I am much too alone in this
world, yet not alone
enough
to truly consecrate the hour.
I am much too small in this
world, yet not small
enough
to be to you just object and
thing,
dark and smart.
I want my free will and want it
accompanying
the path which leads to action;
and want during times that beg
questions,
where something is up,
to be among those in the know,
or else be alone.
I want to mirror your image to
its fullest perfection,
never be blind or too old
to uphold your weighty wavering
reflection.
I want to unfold.
Nowhere I wish to stay crooked,
bent;
for there I would be dishonest,
untrue.
I want my conscience to be
true before you;
want to describe myself like a
picture I observed
for a long time, one close up,
like a new word I learned and
embraced,
like the everyday jug,
like my mother's face,
like a ship that carried me along
through the deadliest storm.
Rainer Maria Rilke
translated by Annemarie S. Kidder
(Picture: Island in the Attersee, Gustav Klimt)
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