April is Poetry Month so I thought I'd post a poem by my favorite poet, Ranier Maria Rilke.(To be fair, I took Robert Zimmerman out of the mix. I think the fact that he was just awarded a Pulitzer Prize illustrates that there is still justice in the world.)
As Once the Winged Energy of Delight
As once the winged energy of delight
carried you over childhood's dark abysses,
now beyond your own life build the great
arch of unimagined bridges.
Wonders happen if we can succeed
in passing through the harshest danger;
but only in a bright and purely granted
achievement can we realize the wonder.
To work with Things in the indescribable
relationship is not too hard for us;
the pattern grows more intricate and subtle,
and being swept along is not enough.
Take your practiced powers and stretch them out
until they span the chasm between two
contradictions...For the god
wants to know himself in you.
Rainer Maria Rilke
Soundtrack for this post: Ray Wiley Hubbard's The Messenger.
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5 comments:
i've been meaning to do a bunch of poetry posts but haven't gotten that far yet this month. so thanks for sharing this with us.:)
rilke is one of my favorites too.
but, yeats, my god, yeats.
Oh, yes. Yeats is wonderful, too. I came to Rilke through his 'Letters to a Young Poet' which I give to all the graduating seniors on my gift list. He gives wonderful advice and then states that just because he can give advice, does not mean that he can always follow it.
i admit that i never heard of rilke, but this was an amazing piece. thanks for sharing.
I need to read more of Rilke it seems.
Very nice piece.
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