BOOKS
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Hyperconsciousness of the arbitrary way in which order is fabri ca ted–
including the a rbitrariness of the " I" (" the face turns ugl y with
nonsense")-pa ralyzes the will; all acti on becomes gro tesque, comical,
unrea l. But it is from thi s point of ex treme disconnectedness tha t sense,
in an un expected, a ltered form, brea ks through:
after such long nonsense, suddenl y there was so much
of the world's abundance.
The opposite of nonsen se is no t meaning–
you just don't need meaning any more,
don't even seek philosophical sense
for th e nonsen se:
" on sen se and Happiness"
In each of the poems in
Nonsense and Happ iness
a simil ar cycle is
repea ted: the recogniti on o f an essenti al arbitrariness, the compulsive
allempt to void it, and fin a lly a resolution o f sorts- an acceptance of
nonsense and of the fact th at the intellect and its vehicl e, language, will
continue to fabricate order. Obvio usly, thi s is no t a resolution without
confli ct. T he intensity of the confli ct is heightened by the fa ct that it is
presented by a writer who is himse lf caught between the need
to
write
and an intense awa reness of the nonsense of language. Handke is a t his
best when he writes from the pen-point center of thi s confli ct and sti cks
to cool, discursive language in describing it. He is a t hi s worst when he
moves toward a more imagistic approach, as he does signifi cantl y in
"The End of Idling," the las t poem in
Nonsense and Happ iness.
By
relinquishing the di strust of language which was so pronounced in the
earlier poems, Handke sacrifices the particular ambi guity which
constitutes the essenti al power of hi s poetry. The tension is lost; the
emoti onal level infl ates into the ludi crous:
Meager loneliness:
Coldn ess
Night
Coated lips
Downcas t eyes
Thinking of you
in the drizzling gloom of the bo ul evards
I feel my hands turn ho t
wanting you
my th oughts
scratch th e clothes off your body
to
be closer
to
you
