than those of any objects which
bear with them pleasant associations:

Natur
Wenn immer sie mich fragen,
0b ich ein Freund sei der Natur,

Was soll ich ihnen nur
Dann sagen?

1A0

Ich kann eine Bohrmaschine,
Einen.Hosentrager oder ein Kind
So lieben wie eine Biene

Oder wie Blumen oder Wind.

Ein Sofa ist entstanden,

So wie ein Flussbett entstand,
We immer Schiffe landen,
Finden sie immer nur Land.

Es mag ein holder Schauer

Nach einem.Brlebnis in mir sein.

Ich streichle eine.Mauer

Des Postamts. Glatte Mauer aus Stein.

Und keiner von dem.Steinen
Nickt mir zuruck.

UndlmmxienLeute weinen
Vb? GluCke

With increasing age Ringelnatz begins to view his life in histori-
cal perspective. He exhibits sentimentality, regret and melancholy, as in

AHEESt 1222c

Es hat ein Jedes was ertraumt.
Es hat ein Jedes was versflumt.

In Heine alte Schiffsuhr, his old ship's clock brings him memories of his
youth in which he indulges himself to the utmost in order to plunder the
experience of all the sweet sorrow that such recollections can bring.

... Nein, sie hflngt sicher
Geborgen. Doch.in ihr kreist
Ein ruhelos wunderlicher
Freibeuter - Klabautergeist.

Nachts, wenn ich still vor ihr hocke,
Dann here ich mehr als Ticktack.
Dann klingt das wie Nebelglocke

Und feiner Hundswachenschnack.

Und manche Zeit versaume
Ich vor der spukenden, unkenden Uhr,
Indem.ich.davon traume,
Wie ich mit ihr nach Nestindien fuhr.
He himself is the old clock, comfortably protected yet still restlessly

longing for adventure and the salty taste of life which he knew in his youth.

141
Age brings with it an enhanced awareness of the compensations of
life. These Ringelnatz stresses in terms which would have been impossible
in his younger days.
Deutsche Sommernacht
Wenn die PfirsichpOpos
Sich im Sekt fiberschlagen.
Und der Teufel legt los,
Uns mit Hucken zu plagen.
Und wir f1illen einmal reichlich bloss
Einem Armen Tasche und Hagen.
Doch es blahn sich Imnnerbauche.
Tabakblau hQngt sich an Strauche.

Wenn wir dann die J acken ausziehn,
Und ein Braten duft poussiert Jasmin .. ..

In das dunkle Umunsschwingen

Senden zwei entfernte Gei gen
Schwesterliche Melodie.

Uns durchglflht ein Urgedanke.

Und es wechseln runde, schlanke
Frauenbeine Knie um Knie.

Und auf einmal lacht die Hunde,
Weil ein Herr aus einem Hunde
Hinten einen Faden nimmt.

Wenn dann wirklich alles, alles lacht,
Dann ist jene seltne deutsche Nacht,
Da mal alles stinnnt.

Aside from these innovations, the themes of Fluggeuggedanken show the
same basic tendencies as those of Allerdings. Didacticism remains prepon.
derant and the lessons taught are essentially the same as in the earlier
verse: honesty and humility, love and friendship, courage and compassion.
The satire remains directed primarily at the insensitive bourgeoisie. Many
poems merely treat Ringelnatz' own experiences. Often these themes are

treated with his characteristic humor.

In Flugzeuggedanken Ringelnatz presents a poetry cycle which again is
by and large uncyclic. The technicalities of the collection show increasing

th
sophistication, however. The arrangement of the poems creates a more
unified effect,and the form of the verses is more polished than in previous
collections. Regularity of form.becomes increasingly frequent as we pro-
gress chronologically through the poetry. Flugzeuggedanken has the great-
est number of regular verses and shows an improvement of the impressionistic
technique which became noticeable in Allerdings. Flying and flyers are the
elements which.Ringelnatz chose to give unity to the Flugzeuggedanken
collection. Flyers have replaced sailors as the objects of the poet's
admiration. Flying brings with it a new life perspective; it makes the
poet aware of the beauty of life and causes a new positivity in the poet's
view of life. With increasing age Ringelnatz begins to view his life his.
torically. Aside from these innovations, the themes of Flugzeuggedanken
exhibit the same basic tendencies as those of Allerdings.

The Kinderverwirrbuch (1931) and the Kasperle-Verse (1933) represent
Ringelnatz' final efforts at writing poetry cycles and at composing chil-
dren's verse. As a cycle the Kinderverwirrbuch is without doubt the
least successful of his several attempts in this direction. The arrange-
ment of the poems is uneven to the point of confusion and thus illustrates
a regression in Ringelnatz' technical skill which has shown definite pro-
gress through the various collections. The regularity and polish of the
individual verses, however, attest to the same level of accomplishment to
be found in the Flggzeugggganken.

The Kasperle4Verse are surely intended for children. This fact can be

established by quoting a short preface added to the 1954 edition.18 The

 

l8"Die‘Verse schenkte Joachim Ringelnatz zu den Figuren, die Doktor
Eugen Schmidt in Baden-Baden an weihnachten 1933 fur seine Kinder geschnitzt
hatte und die in den vorliegenden Zeichnungen von ihm wiedergegeben sind.”

143
tone and the content of the Kasperle.Verse are also indicative of tradi—
tional children's poetry. The verses are simple, light and entertaining,
entirely devoid of didactic purpose. They merely reproduce the essence of
the droll wood figures in terms understandable to small children. As in
Geheimes Kinderspielbuch, Ringelnatz describes an impression that a child
might have in encountering one of the various figures. The child's tone
is successfully recaptured, yet a light satirical note is undeniable. The
following verse, describing a clergyman, shows his arrogance, conceit, and
irrational and forbidding authoritarianism.

Ich, seit meiner Jugendzeit
Suchte stets Gelehrsamkeit.

Liebe Kinder, ihr versteht

Nicht, was mir im Kopf rumgeht.
Denn ihr seid, das will ich sagen

Dfimmer als ein Straussenmagen.

Hart mir zu und zweifelt nicht,
Weil aus mir die Weisheit spricht.

Liebe Kinder, seid recht gfltlich,
Denn sonst werd ich ungemfltlich.
Ubt Geduld und Nachstenliebe,
Sonst gibt's Hiebe!

The title of the Kinderverwirrbuch is the first indication that it is
not meant for children but for the adults who will buy the book and perhaps
interpret it for the children who will otherwise be confused by it. This
is a tactic similar to that employed in the publication of the Geheimes
Kinderspielbuch. As in the case of the Geheimes Kinderspielbuch, the
purpose of the Kinderverwirrbuch was generally misunderstood. A French
critic writes of Ringelnatz and his work:

C'est 1e type du vrai 'décadent', et de ce point de vue nous

aurons s classer Ringelnatz parmi les premiers, son ouvrage

est un des produits les plus veridiques et les plus edifiants

de la 'décadence' ...

She continues, considerilg the Kinderverwirrbuch:

lhh

... l'auteur conseille aux enfants d'avoir 1a meme 'jeunesse
ratée' qu'il a eue et qu'il a decrite dans la premier livre
(Mein Leben bis zum Kriege). ... Cet ouvrage (Kinderverwirr-
buchy temoigne d'tme tendence maladive, d'une 'dé’cadence' qui
ne se contente plus d'etre pasSive, mais qui devient active
at dangereuse et pour la jeune genération et pour la littéra-
ture et l'art...19
First of all, it is incorrect to consider Ringelnatz' youth as
"bungledg" his attitude toward it in Mein Leben bis zum Kriege is anything
but apologetic. I am primarily concerned with the Kinderverwirrbuch in
this paper, however. The second part of the above quotation is made pri-
marily in reference to one rebellious four-lined verse in the collection.
Kinder, ihr musst euch mehr zutrauen!
Ihr lasst euch von Erwachsenen belugen
Und schlagen. - Denkt mal: funf Kinder genugen,
Um eine Grossmama zu verhauen.
These lines would indeed be malicious if they were meant as a serious
exhortation directed at children. They are not, however, The second line
is a castigation of adults and thus an indication of adult direction. We
have met this indictment frequently throughout the poetry. It finds
expression in the Opening lines of the Kinderverwirrbuch collection in a

somewhat less obvious marmer.

Kleine Lflgen und auch kleine
Kinder haben kurze Beine.

Das Abe ist ausserst wichtig,
Im Telefenbuch steht es richtig

Der Klapperstorch hat krunnne Beine.
Die Kinder werfen ihn mit Steine.
Aber Kinder bringt er keine.

Der Spanier lebt in fernen Zonen
Fur die, die weitab davon wohnen.

”Camille Schneider, "Mein leben bis zum Kriege, Kinderverwirrbuch,"
Revue Germani ue, ICCEII, (1932), 286.7.

1&5

Und der Osterhase legt

(Bald sehr eitel, bald bewegt)

Ruhrei oder Spiegelei.

