I was given this Rilke poem many years ago, I don't have the title but I have many of its lines etched in my memory."You see, I want a lot,
Perhaps I want everything;
The darkness that comes with every infinite fall
And the shivering blaze of every step up.
So many live on and want nothing,
And are raised to the rank of prince
By the slippery ease of their light judgements.
But what you love to see are the faces
That do work and feel thirst.
You love most of all those who need you
As they need a crowbar or a hoe.
You have not grown old, and it is not too late
To dive into your increasing depths
Where life calmly gives out its own secret."
Rilke was born in Prague of Austrian-Bohemian ancestry in 1876, his family was unhappy and he was unhappy most of his life. But he left many deeply insightful poems.
2 comments:
June -- I feel sadness in his poem. I am a little familiar with his work -- did not know he had been raised in an unhappy household. -- barbara
1848 ledgefethis poem lifted me up and gave me the urge to keep going, I am not grown old and it is not too late.thank you thank you You are top of my favourite blogs.
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