Saturday, December 9, 2017

Saturday Poem


You Darkness

You darkness, that I come from,
I love you more than all the fires
that fence in the world,
for the fire makes
a circle of light for everyone,
and then no one outside learns of you.

But the darkness pulls in everything:
shapes and fires, animals and myself,
how easily it gathers them! —
powers and people —

and it is possible a great energy
is moving near me.

I have faith in nights.

Rainer Maria Rilke
(translation by Robert Bly)




I first read this poem on the night Edythe died, lying in a spare bed at her house, in the darkness. As I was sleepless, I had pulled up the blog on my phone and Cate over at Beyond the Fields We Know (see sidebar) had shared it. Something about it spoke to how I was feeling in that silent, sad house and it's been on my mind ever since, especially since we are entering the period of the year with the longest nights. I did a bit of reading about Rainer Maria Rilke and it turns out that his birthday was the same day that Edythe died--December 4th. It seemed a strange coincidence.

5 comments:

  1. That is an odd coincidence. It's a beautiful poem.

    Love,
    Janie

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  2. I just read of your mother-in-law's passing. So sorry to hear. Edythe sounds like she was a lovely lady. Not everyone is so welcoming to "newcomers" to the family, although they should be. And good for her: she lives on in those she saved through organ donation.

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  3. I am so sorry for your loss of your mother-in-law. We are never ready for the pain that comes with losing someone important in our lives.

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  4. We studied some of Rilke's poems at school, hardly surprising since it was of course a German school and he is one of the best known and most popular German poets.
    I am sure you have come across the one he wrote about autumn.

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  5. It's a peculiar poem and a peculiar notion but I must say that I rather liked it. Thanks for sharing.

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