Schauerlich stohnt er dabei.
The first line of each of these short verses represents the delusive adult
answers to typical children's questions concerning the nature of life.
Subsequent lines alienate the original remark and place it in its proper
perspective, illustrating its inherent inanity; By this method.Ringelnatz
hopes to make parents aware of the unexpected intelligence of their children,
who are only momentarily deluded by such answers,and to admonish the adults
to truthfulness. In this Ringelnatz is merely fostering the principles of
modern psychology. The only other example of this technique in th°.§1292£r
verwirrbuch is to be found in the following couplet:

Den Unterschied bei Mann und.Frau
Sieht man durchs Schlflsseloch genau.

The three examples cited are the only illustrations of ethical unor.
thodoxy in the entire collection. Of these, only the first could be con-
sidered dangerous and malicious, yet the French critic labels the entire

collection decadent, completely disregarding such noble lessons as in Kind

spiele:

... Spiele! - Doch immer bleibe
Freundlich zu allem, womit du spielst.
‘Weil alles (auch tote Gegenstnnde)
Dein.Herz mehr ansieht als deine Hunde.
Und.weil alle Menschen (auch du, mein Kind)
Spielzeug des lieben Gottes sind.

--or in Nie bist du ohne Nebendir:

... was du verschweigst,
'Was du den.andern nicht zeigst,
was dein.Nund spricht
Und deine Hand tut,
Es kommt alles ans Licht.
Sei ohnedies gut.

or in a verse which introduces a fable included in this volume:

1&6

Es sind die harten.Freunde, die uns schleifen.

Sogar dem Unrecht lege Fragen vor.

Wer nimmer fragt, merkt nicht, was er verlor.

Vom andern aus lerne die Welt begreifen.
Noble didacticism of this nature is the dominant tone of the Kinderver.
wirrbuch. The final verse quoted above shows better than any other Ringel.
natz' purpose in this collection. He considers himself the 'hard friend'
who is engaged in the task of polishing humanity. It is a difficult,
lonely task but one which is essential to ethical prOgress. I have dis-
cussed this theme in connection with other poems, especially in regard to
Vier Treppen hoch bei Dimmerung, included in the Kuttel Daddeldu collec-
tion. The revolutionary verses are further manifestations of the shock
effect, discussed in connection with the satirical poetry. The single
true satirical poem in this collection is Kinder, spielt mit einer
Zwirnsrolle!

Gewaltigen Erfolg erzielt,
Wer eine grosse Rolle spielt.

Im Leben spielt zum Beispiel so,
Ganz grosse Rolle: der Popo.

Denkt nach, dann kbnnt ihr zwischen Zeilen

Auch mit geschlossenen Augen lesen,

Dass Onkel Ringelnatz bisweilen

Ein herzbetrunkenes Kind gewesen.
The first two lines represent a human ambition, alienated and revealed as
inane in the subsequent stanza. The final stanza reveals the motivation
for the collection. In the initial two lines of the final stanza, Ringel-
natz discloses his veiled purpose. In the final two lines he reveals his
attitude toward this purpose. He shows himself to be motivated by love
and considers himself a child as he has also shown that he considers all
human beings children who must be addressed as such. A further illustra-

tion of this attitude is to be found again in Vier Treppen hoch bei

lh?

Dummerung. Upon this basis then we can consider the Kinderverwirrbuch an
attempt to reach all humans and especially grown-up children.

Further evidence of Ringelnatz' address to adults is to be found in
the philosophical poem.Ernster Rat an Kinder. It presents the picture of
a universe fraught with filth and suffering. Even the most impressive
sights reveal themselves as besmirched upon closer examination.

we man hobelt, fallen Spane.

Leichen schwimmen in der Seine.

An dem Unterleib der Kuhne

Sammelt sich ein zaher Dreck.

An die Strahnen von den Huhnen

Von den waen und Hyflnen

Klammert sich viel Ungeziefer.

Im Gefieder von den Hahnen

Nisten Lause; auch bei Schwanen.

(Menschen gar nicht zu erwahnen,

Denn bei ihnen geht's viel tiefer.)

Nicht umsonst gibt's Quarantane.

Allen graust es, wenn ich gahne.

Ewig rein bleibt nur die Trane

Und das wasser der Fontane.

Kinder, putzt euch eure Zhhne!!
Only the final line resumes the supposed address to children. It is at
once a pose and alienation. In the three lines preceding this pose,
Ringelnatz delineates the virtue which to him.seems the sole saving quality
of humanity: compassion. Only compassion is pure and untainted. Thus

another favorite Ringelnatz theme is treated in the Kinderverwirrbuch. We

 

find compassion for actual children and for grown-up children who have
lost the innocence of childhood but retained its forltrn fears.

Dass eure Windeln wie Segel sind,

Dass wisst ihr Kinder noch nicht.

Ihr kflmmert euch nicht um den eigenen Wind,
Um den fremden Wind, um.das fremde Licht.

148

Ihr reist wie Passagiere.

Und wenn das Schiff mit euch ersauft,
Dann seid ihr himmeltief getauft,
Unschuldige, gluckliche Tiere.

Das Hexenkind is a further praise of compassion. The unfortunate
child is broken by the cruelty of hardhearted people and of life in
general. It remains speechless until it is finally shown some remnant of
compassion. The boundless gratitude it exhibits shortly before death is
sufficient testimony to the power of compassion, the purest human sentiment.

Das junge Ding hiess Ilse Watt.

Sie ward im waisenhaus erzogen.

Dort galt sie fur verstockt, verlogen,
Weil sie kein Wert gesprochen hat

Und weil man ihr es sehr verdachte,
Dass sie schon frflh, wenn sie erwachte,
Ganz leise vor sich hinlachte.

Man nannte sie, weil ihr*Betragen
So seltsam war, das Hexenkind.
Allflberall ward sie gescholten.
Doch wagte nismand, sie zu schlagen.
Denn sie war von Geburt her blind.

Die Ilse hat fur frech gegolten,
weil sie, wenn man zu Bett sie brachte,
Noch leise vor sich hinlachte.

In ihrem.Rettchen blass und matt

Lag sterbend eines Tags die kranke

Und stille, blinde Ilse watt,

Lachelte wie aus andern Welten

Und sprach zu einer Angestellten,

Die ihr das Haar gestreichelt hat,

Ganz laut und glflcklich.noch: "Ich danke."

'égm.Krautchen is one of Ringelnatz' mpst beautiful expressions of com.
passion. It shows that compassion should extend beyond the human realm

and.be applied to all life no matter how apparently insignificant.

Ein Sauerampfer auf dem Damm
Stand zwischen Bahngeleisen,
machte vor jedem,Dqug stramm,
Sah viele I'Ienschen Reisen.

Und stand verstaubt und schluckte Qualm
Schwindsuchtig und verloren,

149

Ein armes Kraut, ein schwacher Halm,
Mit Augen, Herz und Ohren.

Sah Zflge schwinden, Zflge nahn.-
Der arme Sauerampfer

Sah Eisenbahn um Eisenbahn

Sah niemals einen Dampfer.

Many verses in the Kinderverwirrbuch are attempts to illustrate the
child's thought processes to the end of educating the adult. An Berliner
Kinder is an example of the child's impression of adult behavior.

was meint ihr wohl, was eure Eltern treiben,
‘Wenn ihr schlafen gehen musst?
Und sie angeblich noch Briefs schreiben.

Ich kanns euch sagen: da wird geknsst,

Geraucht, getanzt, gesoffen, gefressen,

Da schleichen verdachtige Gdste herbei.

Da wird jede Stufe der Unzucht durchmessen

Bis zur Papagei-Sodomiterei.

Da wird hasardiert um unsagbare Summen.

Da dampft es von Opium und Kokain.

Da wird gepaart, dass die Schadel brummen.

Ach schweigen wir lieber. - Pfui Spinne, Berlin!

Die neuen Fernen is a criticism of modern life which Ringelnatz views
as a maze of meaningless abstractions without goals and inevitably bound
for extinction.

In der Stratosphare,

Links vom Eingang, filhrt ein Gang
(Wenn er nicht verschflttet ware)
Sieben Kilometer lang

Bis ins Ungefahre.

Dort erkennt man weit und breit
Nichts. Denn dort herrscht Dunkelheit.
wenn man da die Augen schliesst

Und sich langsam selbst erschiesst,
Dann erinnert man sich gern

An den deutschen Abenstern.

The serious and profound nature of the majority of the poems in this
collection should be sufficient testimony to the fact that they were meant
for adults. The final poem of the collection, Doch ihre Sterne kannst du

nicht verschieben, refers to the title and thereby to the purpose of the

150
collection. It shows that children are not confused by bizarre products
of the imagination but rather by the nature of human existence which
supposedly must be as unfortunate as it is. Ringelnatz indicts a life
which.is cruel and questions its supposed inevitability thereby offering
hepe for improvement.

Das Sonderbare und wunderbare
Ist nicht imstande, ein Kind zu verwirren.
'Weil Kinder wie Fliegen durch ihre Jahre

Schwirren. - Nicht wissend, we sie sind.

Nur vor den angeblich wahren
Deutlichkeiten erschrickt ein Kind.

Das Kind muss lernen, muss bitter erfahren.
‘Weiss nicht, wozu das frommt.

Hbrt nur: das muss so sein.

Und ein Schmerz nach dem andern kommt

In das schwebende Brflstchen hinein.

Bis das Brflstchen sich senkt

Und das Kind denkt.

