person
Margarethe Trakl
Gretl
also: Gretl, die Schwester, the sister, der Schwester Schatten
Georg Trakl's younger sister Margarethe (1891–1917), a pianist who was an intensely significant presence throughout his life and poetry. Her shadow recurs as an elegiac, psychopomp-like figure, most memorably in Grodek, where she moves through the silent grove to greet the spirits of the fallen.
Reading notes
- Grodek §1 the sister's shadow
Trakl's sister Margarethe (Gretl) was an intensely significant figure in his life and poetry; her recurring presence as a shade or spirit throughout his work carries both tender and elegiac weight.