WARM RAIN, FALL STORM, the Alps | RILKE'S LAMENT / KLAGE

LAMENT—an early poem from
the German by Rainer Maria Rilke

O How everything is so far away
and so long ago departed.
I believe that the star from which
I receive such glittering light
has been dead for thousands of years.
I believe that something
frightening was said
in the boat which just passed by.
In a house, a clock
has marked the hour . . .
In which house? . . .
I would like to leave my heart behind
and step out under the immense sky.
I would like to pray.
That one of all these stars
must certainly still exist.
I believe I know
which one
has endured,—
which one, at the end of its heavenly ray,
stands like a city of white light . . .

Rainer Maria Rilke (tr. Cliff Crego)

KLAGE

O wie ist alles fern
und lange vergangen.
Ich glaube, der Stern,
von welchem ich Glanz empfangen,
ist seit Jahrtausenden tot.
Ich glaube, im Boot,
das vorüber führ,
hörte ich etwas banges sagen.
Im Hause hat eine Uhr
geschlagen . . .
In welchem Haus? . . .
Ich möchte aus meinem Herzen hinaus
unter den großen Himmel treten.
Ich möchten beten.
Und einer von allen Sternen
müßte wirklich noch sein.
Ich glaube, ich wüßte,
welcher allein
gedauert hat,—
welcher wie eine weiße Stadt
am Ende des Strahls in den Himmeln steht . . .

| download mp3 LAMENT / KLAGE [5.9 Mb] |

Please visit my picture-poems.com MOUNTAIN WATER
print gallery. Above is a set of about 60 recent images.
(Mouseover controls / lower right for full-scrren mode)

I might just mention here, following the simple ethical principle,
First, do no harm, that I never use cars or trucks or snowmachines.
Instead, I do everything on foot, or bike or ski. I think this in a
direct way affects my work, and deeply affects how I see
the world. So all the photos above were approached
on foot—including all the 'in between spaces,' sometimes
involving journeys of weeks or months.

I would not want to work any other way.

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New English translations
from the German of 80
of Rainer Maria Rilke's
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