The Kinderverwirrbuch and the Kasperle-Verse are Ringelnatz' last
poetry cycles and children's verse. The Kinderverwirrbuch is not a true
cycle, however. The Kasperle-Verse are definitely meant for children, but
the Kinderverwirrbuch is addressed to adults. The purpose of the Kinder.
verwirrbuch was generally misunderstood as being an exhortation to children
to rebel. The dominant tone of the collection is a noble didacticism
characterized primarily by'a promotion of compassion. The serious nature
of the poems attests to their adult direction.

As we progressed into Ringelnatz' non—satirical period, we noted that
he attempted to write poetry in cycles, but we have seen that the latter
publications are collections of verse rather than cycles with unified cen-
ters. As pure lyric poetry, however, the poems gain in stature with each
successive collection. Reisebriefe eines Artisten is a turning point in

Ringelnatz' attitude and in his modes of poetic expression. The tone is

151
softened and the style is more polished. The verses of this collection
bespeak a world view of extreme pessimism, deep loneliness, melancholy,
longing for death, and indifference. The poet seeks relief from the tor-
ture of life in alcohol. In alcohol he finds love, beauty, truth, adven-
ture, eroticism, and humor. He seeks goodness and nobility and praises
the virtues of honesty, humility, generosity, and compassion.

Hatrosen is a sentimental look backward to his years at sea. He finds
the virtues for which he longs in sailors who are honest, courageous, and
capable of true and lasting friendship.

Allerdings is Ringelnatz' first collection of non.cyclic verse. It
is less autobiographical and more objective than the Reisebriefe eines
Artisten. The dominant tendency of the collection is a didacticism which
emphasizes Ringelnatz' entire system of values. The unity of Ringelnatz'
painting and poetry has become increasingly evident in his themes, tech—
nique and style which approach those of the Impressionists. The view of
life reflected in Allerdings is still basically pessimistic and melancholy,
but a note of Optimism is exhibited in the poet's faith in human intuition
and ultimately in God. He finds purpose in didacticism and promotes
honesty, humility, generosity, courage, reverence, and compassion with
characteristic frankness and directness. The longing for death of the
Reisebriefe is replaced by a longing for life in Allerdings.

In the Flugzeuggedanken, Ringelnatz again presents a poetry cycle
which, however, is not truly cyclic. Technically the poems of this col-
lection show growing sophistication and regular form becomes increasingly
prevalent. Flyers have replaced sailors as the objects of the poet's
admiration. Flying brings Ringelnatz a new life perspective and a new

p0 Sitifltye

152
The Kinderverwirrbuch and the Kasperle-Verse are Ringelnatz' final
efforts to produce poetry cycles and children's verse. The Kasperle-
.EEEEE are descriptive entertainment for children while the Kinderverwirr-
.2323 is addressed to adults and is characterized primarily by the same
didactic purpose which has become the preponderant tone of'Ringelnatz'

third period of poetic activity.

CHAPTER IV

LIFE, LOVE, AND DEATH

The poems of Joachim.Ringe1natz' final period of poetic development
appeared in four collections: Die Flasche und mit ihr auf‘Reisen, (1932)
Gedichte dreier Jahre, (1932) Gedichte, Gedichte, (1933) and Der Nachlass
(1935). Although these collections show no closely knit unifying elements,
each could be considered a well rounded and complete entity. They repre—
sent the culmination of the wisdom of life, lyrical beauty, and technical
prowess attained by the poet. The general tone of the poetry is elevated,
conciliatory and resigned. The poet feels himself approaching death and
begins to view life from this perSpective. Life goals which once seemed
so important have become fuzzy and distorted and their attainment frustra-
ted by unfavorable conditions. Life is slipping away from Joachim.Ringe1.
natz. The tuberculosis be contracted during the war has placed him at
the threshhold of death. His poetic utterances from.this time on are)
conditioned by a half-conscious realization of his tenuous hold upon life.
He questions the nature of human existence, its goals and its ultimate
direction,but finds no satisfactory answers. He senses only that there is
another, better world and that he is slowly approaching it. He uncomplain—
ingly resigns himself to his fate and even longs for death at times, yet
his death wish is tempered by’a hunger for life stronger than any seen in
the earlier poems. Proximity to death also enhances the poet's sense of
the beautiful and the fear of the unknown which stands before him. The
immanent loss of wife and friends intensifies his already great potential

154
for love, and the expression of love becomes the strongest motif of the
last verses. Schiff 1931 summarizes in a few short lines the frame of
mind which brought forth the moving lyrics of Ringelnatz' final period:

Wir haben keinen gflnstigen'Wind.

Indem wir die Richtung verlieren,
Wissen wir doch, we wir sind.

Aber wir frieren.

Und die darflber erhaben sind,

Die sollten nicht allzuviel lachen.

Denn sie werden nicht lachen, wenn sie blind
Eines Morgens erwachen.

Das Schiff, auf dem ich heute bin,
Treibt jetzt in die uferlose,

In die offene See. - Fragt ihr: "thin?"
Ich bin nur ein Matrose.

Ringelnatz"Weltanschauung has undergone no basic change. He still
sees life as an unrelenting and seemingly senseless circle of experience,
characterized by boredom, melancholy, sadness and despair with only brief
moments of happiness and beauty, the total picture being one of ridicu—
lousness and sublimity,vunited for no apparent reason and seemingly with.
out order or plan. Beauty is to be found only in the abstract, resulting
from a mental exercise which embellishes nature and disregards the disad.
vantages immediately bound up with it:

Madchen, versaume dich nicht

Und huts dich vor List!

Ich aber traume dich,

Wie du gar nicht bist.
The only true happiness which life provides is found in the solitude of
home and family, secure in an intuitive and unquestioning belief in God:

Ich liebe Gott und meine Frau,
Meine wohnung und meine Decke.

The creative ability of human phantasy is the sole escape from.the

inexorable boredom of human existence:

155

Es gibt so viel Bekanntes
In der Welt. -

Deshalb hat Cervantes

Den Don Quixote aufgestellt.

Human existence is puzzling and unfathomable:
Weisst du ?

‘Wenn ein Neunauge mit einem.Tausendfuss
Kinder zeugt, wie mbgen die gehen ?

Wie megen sie sehen 7

Ich weiss es nicht. Weisst du's 7

'Weisst du wohl, dass eines Flugzeugs Schatten,
Wenn er fiber Hauser,‘Baume, Hatten,

Menschen, Tiere,‘Wasser geht,

Nichts und.niemand widersteht 7

Jeder weiss, warum.in schbn n Zweigen
Schhne Spinne schbne Netze webt.

Aber weisst du, was das Schweigen
Eines andern Menschen

Sinnt und nacherlebt und vorerlebt ?

It poses questions which seem to undermine all faith. In.Besuch in der
LandesheilanstaltwRingelnatz questions the necessity for the seemingly
pointless suffering of innocent and helpless creatures:

Wie freute sich dieser idiotische Knabe,
Als ich ihn einmal besucht habe!

Er dankte mit zitternder Hand.

Denn seine Anstalt ist fernes und weites,
Ist abgeschlossenes, niemals befreites,
Verwunschenes Land.

Und ist dort alles aufs beste eergen
Und alles mit Guts durchdacht.

Es wird der Sonnestrahl vor der Nacht
Doch abgebogen.

Nun fragt mein.Fragen: ‘Warum.ihr seid,

Die ihr nicht wacht und auch nicht schlaft ?

Und wen das tausendfache Leid,

Das mit euch geht, wohl lohnt und straft ?
The biggest question posed by life is in regard to its final consequence.
In'Was dann ? Ringelnatz ponders the question of an afterlife without

reaching any definite conclusions. Such considerations are unthinkable

156
for him without the existence of God when he simply accepts without
reservationp-all else is doubtful. His God, however, is obviously not the
God of formal religion since formal religion daes attempt to answer the
questions which the poet poses. These pat answers are unsatisfactory to
him and he seeks his own conclusions:

'Was dann 7

we wird es bleiben,

was mit dem.letzten.Hauch entweicht 7
Wie Winde werden wir treiben -
Vielleicht37

‘Werden wir reinigend wehen 7

Und kennen jedes Menschen Gesicht.
Und jeder darf durch.uns gehen,
Erkennt aber uns nicht.

Wir werden drohen und mahnen
Als Sturm,

Und lenken die Wetterfahnen
Auf jedem Turm.

Ach, sehen.wir die dann.wieder,
Die vor uns gestorben sind 7

Wir, dann ungreifbarer Wind?
Richten wir auf und nieder

Die andern, die nach uns leben 7
Wie weit wohl Gottes Gnade reicht.
Uns alles zu vergeben 7
Vielleicht? - Vielleicht 1

No answers are to be found as to why life is the way it is or what comes
after it is over. The only answer approaching a definitive conclusion
found by Ringelnatz is that everything seems in some way to be a part of
life or at least indirectly contributes to it:

Faule, Feuchtigkeit oder feiner Humor
Bringen immer wieder Leben hervor.

He fosters no doubt, however, as to what life is. It is senseless
cruelty, fear, guilt, worry, sickness and death.
Es stirbt ein Papier im Schnee,

Zertreten und zerknetet,
Ein Fisch in einem See,

157

Vor einem.Netz, betet.

Eine Torte schamt sich.

