September: Sparkling Steps . . .

RILKE | September: Sparkling Steps . . .
(click on photo to enlarge)
" Springs—they rise to the surface
almost too quickly. [...]"

from the work, Gedichte 1906 — 1926)
(Poems 1906 — 1926)
by Rainer Maria Rilke

This week, an image of Sparkling
Steps. Also: a new translation
from the German.

(click on photo to enlarge)
	" Springs—they rise to the surface almost too quickly. [...]" from the work, Gedichte 1906 — 1926) (Poems 1906 — 1926) by Rainer Maria Rilke This week, an image of Sparkling Steps. Also: a new translation from the German.

The guest poem for this week is a new English translationfrom the work of the German language
poet, Rainer Maria Rilke (from the Rilke website, a concise hyperlinked biography).

[Quellen, sie münden herauf . . .]

Quellen, sie münden herauf,
beinah zu eilig
Was treibt aus Gründen herauf,
heiter und heilig?

Lässt dort im Edelstein
Glanz sich breiten,
um uns am Wiesenrain
schlicht zu begleiten.

Wir, was erwidern wir
Solcher Gebärde?
Ach, wie zergliedern wir
Wasser und Erde.

Rainer Maria Rilke (Gedichte 1906 — 1926)

[Springs—they rise to the surface . . .]

Springs—they rise to the surface
almost too quickly.
What wells forth out of the ground,
hallowed and bright?

From the crystal, let
the shimmering light sweep out,
so that it may walk with us
to the markstones of the meadow.

Yet for us, what is our
reply to such gestures?
Oh, how are we to divide
Water and Earth?

(tr. Cliff Crego)

Listen to MP3's of Cliff Crego reading the poem in German original [800 K]
or in English translation [2.8 Mb]
[to download: Windows: r click; Mac: opt + click]

| view / print Picture/Poem Poster: Srings . . . | or download as PDF (64 K) |

| Selected Sonnets to Orpheus twenty-two poems in the order they have been featured (text only) | PDF of Six Sonnets |

| see also the Rilke Posters |

| listen to other recordings in English and German of twelve poems from
The Book of Images at The Rilke Download Page (# Includes instructions) |

See other recent additions of new English translations of Rilke's poetry, together with
featured photographs at:

(9) June: Windflowers and the Poetry of Praise

(8) June: The Poetry of Images of Movement

See also a selection of recent Picture/Poem "Rilke in translation" features at the Rilke Archive.

See also another website
by Cliff Crego:
The Poetry of
Rainer Maria Rilke

a presentation of 80 of the
best poems of Rilke in
both German and
new English translations:
biography, links, posters