Lighter than Air: Moral Poems

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Lighter than Air
Author Hans Magnus Enzensberger
Original titleLeichter als Luft
TranslatorReinhold Grimm
LanguageGerman
Publisher Suhrkamp Verlag
Publication date
1999
Publication placeGermany
Published in English
2000
Pages136
ISBN 351841058X

Lighter than Air: Moral Poems (German : Leichter als Luft. Moralische Gedichte) is a 1999 poetry collection by the German writer Hans Magnus Enzensberger. The poems express Enzensberger's interests in mathematics, language, travelling and riddles, and his distancing from the utopian themes of his early works. [1]

The book was published in an English interpretation by Reinhold Grimm in 2000 [2] and one by David Constantine in 2002. [3] Publishers Weekly wrote that it consists of little songs or ditties where the "tone is based on a straightforward, caustic wit, one embodied by ubiquitous, simple declaratives and unreliable-narrator posturings that don't need much care from the translator". [2] Constantine's translation received the 2003 Popescu Prize. [4]

References

  1. ↑ Schlawenz, Viktor (1 November 1999). "Lichte Gedichte". Literaturkritik.de  [ de ] (in German). Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Lighter Than Air: Moral Poems". Publishers Weekly . 30 October 2000. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  3. ↑ Sears, John (11 December 2002). "Lighter than Air — Moral Poems by Hans Magnus Enzensberger, translated by David Constantine". Pop Matters . Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  4. ↑ "Popescu Prize: Early winners". The Poetry Society . Retrieved 25 November 2025.
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