The MeridianOriginally presented as a speech to the German Academy for Language and Poetry on the occasion of Celan's acceptance of the Georg Bchner Prize for literature, The Meridian is one of, if not the most important poetological statement of the second half of the twentieth century. Much more than a personal statement or occasional piece, it is a meditation on the state of poetry and art in general and a rigorous attempt to account for what poetry is, can,