Tags
Book Of Hours, Graphic Arts, Phil Gennuso Arts, POETRY, Rainier Maria Rilke, Towers, Translation
I live my Life in ever widening Circles,
that stretch over the World.
I may not complete the last one,
but I want to try it.
I am circling around God, the ancient Tower,
and I have been circling for millennia;
and I don’t know yet: am I a Hawk, a Storm,
or maybe a great Song.
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Ich lebe mein Leben in wachsenden Ringen,
die sich über die Dinge ziehn.
Ich werde den letzten vielleicht nicht vollbringen,
aber versuchen will ich ihn.
Ich kreise um Gott, um den uralten Turm,
und ich kreise jahrtausendelang;
und ich weiß noch nicht: bin ich ein Falke, ein Sturm
oder ein großer Gesang.
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BRIEF NOTES
Book Of Hours was published in 1905, and written by Bohemian-Austrian author, Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926). It is celebrated as one of his major early works, and still resonates to this day with many readers, worldwide.
The book is divided into three sections, The Book Of A Monastic Life, The Book Of Pilgramage, and The Book Of Poverty And Death. The individual poems do not have titles, so typically a numbering system is used to point to a specific poem. Here the poem I have is I.2, which signifies, the second poem, in the first section. I have given it the name, Circles And Towers reflecting the subjects of the poem.
The title of the book, Book Of Hours, comes from Medieval times, and refers to prayer books, with illuminations that were created by hand during those ages. They have an obvious spiritual, and theological underpinning. Rilke’s poem follows in those spiritual footsteps, though he is not discussing theology, but rather the mysticism behind belief and life.
This poem is very popular on the Internet. In fact if you type in the first line of the poem (German), and search, you will find many translations and interpretations offered. Indeed, it is an amazing poem, that tries to seek the depths and meannings of our lives in 8 short lines! I think in a way, it may manifest the beginnings of New Age spirituality, but that is just my opinion.