May 14, 2005

Silent Friend

Silent friend of many distances, feel
how your breath enlarges all of space.
Let your presence ring out like a bell
into the night. What feeds upon your face

grows mighty from the nourishment thus offered.
Move through transformation, out and in.
What is the deepest loss that you have suffered?
If drinking is bitter, change yourself to wine.

In this immeasurable darkness, be the power
that rounds your senses in their magic ring,
the sense of their mysterious encounter.

And if the earthly no longer knows your name,
whisper to the silent earth: I’m flowing.
To the flashing water say: I am.

Rainer Maria Rilke

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Rilke is one of those poets who seems to speak at a deep level even before I can decode the meanings. Some of TS Elliot's does that. And a Canadian poet by the name of Gwedolyn MacEwen.

New Life said...

I am breathless.

isaiah said...

"And if the earthly no longer knows your name,whisper to the silent earth: I’m flowing.
To the flashing water say: I am."

M,

Which (whose)translation is this?

It is beautful.