place
Kidron Valley
Kidron
also: Kidron, Kidrontal, der Kidron
The valley running along the eastern wall of Jerusalem, separating the Old City from the Mount of Olives and containing ancient Jewish, Christian, and Muslim tombs. Trakl evokes it in Helian as a site of sublime fate and final reckoning.
Reading notes
- Poems §49 Kidron
The Kidron Valley runs between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives; it was the route Jesus crossed on his way to Gethsemane before his arrest (John 18:1). In Trakl's 'Helian,' the name summons the whole weight of the Passion narrative.