BERTOLT BRECHT poetry IN PRAISE OF DIALECTICS English Text
Bertolt Brecht
In praise of Dialectics
(De: Lob der Dialektik)
(1951)
Poetry
German literature
Poetry text translated into English
Bertolt Brecht Original text in German > here
Bertolt Brecht All the poems > here
Bertolt Brecht
In praise of Dialectics
Today, injustice goes with a certain stride,
The oppressors move in for ten thousand years.
Force sounds certain: it will stay the way it is.
No voice resounds except the voice of the rulers
And on the markets, exploitation says it out loud:
I am only just beginning.
But of the oppressed, many now say:
What we want will never happen
Whoever is still alive must never say ‘never’!
Certainty is never certain.
It will not stay the way it is.
When the rulers have already spoken
Then the ruled will start to speak.
Who dares say ‘never’?
Who’s to blame if oppression remains? We are.
Who can break its thrall? We can.
Whoever has been beaten down must rise to his feet!
Whoever is lost must fight back!
Whoever has recognized his condition
– how can anyone stop him?
Because the vanquished of today
will be tomorrow’s victors
And never will become:
already today!
…
..
.
Bertolt Brecht – In praise of Dialectics
De: Lob der Dialektik (1951)
Poetry – German literature
Poetry text translated into English
Bertolt Brecht Original text in German > here
Bertolt Brecht All the poems > here
Bertolt Brecht Biography > here
