A god can do it. But tell me
how
a person can flow like that through the slender lyre.
Our mind is split. At the crossroads in our heart
stands no temple for Apollo.
a person can flow like that through the slender lyre.
Our mind is split. At the crossroads in our heart
stands no temple for Apollo.
Song, as you teach us, is
not a grasping,
not a seeking for some final consummation.
To sing is to be. Easy for a god.
But when do we simply be? When do we
not a seeking for some final consummation.
To sing is to be. Easy for a god.
But when do we simply be? When do we
become one with earth and
stars?
It is not achieved, young friend, by being in love,
however vibrant that makes your voice.
It is not achieved, young friend, by being in love,
however vibrant that makes your voice.
Learn to forget you sang
like that. It passes.
Truly to sing takes another kind of breath.
A breath in the void. A shudder in God. A wind.
Truly to sing takes another kind of breath.
A breath in the void. A shudder in God. A wind.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
~
(In Praise of Mortality,
translated and edited by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy)
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