Ein Schlachtvieh.vergramt sich

Und schmeckt darum schaler als Fleisch aus Amerika.
Zwischen Schlaflidern und Pupillen

Dreht sich Rhythmus bekannter Bazillen.

Aus einem Kastchen lachelt dein toter Papa.

Life and its consequences are unavoidable. Man is not free but prede-
termined, a prisoner of his inescapable fate which he is helpless to
alter. Most tragic of all perhaps is the fact that man must face his
destiny alone and must therefore rely upon his own strength for courage.
‘Elgght is the poet's conception of the typical human confrontation with
life and its inevitable consequence.

Du segelst allein. Es soll niemand dabei sein.

Doch tausende Fischlein begleiten dein.Boot ein Stuck

Des Weges. Aber du willst ganz frei sein,
Schaust weder nach rechts noch nach links noch zuruck.

Nur fort! Nur weiter! Du willst das Vergangene
‘Vergessen. Fort! Du glaubst an den rechten

Gradaus fliehenden Weg ins Gluck.

Hinter dir, hinter Glas und Draht und Eisengeflechten
Blicken dir lange nach: Gefangene.

Du glaubst deiner Richtung. - Mit Hilfe des Windes,
Der Strbmung segelst du.weiter und reist

Und reist und reist. Und die Sehnsucht des Kindes
Erkennt sich allmdhlich, altert, vergreist.

Nun und7 - Aber die Wellen umspielen
Dein.Boot. Es folgen dir Himmel und Licht.

Fremde Ziele passierst du. Vbn deinen Zielen
Das schbnste, das einzige - kommt nicht in Sieht.

Haring in der Nordsee? Papagei
In.Aschaffenburg7 - - Wer ist ganz frei?

Human life is transitory. This is not merely a disadvantage; it is also
a distinct advantage since even sorrow and pain are subjected to this
inevitable law. Suffering passes with.relative facility, but guilt is

more difficult to escape, eSpecially in the face of death.

158
Uber eine Weile - -

Nur eine Weile muss vergehn;

Dann ist auch dieses fiberstanden.
Dann wird mit hell euch zugewandten
Augen das Neue vor euch stehn.

Und eh ihr fragt, wie ihr dem Neuen

Euch fugen wollt, zwingt Gegenwart

Zum.Danken oder zum Bereuen.

Leicht schmilzt ein Leid. Die Schuld ist hart.

In Ein Stuck Bierflasche Ringelnatz shows that not all suffering is sense-
less. Even the meanest of phenomena is rendered beautiful and desirable
by suffering, even when this suffering is unavoidable:

Eine Bierflasche ging in Scherben
Am Stein am See.

Dem.Manne, der sie warf,

Brachte dieser'Wurf Verderben,
Besser gesagt: ein.Fuss;Wehweh.
Glasscherben sind Spitz und scharf.

Eine Scherbe, nicht die just gemeinte,
Reiste unfreiwillig strUmungsfort.

Diese ward vom I-Ieeresgrundesand

So gequfilt, dass alles'Wasser weinte.

Nach Jahrenden trieb sie an den Strand,
Fernen Strand; war vollig glatt geschliffen.

Hat ein Badestrolch sie aufgegriffen,
Merkte gleich, dass sie kein.Bernstein, gar
Rauchtopas oder noch edler war,

Und liess doch das funkelschbne Ding
Kunstvoll fassen in einen Ring.

Und vererbt, gestohlen, hingegeben

Mag die Scherbe durch Jahrhunderte

Als verkannte, aber doch bewunderte

‘Abenteurin noch viel erleben.
Thmsexistence is shown to have positive value. Ringelnatz strengthens this
conclusion with several poems. He shows that, despite the numerous obvious
disadvantages of life, it is interesting, challenging and, for reasons only

half realized, very desirable.

159
Und ich darf nooh

Hie und da, dann und wann
Ein.Wehweh. Doch im Ganzen:
Ich, der ich nicht tanzen kann,
Sehe gern andere tanzen.

Noch immer in Arbeit gestellt

Und die Arbeit geniessend,

Finde ich dich, ausstudierte'welt,
Immer neu fliessend.

Gehe durch die Strassen einer Stadt,
Um Dinge herum, die stinken.
was Beine oder keine Beine hat,
Kann blinken oder winken.
Ich kann einen Pflasterstein,
Der am.Rinnstein liegt, aufheben.
0 schones Auferdensein!
Und ich darf noch leben.
Ringelnatz sees longing as an inevitable condition of human existence.
He realizes that most longing is frustrated and remains unfulfilled since
the object of longing never proves to be as it was anticipated.when it is
finally approached and observable at close distances. Even if approachable,
the object of human longing is unattainable in an absolute sense. The poet
sees positive value in this phenomenon, however. Longing provides a stim-
ulus which carries man forward, gives him hope and promotes progress.
Bleibt uns und treibt uns
was Sehnsucht durch ein Loch im.Bretterzaun
In deiner Jugend sah,
Nun steht es vor dir, hoch und herb und braun
Und schon bewegt und dir ganz nah.
Doch da du zartest danach greifen willst,
Ist eine starre wand aus Glas dazwischen -
Ein Durst entschwindet, den du nimmer stillst,
Hell wie Millionenglanz von Silberfischen.
With the approach of death and the progress of fatal disease, Ringel-
natz' longing is intensified but by no means unified and without contradic—

tion. Longing for life, beauty, and love are expressed no more frequently

160
than the desire for peace and death. Often verses showing such disparity
occur in rapid succession and somehow seem to complement each other. In
Rauch, for example, the poet longs for the Sublimated existence of a pure
spirit which he compares with smoke. Such a state is beyond all suffering
and emotional conflict and is characterized only by an innate piety and
beauty, a living prayer completely detached from the baseness of human
existence.

Erdentbunden steigt ins lichte

Himmelreich der.Rauch.

Uferlos dramatische Geschiehte

Spielt ein Hauch.

In Sekunden blickentschwunden

Tragt er doch Substanz und Geist

Nach Gesetz ins Ungefahre.

Manchmal wflnschte ich, ich'ware

Derart erdentbunden

Endlich abgereist.

Konnte niemand mich umarmen.

Kannte niemand mich vernichten.

Doch ein Rauch kann.wie Erbarmen

‘wunderfromm zum.Himmel dichten.
The very next poem, Morgenwonne, could not possibly depart further from
the desires expressed in.Rauch; it is an expression of deeply sensual and
intuitive ecstacy, motivated by an intensified realization of the pure
pleasure of existence. The taste of life is sweet, prompting a voracious
appetite for life in its various manifestations, both spiritual and sensual.
There is no conflict between spirit and flesh here. The last stanza
exhibits that rare state of perfect harmony between the spiritual and
sensual man which has been the ideal approach to life since the concept
‘was formulated by the ancient Greeks.

Ich bin so knallvergnflgt erwacht.

Ich klatsche meine Huften.

Das wasser lockt. Die Seife lacht.
Es dflrstet mich.nach Iflften.

161

Ein schmuckes Laken macht einen Knicks
Und gratuliert mir zum.Baden.
Zwei schwarze Schuhe in blankemeichs
Betiteln mich "Euer Gnaden".

Aus meiner tiefsten Seele zieht
Mit Nasenflugelbeben

Ein ungeheurer Appetit

Nach Frfihstflck und nach Leben.

Connected with a longing for life is a yearning for far away, romantic,
and exotic places:

Nashornida hatte Trampelbeine

Ulld war Wild .0.

Doch sie hat nach.Afrika gerochen,
Und das reizts meine Phantasie.

--an unquenchable craving for adventure:
”Abenteurer, wo willst du hin?"

Quer in die Gefahren,
we ich vor tausend Jahren
Im.Traume gewesen bin.

Ich will mich treiben lassen
In'welten, die nur ein Fremder sieht.
Ich machte erkampfen, erfassen,
Erleben, was anders geschieht.

Ein Gluck ist niemals erreicht.
Mich lockt ein fernstes Gefunkel,
Mich lockt ein raunendes Dunkel
Ins nebelhafte Vielleicht.

'was ich zuvor besessen,

was ich zuvor gewusst,

Das will ich verlieren, vergessen. -
Ich reise durch meine eigene Brust.

--and the bold, masculine freedom.of carefree youth:

Glficklich, wer den freien Drang noch spurt,
Das Getrunkne fiber Bord zu pissen.

'Wenn die wetter lange duster grollen,
Glncklich,inn-dann trotzig Incheln kann,
Ohne Herr der woge sein zu wollen;
Sondern nur ”auf See ein.Fahrensmann".

Hunger for life includes the desire for light, warmth, and beauty:

162

Es sang eine Nacht ...

Eine Nachti c o 0

Ja Nachtigall am Sachsenplatz

‘Heute morgen. - Hast du in Berlin
Das je gehbrt? - Sie sang, so schien
Es mir, fur mich, fur Ringelnatz.

Und gab mir doch‘Verlegenheit,
Weil sie dasselbe Jauchzen sang,
Das allen Dichtern fruhere Zeit
Durchs Herz in ihre Verse klang.
In schbne verse!

Nachtigall,

Besuche bitte ab und zu

Den Sachsenplatz;

Dort wohne ich. - Ich weiss, dass du
Nicht Verse suchst von.Ringelnatz.
Und hatten doch die Schwarmer recht,
Die dich besangen gut und schlecht.

