Go to the Limits of your Longing – Geh bis an Deiner Sehnsucht Rand
God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.
These are the words we dimly hear:
You, sent out beyond your recall,
Go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.
Flare up like a flame
and make big shadows I can move in.
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.
Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.
Give me your hand.
Gott spricht zu jedem nur, eh er ihn macht,
dann geht er schweigend mit ihm aus der Nacht.
Aber die Worte, eh jeder beginnt,
diese wolkigen Worte, sind:
Von deinen Sinnen hinausgesandt,
geh bis an deiner Sehnsucht Rand;
gieb mir Gewand.
Hinter den Dingen wachse als Brand,
dass ihre Schatten, ausgespannt,
immer mich ganz bedecken.
Lass dir Alles geschehn: Schönheit und Schrecken.
Man muss nur gehn: Kein Gefühl ist das fernste.
Lass dich von mir nicht trennen.
Nah ist das Land,
das sie das Leben nennen.
Du wirst es erkennen
an seinem Ernste.
Gib mir die Hand.
– Rainer Maria Rilke
Source: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/rainer-maria-rilke (english)
http://rainer-maria-rilke.de/ (german)
Previous Post
Next Post
sehr schön. Ich liebe Rainer Maria Rilke…einfach nur zum träumen gut! Und zum Leben leben leben leben…:)
Danke das Du Dir die Zeit genommen hast auf meinem Blog vorbeizuschauen, Yilmaz.
Thank you. Beautiful and moving. Vielen dank aus England.
You are welcome. Glad you liked it.
Love this- I am a big Rilke fan. Glad you also included the German -I teach high school German and shared a few lines that are towards the end of the poem with my classes- they are in the 2019 film JoJo’s Rabbit-“Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.”
Oh, I needed to read this poem again today, so befitting for our time. Thank you for the tip, Cornelia, might have to watch the movie. I heard it is a bit heavy.
I’m curious about the translation not feeling is final’. The German seems different.
You are right…
Man muss nur gehn: Kein Gefühl ist das fernste.
literally translated it would be
“Just keep going. No feeling is the furthest.”
What does it mean when a feeling is the furthest?
I think he is trying to say that we sense a feeling to be lasting, when really they are happening now, and when they are lasting they seem to never end.
Really enjoying the translation AND the original.
Is this the translation by Joanna Macy?
Thank you for posting it.
Would love to read further postings.
Any place to subscribe?
Thanks!
Hi Sabine, glad you are enjoying it. I am not sure who translated this version. The source is mentioned in the post http://rainer-maria-rilke.de/
You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page . . . however be aware that I am a painter, so mostly sending emails with updates on my paintings, thoughts, and events.
Thought you might like to know that part of the poem is quoted in “Flora and Ulysses” a children’s book by Kate DeCamillo” The lines beginning w/ “You sent out beyond your recall” and ending w/ “and make big shadows I can move in.”
What do you think Rilke means by “You will know it by its seriousness”? “Seriousness” is far from what I thought he was leading up to. Thank you!
I am not sure Cathy, what do you think? He often strikes me as a serious guy – Rilke – but also very thoughtful.