Toward the end of "Das Boot," when it looks like they are all going to
die at the bottom of the sea, the naval reporter recites a quotation
about grandeur and reality and says that he had been in love with
those words, but now "this is reality."  I'd like to know the full
quotation he cites, preferably in both English and German, and the
source of it.

Thank you,
Apteryx

Dear apteryx,

The quotation derives from the poem "Schlacht - Das Maß" ("Battle -
The Measure"), by German author Rudolf Georg Binding (b. 13 August
1867 in Basel, Switzerland - d. 4 August 1938 in Starnberg, Germany).
Characteristic to his work was the glorification of manly-soldierly
spirit and the readiness to make sacrifices.

Here is the full poem, with an English translation I made for you myself:


SCHLACHT - DAS MASS

Die Erde drängt sich zitternd an uns heran.
Das Feld steht auf wie ein Mensch vom Lager.
Saaten bewaffneter Männer sprießen
aus unsichtbaren Samen
in den Furchen zutag.
Schauerlich groß blühn grünschwarze Kelche
Erdstaub und giftige Gase
allenthalben empor.
Aufgeschreckt rasend
springen Fontänen aus trockenem Grund.
Auf Feuer gekreuzigt
fahren Menschenleiber zum Himmel,
zerstieben mit einer Grimasse,
schwarze verkohlte Sterne:
Erde und Gebein.

Rauchterrassen wälzen sich über uns hin.
In schweren Wettern rauscht Eisen nieder.
Blitze tasten heran.
Donner erwürgt uns.
Heulender Abgrund bäumt sich herauf
allüberall, und die Sonne schleift
Dunkel verpestete Mähnen in unseren Atem.
Unentrinnbar hält uns der Himmel
unter sich hingebannt:
unheimliches Basiliskenauge
Über kleinem Getier.

Einsam liegen wir da in der Not der Schlacht;
wir wußten, daß jeder einsam war.
Aber wir wußten auch dies:
Einmal vor Unerbittlichem stehn,
wo Gebete entrechtet, Gewinsel zu Gott
lächerlich ist,
wo keines Mutter sich nach uns umsieht,
kein Weib unsern Weg kreuzt,
wo alles o h n e Liebe ist,
wo nur die Wirklichkeit herrscht,
grausig und groß,
solches macht sicher und stolz.
Unvergeßlich und tiefer
rührt es ans Herz des Menschen
als alle Liebe der Welt.

Und wir fühlen: dies war das Maß.

--

BATTLE - THE MEASURE

The soil trembling presses to us.
The field stands up like a man from the bed.
Crops of armed men grow
From invisible seeds
In the furrows.
Eerily big green-black goblets let
Soil dust and poisonous gases
Bloom everywhere.
Alarmdly raving
Fountains arise from dry grounds.
Crucified on fire
Human bodies go to heaven,
Burst with an antic,
Black charred stars:
Soil and bones.

Terraces of smoke roll over us.
In thunderstorms, iron rains down.
Levins feel their ways.
Thunder strangles us.
Wailing abyss rears up
Everywhere, and the Sun grinds
Dark mephitic manes in our breath.
Inescapably heaven holds us
Bound below:
Sinister basilisk's eye
Over small animals.

Sesolate we lie there in the misery of battle;
We knew that everyone was desolate.
But we also knew this:
Standing before the remorseless once,
Where prayer is futile, where canting to God
Is ridiculous,
Wher no mother looks for us,
Where no woman crosses our path,
Where everything is  w i t h o u t  love,
Where only reality reigns,
Gruesome and grand,
That makes firm and proud.
Unforgettable and much deeper
It touches the heart of man
Than all the love in the world.

And we felt: This was the measure.


Sources:

Volkshochschule Essen: Lyrik während der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus,
by Walter Wehner
http://www.vhs-essen.de/lyrikarchiv/aufsatz.htm

Infobitte Universal-Lexikon: Rudolf Georg Binding
http://www.infobitte.de/free/lex/allgLex0/b/bindingRudolfGeorg.htm

LYRIKwelt: Rudolf Georg Binding
http://www.lyrikwelt.de/autoren/binding.htm

Search terms used:
"wo nur die wirklichkeit"
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22wo+nur+die+wirklichkeit%22&meta=
"Rudolf Georg Binding"
://www.google.de/search?q=%22Rudolf+Georg+Binding%22&hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&start=0&sa=N

Hope this answers your question!
Best regards,
Scriptor

---

Request for Answer Clarification by apteryx-ga on 10 Nov 2003 20:55 PST

Bestimmt!  Thank you, Scriptor.  I had an idea you were the person for
the job.  I also thought the quotation would be one that a German
audience would be expected to recognize.  Was that correct?

I very much appreciate your making your own own Übersetzung.  I'm just
finding the idea of "measure" a little bit difficult to grasp.  Is
that "measure" in the sense of a standard?--as if this notion were
something against which a man might measure or perhaps test himself? 
I need a little more help with that conclusion.

Also, why would it be "we felt" and not "we feel"?

Danke,
Apteryx

---

Clarification of Answer by scriptor-ga on 11 Nov 2003 06:04 PST

Dear apteryx,

You are right. The German word "Maß", as used in the poem, means
"measure" in the sense of "standard"; your definition is absolutely
correct.

As for the "we felt": This is my mistake. Please accept my apology.
The last line of the translation must read: "And we feel: This was the
measure."

Now, concerning your assumption that a German audience would recognize
the quotation: I do not think so. Binding is almost completely
forgotten in Germany today, and so are most of his works. This is not
surprising, regarding the fact that he glorified values we consider
brutal and inhuman today. The odds that a German reader, even a highly
educated one, would know the quotation and the poem, are really small.

Best regards,
Scriptor

Ausgezeichnet, Scriptor, excellent!  You told me everything I wanted
to know and more.  I greatly appreciate your efforts.

Apteryx

The first site below seems to imply that the character is quoting himself:

"Poor idealistic Werner talks of his romantic illusions of going forth
to meet 'the inexorable, where no mother will look after us, no woman
will cross our path and where only reality reigns with cruelty and
grandeur,' he says, quoting his own fine words about the warrior?s
life. Now, he says bitterly: 'I was drunk with these words.' He weeps.
'Well, this is reality.'?
above from http://www.jamesbowman.net/reviewDetail.asp?pubID=394

A slightly different version:
"'To be heading into the inexorable where no mother will care for us,
no woman crosses our path, where only reality reigns with cruelty and
grandeur.' I was drunk with those words. Well, this is reality."
above from http://www.bluechair.net/digthis/loveandterror.htm