The most desperate need of life, after the simple instinct of self
preservation, is the necessity for love, human warmth, human beauty, and
spiritual needs immediately bound up with the sensual requirements of
erotic fulfillment——a combination which is most difficult if not impossible
to attain:

Passantin
So schoner wuchs! So schdne Haut!
So schbne Hands, scthe Haare.
Ganz Frauenanmut. - Und fur'wen gebaut?
Und fur wieviele Jahre?
Aus‘Wbrten,.Augen streichelt mich ein Geist,
Der mir gefallt und heimlich schon verspricht.
Fflr mich so schon, vielleicht fur andre nicht.-
was nfltzt es mir, da es vorflberreist.

Und nfltzt mir doch, kann meine Phantasie
Versagtes in Konvexes fibertragen. -

Die Welke, die dich labt, du fangst sie nie;
Sie hart dich nicht und du kannst ihr nichts sagen.

Love to Ringelnatz is much more than simple, biological eroticism.

His concept of love finds its most beautiful and successful expression in

163
the poems of the final period. He shows love to be the most important
single motivating force to a successfully fulfilled life. It gives life
meaning and transforms disadvantage into advantage. It is his way to
defeat cruel and hard nature which otherwise might be victorious in its
attempt to destroy him.

Ein Liebesbrief
TDezember1930)

Von allen Seiten drangt ein drohend Grau

Uns zu. Die Luft Will uns vergehen.

Ich aber kann des Himmels Blau,

Kann alles Trflbe sonnvergoldet sehen.

'Weil ich dich liebe, dich, du frohe Frau.

Mag sein, dass alles Base sich

Vereinigt hat, uns breitzutreten.

Drei Rettungswege gibt's: Zu beten,

Zu sterben, und "Ich liebe dich!”

Und alle drei in gleicher Weise

Gewahren Ruhe, geben Mut.

Es ist wie holdes Sterben, wenn wir leise

Beten: "Ich liebe dich! Sei gut!"
The quiet, reliable, and consistent love of marriage earns the poet's
deepest admiration and praise. A great number of the poems from the last
period attest to the profound love which Ringelnatz experienced in his
relationship with his wife. These poems represent a significant tribute
to the bourgeois institution of marriage since they originate with one of
the most.‘ardent rebels against middle class institutions in the history of
German literature. Ringelnatz' deep love for his wife and his high regard
for marriage did not preclude extramarital infatuations. He honestly sings
the praises of the women connected with his little adventures, often with
great tenderness. Nevertheless the discrepanqy in tone between these poems
and those addressed to his wife is unmistakable. Whereas the latter are

quiet, profound, mature and constant, the former are frivolous, adven-

turous, nervous, more erotic and capricious. Ein Liebesbrief, quoted

16h
above, is perhaps the best example of Ringelnatz' expression of marital
love. No extensive interpretative exposition is necessary to illustrate

the difference in tone exhibited by a poem addressed to a passing fancy.

Trennung

Wink wink, Auf Wiedersehn!

Ausnand ist nicht Vergehn.

Wie Lokomotivenrauch

Wildweich zerstiebt - -

Dereinst doch, noch, auch ohne Hauch,
Liebt sich, was wirklich sich liebt.

Jetzt ist es Nachmittag.

Horch! - Klingt's wie tote Lieder?
Klingt es wie Trauertrommelschlag?
Sonja ade! - - Salfl!

Ach! - - Aber morgen wieder,

morgen ist's wieder fruh!

Tateretul Kflkerikuh!
Ringelnatz' love extends far beyond the conventional realm of the man-
woman relationship. It is magnanimous enough to include the whole world in
its most impressive as well as its most insignificant manifestations. He
wishes for the light-beam arms of a light house since they are capable of

embracing all of nature and even all of life in an abstract sense:

Leuchtturm, deine Arme mochte ich haben
Und umarmen, was in deine Kreise reicht.

His love extends to strangers whose eyes relate to him the bond of common
humanity which unites all men.
Schweigende Fahrgaste

Die Fremden, mit denen ich fahre,
Gezwungen einander gesellt -:
Aus jedem.Augenpaare

Traumt eine andere Welt.

Doch wie ich mich allen verbinde

In schweigender>R8tselei,

Irr ich vielleicht. Doch ich finde:
Man wird versbhnend dabei .

165
His realization of the communal nature of human existence allows him to
carry his love beyond national frontiers and to foster the concept of the

brotherhood of all men:

Das war so: Die Mutter der Welt spricht

Einfach zu allen Nationen,

Frenchmen, Englishmen, Hollander -
Ringelnatz' love and reverence for all life is so great that it can extend
beyond the human realm to include animals, large and small. He writes of
his departed dog:

In meinem besten Erinnern wird stets
Etwas wedeln und etwas bellen.

It can even include inanimate objects such as shoe soles:

Wer seine Sohlen nicht lieben
Kann, lie bt auch die Seelen nicht.

Love and reverence are inseparable to Ringelnatz. He revere s all things,
animate and inanimate, insignificant and unattractive humans, a house fly,
a brush, a rug, an egg and even a piece of string.

J enem Stuck Bindfaden

Bindfaden, an den ich denke,
Kurz warst du, und lang ist's her.

Ohne dich ware das so schwer
Und so hoffnungslos gewesen.

Auf der Strasse von mir aufgelesen,
Halfst du mir,

Mir und meiner Frau. - Wir danken dir,
Ich und meine Frau.

Bindfaden, du dunne Kleinigkeit
Wurdest mir zum Tau. -

Damals war Hungerszeit;

Und ich hatte ohne dich in jener Nacht
Den Kartoffelsack nicht heimgebracht.

In love Ringelnatz sees unity, strength, nobility, and even artistic and

political salvation:

166

Trifft das Leid gute Einigkeit,
Dass das Dach zerbricht,

Dann bleiben doch die WEnde.
Und dann sorgen warme Hunde
Dafur, dass das Allerherz nicht
Verregnet noch verschneit.

'wenn der Allersinn

Dann noch Treue liebt

Und zu beten vermag,

Wird aus allem.Verlust doch Gewinn
Noch herausgesiebt,

Und kommt immer wieder ein heller Tag.
Armes Deutschland, arme deutsche Kunst,
Ein, neun, drei und zwei!

Aber Gemeinheit ist Teufelsdunst,
Stinkt, stickt - und geht doch vorbei.

As in all Ringelnatz' poetry so also in the last period of his poetic
activity there is no dearth of didacticism. The sometimes harsh, always
direct pedagogy of the earlier collections is represented only by infrequent
examples in the last collections, however. Ringelnatz does indeed still
attempt to promote honesty, compassion, humility and generosity in unmis-
takable terms. By'and large, however, the didacticism of the later poetry
is elevated and tempered by love, a bittersweet knowledge of life, and a
conciliatory tone prompted by a realization of guilt and omission caused
by retrospection in the face of death. He even seems apologetic for the
vigorous and sometimes destructive nature of his earlier satirically
didactic efforts although the motivation behind them was unquestionably
pure. Lebensabschnitt is probably the most illustrative example of the
tone and purpose of the didacticism of the later poetry.

Ich mache eine Amnestie

Aus herzlichem'Verlangen.

Und sei auch du und sein auch Sie
Zu mir ganz unbofangen.

Das Leben ist ein.Rutsch.Vorbei.
Nur das, was echt gewesen,

167

Nahrt weiterhin. - Ein Besen,
Zu.wild geschwenkt, schlagt viel entzwei.

Seid gut zu mir und macht Hadau,
Verzeihend und aus Reue!

'Wollt ihr? war reist aufs neue
Mit mir ins Himmelblau?

His teachings stress kindness, love, long-suffering, generosity and under.
standing. These virtues are promoted with characteristic directness in
An meine Kollegen:

... Jeder soll sein Schlechtes unterdrflcken.
Jeder soll sich fur den andern bucken.
Achtmal Freude minus achtmal Leid.

Jeder serge, dass er nichts bereue.
Denn fflrs Alter sammeln wir das Neue- ...

-—and somewhat more directly in Es lohnt sich doch and many other verses:
Es lohnt sich doch, ein wenig lieb zu sein
Und alles auf das Einfachste zu schrauben.

Und es ist gar nicht Grossmut zu verzeihn,
Dass andere ganz andere als wir glauben.

Und stimmte es, dass Leidenschaft Natur
Bedeutete im guten und im.bosen,
Ist doch ein Knoten in dem Schuhband nur
IMit Ruhe und mit Liebe aufzulBsen.
‘Welten des Inseits and other poems foster understanding,forgiveness and

tolerance.

Mit deinen Freunden und engsten Bekannten
Kann dir jedes Missverstandnis geschehn.-

Hast du einmal einem.See—Elefanten
Ins Auge gesehn??

So weit, wie die weite ist,
So tief mag die Enge sein.-

Wenn du mit dir je im Streite bist,
Ubergib das einem.Bngelein.

The poet speaks out for harmlessness and silence in Schweigen and other

poems:

168
Manche Leute verneigen

Sich gern vor Leuten, die ernsten Gesichts
Langdauernd schweigen.

Manche Leute neigen
Dazu, zu grollen, wenn andere schweigen.

