Biblical/modern intergenerational conflict: four modern German poets on “Abishag the Shunammite”

摘要

In this article, I would like to focus on four poems written with almost the same background: the German world at the beginning of the twentieth century. An additional factor connecting the four poems is their biblical theme: Abisag of Sunem. The poems are ‘Abisag von Sunem’ (by Agnes Miegel); ‘David und Abisag’ (Erstes Buch der Könige, Kapitel 1.1–4)’ by Franz Theodor Csokor; ‘Abisag’ by R.M. Rilke; and ‘Abisag’ by Hedwig Caspari. Each poem presents a new reading of the biblical text. Furthermore, my interpretation will demonstrate that this group of poems can be read as referring to two subjects: the generation gap and the lack of communication as its consequence. The use of the biblical story of King David and Abisag and its end with Solomon’s murder of Adonijah is employed as a key that allows a variety of interpretations of the diverse approaches to the general themes which concerned the writers at the beginning of the twentieth century.