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Gong

Rainer Maria Rilke, Rainer Maria Rilke poetry, Secular or Eclectic, Secular or Eclectic poetry,  poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry,  poetry by Rainer Maria Rilke
(1875 - 1926) Timeline

English version by
Stephen Mitchell

Original Language
German

Secular or Eclectic
20th Century

No longer for ears...: sound
which, like a deeper ear,
hears us, who only seem
to be hearing. Reversal of spaces.
Projection of innermost worlds
into the Open..., temple
before their birth, solution
saturated with gods
that are almost insoluble...: Gong!

Sum of all silence, which
acknowledges itself to itself,
thunderous turning-within
of what is struck dumb in itself,
duration pressed from time passing,
star re-liquefied...: Gong!

You whom one never forgets,
who gave birth to herself in loss,
festival no longer grasped,
wine on invisible lips,
storm in the pillar that upholds,
wanderer's plunge on the path,
our treason, to everything...: Gong!

 

 

-- from Ahead of All Parting: The Selected Poetry and Prose of Rainer Maria Rilke, Translated by Stephen Mitchell

Amazon.com

 

Themes

  Birth, Rebirth
  Silence
  Sound
  Wine
  Womb


Recommended Books


Ahead of All Parting: The Selected Poetry and Prose of Rainer Maria Rilke, Translated by Stephen Mitchell
The Best of Rilke: 72 Form-True Verse Translations, Translated by Walter W. Arndt
The Book of Hours: Prayers to a Lowly God, by Rainer Maria Rilke / Translated by Annemarie Kidder
Duino Elegies, by Rainer Maria Rilke / Translated by David Young
Engendering Inspiration: Visionary Strategies in Rilke, Lawrence, and H.D., by Helen Sword

More >>

 

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
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