Schonet das Schweigen! Es sagt doch nichts.
we see in was du erwirbst an Geist und Gut that Ringelnatz places material
and spiritual generosity on the same level. Here and in other verses he
shows that friendship should consist more of the desire to give than of

the desire to receive.

Erwirb dir viel und gib das meiste fort.
Viel zu behalten hat den'wert von Sport.
Behalte Dinge, die du innig liebst,

Bis du sie gern an Freunde weitergibst.
Liebe und halte frei dein Eigentum.

Besitz macht ruhelos und bringt nicht Ruhm.

Erkenne deinen Lohn teaches gratitude for what life has given and adds that
each day should be lived as if it were the last since no one can determine
how'much time is left to him.

Keine Epoche
Geht wie ein Ei entzwei.

Aber ein Leben - -?!

Vielleicht gehn mit dieser Woche
Dir dreissig Jahre vorbei,
Sind dir nur noch.Minuten gegeben - -?!

Alles Zukunfterraten
Ist wie gemalter Braten.

Trinke deine Tasse,

Gib von dem, was dir niemand nimmt.
Dass deine kleine Kasse

Bei plUtzlicher Endrevision
valichst stimmt.

Erkenne deinen Lohn.

In connection with.Ringelnatz' firm belief in the inherent goodness

of man, he promotes an instinctive approach to life as opposed to a logical,

169

intellectual attitude which he views as sterile and destructive. He shows

that life is unfathomable except in its most simple and insignificant

manifestations and that any attempt to unlock the secrets of life by intel-

lectual means is vain and has only unhappiness as its result. Man must

thus merely perceive life, accept it and stand in awe of its insurmount-

able magnitude.

Vielggesiebt

Ich habe versucht, einen Wind einzufangen.
Aber ich fand das Gefangene nicht.

Ich bin durch tiefe‘walder gegangen,

‘wo der Wind ganz tief mit den Wipfeln spricht,
Wipfeln.von ganz hohen Kiefern.

Ich sah im Moos eine Bierflasche liegen.

wenn ich einem Bierversand

Die wflrde abliefern,

Bekame ich zehn Pfennige Pfand.

Ich habe versucht, das viele Versuchen
Ganz aufzugeben.

Ich nahm.einer wanze das Leben,
Die mich nur gejuckt hat. - -

Unsereiner
Wird immer kleiner,
Je tiefer er ins Leben geguckt hat.

Only in the intuitive approach to life can happiness, beauty, and goodness

be found.

Zupf dir ein WBlkchen aus demeblkenweiss,
Das durch den sonnigen Himmel schreitet.
Und Schmflcke den Hut, der dich begleitet,
Mit einem grflnen Reis.

Verstecke dich faul in die Ffllle der Graser.
Weil's wohltut, weil's frommt.

Und bist du ein Nundharmonikablaser

Und hast eine bei dir, dann spiel, was dir kommt.

Und lass deine Melodien lenken
Von dem freigegebenen wolkengezupf.

170

Vergiss dich. Es soll dein Denken
Nicht weiter reichen, als ein Grashupferhupf.

The heart is the traditional symbol of intuition. Ringelnatz believes

that man can find happiness, beauty and goodness if he tempers all his

actions and thoughts by heeding the dictates of his heart and thus his

intuition:

Vor der Kritik erwage zwei Gehirn!

Das stlrkere darf den‘Vortrag halten.

Es kann ein Strick hier Tau sein und dort Zwirn.
Auch ist das Herz nicht auszuschalten.

The heart can show man the way to a proper attitude toward life. It will

help him.to accept his destiny and even to conquer death. Thus Ringelnatz

views the heart and the soul as manifestations of the same phenomenon:

love and goodness which outlive biological man.and preserve his claim to

immortality:

So ist es uns ergangen.

Vergiss es nicht in bessrer Zeit!-
Aber VBglein singen und sangen,
Und dein Herz sei endlos weit.

Vergiss es nicht! Nur damit du lernst
Zu dem.se1tsamen Ratsel "Geschick'.-
'Warum.wird, 3e weiter du dich entfernst,
Desto grosser der Blick?

Der Tod geht stolz spazieren.
Doch Sterben ist nur Zeitverlust.-
Dir hlngt ein Herz in deiner Brust,
Das darfst du.nie verlieren.

Ringelnatz is convinced of a life after death, yet the thought of

death becomes an Obsession with him in the last verses. The poet accepts

it with quiet resignation, and in moments of desperation even.actively'

craves it as in Auf einmal steht es neben.dir:

Uhd auf einmal merkst du lusserlich:
Wieviel Kummer zu dir kam,

Wieviel Freundschaft leise von dir wich,
Alles Lachen von dir nahm.

171

Fragst verwundert in die Tage.
Doch die Tage hallen leer.
Denn verldlmmert deine Klage ...
Du fragst niemanden mehr.

Lernst es endlich, dich zu fugen,
Von den Sorgen gezahmt.

Willst dich selber nicht belugen
Und erstickst es, was dich grant.

Sinnlos, arm erscheint das Leben dir,

Llngst zu lang auSgedehnt. -

Und auf einmal - -: Steht es neben dir,

An dich angelehn .. ..

Was?

Das, was du so lang ersehnt.
The anticipation of death accompanies him constantly. His every thought
and action are altered and formed by considerations of death. Not all of
them are serious, sentimental, and tragic, however, although sentimentality
is indeed often present. Ehreiz reveals toward death a humorous attitude
which exhibits great courage and maturity:

Ich habe meinen Soldaten aus Blei

Als Kind Verdienstkreuzen eingeritzt.

Mir selber ging alle Ehre vorbei,

Bis auf zwei Orden, die jeder besitzt.

Und ich pfeife durchaus nicht auf Ehre.

Im Gegenteil. Mein Ideal ware,

Dass man nach meinem Tod (grano salis)

Ein Gasschen nach mir benennt, ein ganz schmales —

Und krmnmes Gasschen, mit niedrigen Tflrchen,

Mit steilen Treppchen und feilen Hurchen,

Mit Schatten und schiefen Fensterluken.

Dort wards ich spuken.
The sentimentality prompted by thoughts of death expresses itself in poems
showing his great love for his departed father (Gedenken an meinen Vater,
An meinen l_l_ngst verstorbenen Vater) and a certain self pity at the loss
of his childhood (Traurig geworden). The most successful sentimental poem
in the last verses, however, is the expression of his yearning for his

years at sea and sorrow at his lost youth. Ringelnatz was obviously

172
preoccupied with this theme since he painted a picture treating the same
subject, entitled Hafenkneipe.

In der Kneipe "Zum.Sudwester"

Sitzt der Bruder mit der Schwester

Hand in Hand. '

Zwar der Bruder ist kein Bruder,

Doch die Schwester ist ein Luder

Und das braune Madchen stammt aus Feuerland.
In der Kneipe 'Zum.Sfldwester”

Ballt sich manchmal eine Hand,

Knallt ein Mbbel an die wand.

Doch in jener selben Schenks

Schlumt um einfache Getrlnke

Schwer erklmpftes Seemannsglnck.

Die Matrosen kommen, gehen.

Alles lebt vom Wiedersehen.

Ein gegangener Gast sehnt sich zurnck.
Durch.die Fensterscheibe aber traumt ein Schatten
Derer, die dort einmal

Oder keinmal

Abenteuerliche Freude batten.

The single most significant attestation to the conciliatory nature of
the last verses is the almost total absence of satire. In the last two
years of his life Ringelnatz published only three satirical poems. He'
satirizes artistic handicraft which pretends to be art in Kunstgewerbe. In
Pfingstbestellung he satirizes himself for impure artistic motivation. He
has mechanically produced a Pentecost poem and looks ferward to the money
it will bring him. These two poems are indeed harmless in tone. In
Ruinenkult, however, the sharpness of his old satirical tone is recaptured.
The poem.satirizes political romanticism, showing its promotion of lies
and delusion.with.an.irraticna1 and cheap emotional appeal. The extent of
Ringelnatz' revulsion at this phenomenon is evidenced in the extremely crude
references in the second and.thfird.stanzas. The righteous anger and the

sharpness of the attack exhibited in this poem are indeed reminiscent of

173

Ringelnatz' forays against German life and politics in the Turngsdichte.

Thus political satire represents one of his first as well as one of his

last themes.

Wenn der Ruinenz auber glflht,
Erschauert unser Volksgemflt,

Und eine romantische warms
Giesst Bowle durch unsre Godarme.

Lichtbirne hinter Buntpapier
Giht Slngerkehlen ein Klistier,
Und sehnsnchtig weinendes Lachen
Lasst uralten Schwindel erwachen.

Denen , die sich Ruinen baun ,
Minsch ich den thhsten Lattenzaun
Und den ven Hunden umgeben,

Die dauernd das eine Bein haben.

The proximity of death did not by any means dampen Ringelnatz' sense

of humor. The mam humorous poems in the last collections are as earttw

and pointed as any to be found in the earlier periods. They are even more

successful than the earlier comic verses since they ambit a stylistic

and linguistic polish typical only of an accomplished poet. In most of

the humorous verses of this last period Ringelnatz laughs at himself by

rendering his own image ridiculous and comical. Eis Hockey is probably

the best example of the use of phonetics combined with a humorous theme to

produce a comic poem with several levels of humor:

Wenn die HockeyhBlzer hackeln,

Wenn die Schlittschuhschnbrkel schnackeln
Und die Gummischeibe schnellt

Mir ans Kinn anstatt zum, Ziele,

Dann empfinde ich die Spiele

Einer sportlich reifen Welt.

