+
home >
features > calendar  |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
Birthday of Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)
December 4
German lyrical poet whose mysticism brings us a sense of connection with all life and a desire to move beyond accustomed habit into the unknown. Rilke’s best-known works include A Book for the Hours of Prayer and Sonnets to Orpheus.
Here for your enjoyment, in German and English (translated by Robert Bly), is one of Rilke's poems of gratitude for deepening self-awareness:
Fortschritt
Und wieder rauscht mein tiefes Leben lauter,
als ob es jetzt in breitern Ufern ginge.
Und immer verwandter werden mir die Dinge
und alle Bilder immer angeschauter.
Dem Namenlosen fühl ich mich vertrauter:
mit meinen Sinnen, wie mit Vögeln, reiche
ich in die windigen Himmel aus der Eiche,
und in den abgebrochenen Tag der Teiche
sinkt, wie auf Fischen stehend, mein Gefühl.
Moving Forward
The deep parts of my life pour onward,as if the river shores were opening out.
I seems that things are more like me now,
that I can see farther into paintings.
I feel closer to what language can't reach.
With my senses, as with birds, I climb
into the windy heaven, out of the oak,
and in the ponds broken off from the sky
my feeling sinks, as if standing on fishes.
« back