translated from the German by Samantha Rose Hill and Genese Grill
Endure the abundance
when wave breaks upon wave,
refusing to appear,
to remain silent –
O God, you do not hear us.
God’s voice does not save us
From the abundance.
He speaks only to the destitute,
those longing, those waiting.
O God, do not forget us.
Den Überfluss ertragen
wenn Well’ um Well’ sich bricht,
das Zeigen sich versagen,
im Schweigen zu verharren—
O Gott, Du hörst uns nicht.
Aus Überfluss errettet
uns Gottes Stimme nicht.
Sie spricht nur zu den Darbenden,
den Sehnsüchtigen, den Harrenden.
O Gott, vergiss uns nicht.
“Reprinted from What Remains: The Collected Poems of Hannah Arendt by Hannah Arendt, translated by Samantha Rose Hill with Genese Grill. Copyright © 2025 by The Hannah Arendt Estate, Samantha Hill, and Genese Grill. Used with permission of the publisher, Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Hannah Arendt, Ich selbst, auch ich tanze. The poems. Piper Verlag GmbH, Munich/Berlin 2015. All rights reserved.”