Mehrmals, wie in frflheren Wintern,

S'etzen zwei sich auf den Hintern,

Was an sich mir sehr geffllt.

Doch ich habe einen Schnupfen

Und kein Taschentuch zum Tupfen.
Auch zerbrach mir mein Monokel. -
Und der Kampf bleibt unentschieden.

174
Also geh ich unzufrieden
Heim. Und hab von dem Gehockel
Nur den fraglichen Gewinn:
Eine Beule links am Kinn.
Hinter mir klingt etwas froh
Etwa so:
"Dem Verband Zentralafrikanischer
Eishockeyspieler drei Hurras!“
Hurra! Hurra! Hurra!

The impressionistic technique discussed in chapter III above finds
fulfillment in a wealth of impressionistic word pictures in the last
verses. Eerbst im Flues is probably the finest example of a mood pic-
ture, characterized by modified shades and nuances of experience and
poured into a flawless form:

Der Strom trug das ins Nasser gestreute
Laub der Baume fort. -

Ich dachte an alte Leute,

Die auswandern ohne ein Klagewort.

Die Blltter treiben und trudeln,
Gewendet ven Winden und Strudeln
Gefflglg, und sinken denn still. -

Wie jeder, der Grosses erlebte,

Als er an Grueserem bebte.

Schliesslich tief ausruhen will.

The remainder of the poems in the last collection treat the purely
personal experiences of the poet in the last years of his life: tributes
to his friends, expressions of his own frustations, fears, happiness,
misery, fatigue, compassion, love, disappointment, adventure, boredom, and
desperation. Although mamr of these verses are indeed fine examples of
Ringelnatz' manner, their prime significance lies in the realm of the
biographical which is not the main topic of this paper. Of general signi-
ficance, however, is Ringelnatz' reference to the single most important
personal event in the last years of his life. In 1930, after having

called Munich his home for may years, he moved to Berlin. Umzug nach

175

Berlin attests to the profound disappointment which his once beloved home
has caused him as well as the hopeful promise which awaits him in his new
home. As always, he considers the leave.taking from his friends the most
disadvantageous aspect of the departure.

Nach Berlin, nach Berlin,

Nach.Berlin umzuziehn,

Aus der dummsten Stadt in der Welt-

Wie das locktll - Ich, verdumpft,

Ich, verstockt und verstumpft,

Habe endlich.mich auf den Kopf gestellt.

Ach wie schon ist's im Frein

Und im.Hellen zu sein!

Und‘wlr's nur ein luftiges Zelt.

‘Aber gar nach.Berlin,

Nach Berlin umzuziehn,

Aus der dflmmsten Stadt in.der‘We1t3

Mir ist wohl, mir ist weh -

So als ging ich in See -

Denn ich lasse auch.Freunde zurflck.

Doch ihr Freunde, folgt nach

Aus kleinpopliger Schmach

In den Grosskampf um sauberes Gluck.

The poems of Joachim Ringelnatz' final period of development show'no
attempts at the unity of poetry cycles. They represent the culmination of
his wisdom of life, lyrical beauty, and technical prowess. Ringelnatz'
proximity to death and his realization of the approaching and conditioned
the tone of the last verses. It is sublimated, conciliatory, and resigned.
His view of life has undergone no basic change. He still sees life as
characterized by'boredom, melancholy, sadness, and.despair with only brief
moments of happiness and beauty. Beauty is to be feund only in the abstract
and the happiness of home and family. The questions posed.by life are
unanswerable; thus it is futile to seek answers. The poet comes to the
conclusion, however, that life does have value and is worth living. Ringel-

natz sees longing as an inevitable condition of human existence. Love he

176
views as the most important manifestation of a humanity with great poten-
tial for good. As in all Ringelnatz' poetry, there is no dearth of
didacticism in the last verses. Ameng other things, he teaches an instinc-
tive approach to life which he believes will be successful because of the
inherent goodness of man. He is convinced of a life after death, yet the
thought of death becomes an obsession with him in the last verses. It
prompts many sentimental poems and prohibits any prolonged indulgence in
satire, but it does not succeed in extinguishing the poet's-sense of humor.
The impressionistic word pictures of the last verses are among Ringelnatz'
most successful. The remainder of the poems treat the poet's personal
eXperiences of his last years.

CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION

Joachim Ringelnatz' poetic production can be divided into four well
defined periods: an imitative period comprising the Fruhe Gedichte; a
satirical period marked by the publication of Die Schnupftabaksdose (1912) ,
Turngedichte (1920) , Kuttel Daddeldu (1920) , and Geheimes Kinderspielbuch
(1921+); a didactic period consisting of Reisebriefe eines Artistsn (1927) ,
Matrosen (1928), Allerdings (1928), Flg‘gzegggeéiai—ilten (1929) and 33.93.93."
Verwirr-Buch (1931); and a lyrical period during which Ringelnatz wrote
the poems Die Flasche und mit ihr auf Reisen (1932), Gedichte dreier Jahre
(1932), Gedichte, Gedichte (1933). and Der Nachlass (1935).

The poems of Frlhe Gedichte are by and large purely conventional and
are thus significant only insofar as they give us some notion regarding
the literature which particularly impressed the young poet. The themes
are mostly romantic with the influence of Eichendorff and other Romantic
poets evident in both tone and form. Three typical Ringelnatz character-
istics appear in the early poems in an embryonic form: humor, friendship,
and reverence for life in the minute.

The first indication of Ringelnatz' own style is to be found in the
, short collection of didactic, allegorical children' s poems entitled Luz;
kleine Wesen. In their externals these poems embody the elements of
language creativity employed by Morgenstern, but with an entirely different
motivation. Morgenstern rebels against bourgeois society by undermining

178
language, its basis. Ringelnatz merely plunders the language of its
capricious potential for purposes of humor, confusing the realms of the
, animate and the inanimate to produce playful, harmless, and superficial
grote squeries. Because of his frequent employment of such devices, Ringel-
natz is often referred to as a "grotesque" poet. He was too Optimistic,
too naive, too natural to produce grotesque poetry which, however, does
more than transcend the level of a stylistic device; and his characteristic
”grotesque" style, often attributed to Morgenstern' s influence, was
already achieved by 1910 , before Ringelnatz became familiar with Morgen-
stern's style.

Ringelnatz' satirical period is introduced by the publication of Q_i_e_
Schnupftabaksdo se in 1912. It exhibits Ringelnatz ' full command of a
stylistic device, the minute grotesquerie, which later came to be con-
sidered characteristic of his poetry. His satire is concerned with the
weaknesses and foibles of human beings. It also shows a basic tendency of
all of Ringelnatz' early verse, the poetry cycle. Arbitrariness and tbpose
also become conmon Ringelnatz devices. He continues to employ language
creativity in Far kleine Wesen but makes a decisive break with the roman-
tic style and themes found in Fruhe Gedichte.

Turng_e_di_chte, published in 1920, is the first collection of Ringelnatz'
postwar satire. Designed as a poem cycle, it reveals through symbols
derived from the world of gymastics the true nature of German national
life which Ringelnatz found repulsive upon his retum from the World War.
Here we no longer encounter the playful satire of Die Schnupftabaksdose but
rather the abject desperation of an age which has lost its values, its
goals, and even its hope. Ringelnatz sought to expose the delusions of
bourgeois values and to annihilate mediocrity in an effort to gain

179
breathing room and a more genuine, more honest approach to life. He
thought to gain this end by using the strongest 1mm possible since
the good and simple words had been misused so often that they had lost all
value. Approximately two-thirds of the way through the collection, the
cycle breaks down. The limitation of the gymnastic symbol became intoler-
able; Ringelnatz' disgust, his rebellion, and his cry were much too
strong to be held within the bounds of the preconceived form. From this
point on, we encounter pictures of life which have the effect of total
alienation. We also find for the first time pure lyric poetry filled with
empathy, emotion, and beauty.

In Kuttel Daddeldu (1920) , Ringelnatz ' third collection of satirical
verse, he again presents a poetry cycle revolving around a central theme,
the primitive sailor and his exploits. Again the cycle is left incomplete
since the unifying theme is abandoned midway through the collection. The
satirical technique is novel in Kuttel Daddeldu, for direct satire is
replaced by positive action in a direction which fails the bourgeois
world, the target of Ringelnatz ' derision. Kuttel Daddeldu is the “noble
savage" , primitive and rough but hone st and genuine. His adventures in
the world of the proper bourgeois show him to be their ethical superior,
but because he is trusting and naive he meets with sorrow and defeat
wherever he goes. He is a stranger everywhere save at sea where he can be
united with nature which he understands and respects. The figure of Kuttel
Daddeldu is Ringelnatz' public pose. It affords insight into his psycho-
logy both when the pose is successful and when it fails.

The Geheimes Kinderspielbuch (1921+) , one of the few true poetry cycles
produced by Ringelnatz, is a further'de'velopment of the poet's satire. He

180
was able to sustain the satirical vehicle here because of the relative
brevity of the collection. Ringelnatz' purpose in the .Ggheimes Kinder.
flelbuch was misunderstood since it was taken as an exhortation to chil-
dren to be mischievous. As a conscious moralist, however, the poet sought,
rather, to address adults as one would children, adding a shock effect to
insure the undivided attention of his audience. The frequent occurrence
of gross crudity and erotic references substantiates 1w contention that
Geheimes Kindergielbuch was written for adults and not for children.

Ringelnatz' satire became less successful with each new effort. 213
Schnupftabaksdose remains the most widely known and recognised collection
of Ringelnatz' satirical verse. In this collection he showed that his
satirical strength lay in the minute grotesquerie; had he persisted in the
use of this vehicle, he would surely have gained even greater renown as a
satirist. He constantly attempted new symbolic vehicles to carry his
message, however, and each successive collection became less effective as
satire. He planned to maintain cyclic unity with his vehicles but found
them too constraining and was unable for the most part to maintain com.-
plete unity throughout each collection. The vehicle itself was at least
partially ineffective in Turngflchte and Kuttel Daddeldu since it was
unable to carry the poet's message to its logoal conclusion. Be there-
fore found it necessary to abandon it and wrote instead uneven poetry
cycles which failed to accomplish his original intention. The Geheimes
Kinderflelbuch is the least effective collection of satirical verse since
it attempts a subtlety the meaning of which escaped even the literary
critics. The symbolic vehicle is so successful that it neutralizes the
effectiveness of the intended satire. Ringelnatz must have been aware of
this since Geheimes Kinderspdelbuch is his final effort at a collection of

 

,9

181
primarily satirical verse. Thus it marks the end of a period in.Ringel-
natz' poetic development. After 1921} he no longer sought his poetic
raison d'etre primarily in satire. Satire was his means of clearing the
way for the purposeful didacticism and the pure lyric poetry of his later

collections.

The Reisebriefe eines Artistsn, published in 1927, was a turning point
in Ringelnatz' attitude and in his modes of poetic expression. From this
V point on the poems exhibit less satire, less scurrility, and even less
humor. The tone of the poems is suited and the emotions are less violent
than those seen in earlier collections. The poems are a chronicle of the
impressions, inSpirations, feelings, visions, and experiences encountered
on Ringelnatz' travels as a cabaret poet between the years 1920 and 1927.
They present a world view of extreme pessimism, feelings of deep loneliness,
melancholy, longing for death, and indifferencea The poet seeks relief from
life in drink where he finds love, beauty, truth, adventure, eroticism, and
humor. He attempts to undermine self- satisfied smugness with crudity and
scurrile remarks. Most of the cities through which he travels do not impress
him. He seeks the tranquility and sensual beauty of nature. He shows
through examples that the most admirable virtues are honesty, humility, gen-
erosity, and compassion. Humor for its own sake continues to appear. In
contrast to his scathing indictment of German life in the Turngegchte, Rin-
gelnatz shows his identification with and great love for his German homeland.

After ten years away from the sea, Ringelnatz returns to thoughts of
his youth spent among raugh‘ sailors in the merchant navy. Matrosen is an
attempt to recapture these years and to promote the salty virtues of the
sailors whom he admires so intensely. He also reproduces sailor ballads
and work songs in a sentimental and naive tone.

182
Allerdings (1928) is Ringelnatz' first collection of non-cyclic

verse. It is less autobiographical than the Reisebriefe and the themes
are less numerous. Noteworthy in Allerdings is the unity of Ringelnatz'
painting, which he began seriously about 1920, and his poetry in theme,
technique, and style. The technique of the poems became increasingly
impressionistic; although the artist subscribed to no particular esthetic
movement, the paintings also show the influence of the Impressionists. He
reproduced with brush or word his impressions of the world, poeticised
products of his imagination, and exhibited deep but muud emotion in his
purely lyrical productions. He impressionistically related visions
experienced in a state somewhere between sleep and waking, between reality
and unreality in which normal life orientations are confused and out of
focus. One of the favorite motifs of both his painting and his poetry is
the unqualified loneliness of man and animal in nature. Ringelnatz' view
of life as reflected in Allerdings was still basically pessimistic and
melancholy, but he also showed he was cmvinced of the essential goodness
of human intuition. Ringelnatz contended that man can find meaning and
happiness in life in a purposeful attitude and a naive faith in God
despite the multitude of disadvantages encountered in daily existence.
The poet found purpose in didacticism which he pursued with characteristic
frankness and directness; thus didacticism became the dominant tendency of
this collection. We encounter frequently throughout the works the virtues
which he extols: honesty, humility, generosity, courage , reverence for
life, and an all-encompassing compassion. The love lyrics of W
are less universal, less tender than those of the Reisebriefe. The long-

ing for death of the fiei sebriefe was replaced by a longing for life in
Alle_r_d_i_ngs.

183

In Flggzeggflanken (1929) Ringelnatz presents a poetry cycle which
is, however, uncyclic. The technicalities of the collection show increas.
ing sophistication, for the arrangement of the poems creates a more unified
effect and the form of the verses is more polished than in previous col-
lections. The poems which deal with flying and flyers, the symbolic
vehicle designed to give unity to the collection, are interspersed through-
out the collection rather than grouped together at the beginning as was
the case with the other cycles. As we proceed chronologically through the
works we note an increasingly strong tendency toward regularity of form.
This becomes particularly evident in the poems of W since
it contains the greatest number of regular poems. It also exhibits an
improvement of the impressionistic technique discussed in. conjunction with
Alleflgs. Flyers have replaced sailors as the objects of the poet's
admiration and flying brings with it a new perspective: it makes the
peat. aware of the beauty of life and stimulates new optimism in his view
of life. With increasing age Ringelnatz began to view his life histori ..
ally and to indulge in a sentimentality reminiscent of the Frflhe Gedichte.

The Kinder-Verwirr-Buch (1931) and the Ka sperle-Verse (1933) repre-
sent Ringelnatz' final efforts at writing poetry cycles and composing
children' s verse. As a cycle the Kinder-Verwirr-Buch is without doubt the
least complete of his several efforts in this direction. The arrangement
of the poems is uneven to the point of confusion in direct contrast to the
EggseEgggdamcen. The regularity and polish of the individual verses,
however, attest to the same level of accomplishment found in the latter
collection. As in the case of Geheimes Kinderflelbuch, the purpose of
the Kinder-Verurr—Buch was generally misunderstood. Although apparently
addressed to children, its real purpose was the instruction of adults by

181+
Ringelnatz the moralist.
The tone and the content of the Hasperle-Verse are indicative of

 

traditional children's poetry: simple, light, and entertaining, entirely
devoid of didactic purpose. The preponderance of didacticism in £9332:
briefs eines Artistsn, Matrosen, Allerdings, Fluggeugflanken, and
Kinder-Verwirr-Buch distinguishes these collections from previous and
subsequent ones in that it represents an intermediate stage in Ringelnatz'
poetic maturation. He has transcended the tormented ggn__u_i_ of his satiri-
cal period, but has not yet acquired the ability to produce poetry which
is devoid of purpose and can stand alone as pure art. This intermediate
step was essential for Ringelnatz, however, since it was during this
period that he reconciled himself with life, thereby removing a barrier
which would otherwise have prevented his attainment of poetic mastery.
The final period of Joachim Ringelnatz' poetic productivity can be
termed the lyrical period. The poet no longer attempted to write poetry
in cycles which in the past had turned out to be incomplete. Each poem
is a well rounded and unified entity which is usually characterized by an
undivided devotion to the lyrical moment. The poems of this last period
represent the culmination of the poet's wisdom of life, lyrical beauty,
and technical prowess. He felt life slipping away from him; thus the
entire production of his last years was conditioned by considerations of
death which produced a general tone of sublimation, conciliation, and
' resignation. The poet's view of life remains consistent with that of the
earlier poetry although the emphasis here is on a quest for an absolute.
He questioned the nature of human existence and its ultimate consequence
but was able to draw no conclusion other than that his questions are
unanswerable and that he must trust his intuition and his faith in God and

185
man. Ringelnatz' philosophy is characterized by confidence in the inherent
goodness of man. This goodness can manifest itself only through intuition,
thus Ringelnatz reveals himself as irrational and romantic in his philo-
sophical outlook. The poet sees love as a manifestation of intuition and
the most important human ability. It gives life meaning and renders it a
worthwhile experience despite life' 3 many disadvantages. Another proof of
the essential worth of human life is the factthat man clings to it in the
face of death. Ringelnatz experienced his most profound longing for life
in the shadow of death. Yet he was able to maintain his sense of humor,
and this, together with his philosophical reconciliation with life, enabled
him to rise above the pain of life to achieve a pure lyricism.

Joachim Ringelnatz was a romantic and irrational philosopher. As a
satirist and style innovator he was a completely original poet who had the
courage to stand alone, developing a highly personal approach to art and
pursuing it to its final consequences. Most importantly, however, Joachim
Ringelnatz , plebian by choice, was an idealistic moralist whose immutable
goal in life was the promotion of honesty, humility, and love in a world
fraught with deception and arrogance and torn by hate and strife.

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