Music by Rainer Maria Rilke
Translated by A. Poulin
Lost in the Darkness
Lost in the darkness
Pain’s scarred music piping seeps
Nightmares dancing burn
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 -1926) was a German / Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist. He is “widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets”.[1] He wrote both verse and highly lyrical prose.
Several critics have described Rilke’s work as “mystical”.
Rilke’s writings include one novel, several collections of poetry and several volumes of correspondence in which he invokes images that focus on the difficulty of communion with the ineffable in an age of disbelief, solitude and anxiety.
These themes position him as a transitional figure between traditional and modernist writers.
Rilke travelled extensively throughout Europe (including Russia, Spain, Germany, France and Italy) and, in his later years, settled in Switzerland – settings that were key to the genesis and inspiration for many of his poems.
While Rilke is most known for his contributions to German literature, over 400 poems were originally written in French and dedicated to the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
Among English-language readers, his best-known works include the poetry collections Duino Elegies (Duineser Elegien) and Sonnets to Orpheus (Die Sonette an Orpheus), the semi-autobiographical novel The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge (Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge), and a collection of ten letters that was published after his death under the title Letters to a Young Poet (Briefe an einen jungen Dichter).
In the later 20th century, his work found new audiences through use by New Age theologians and self-help authors[ and frequent quotations by television programmes, books and motion pictures.
In the United States, Rilke remains among the more popular, best-selling poets.
Poem Attribution © Music by Rainer Maria Rilke (Translated by A. Poulin)
Source Attribution https://internetpoem.com/rainer-maria-rilke/music-poem/
Bio Reference Attribution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainer_Maria_Rilke
Photo Attribution © (Photographer Unstated), Rainer Maria Rilke, 1990
Source Attribution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainer_Maria_Rilke#/media/File:Rainer_Maria_Rilke,_1900.jpg
Senryū Attribution Goff James, Lost in the Darkness
Copyright (c) 2021 Goff James – All Rights Reserved
More senryū poems by Goff James
Music by Rainer Maria Rilke
Take me by the hand;
it’s so easy for you, Angel,
for you are the road
even while being immobile.
You see, I’m scared no one
here will look for me again;
I couldn’t make use of
whatever was given,
so they abandoned me.
At first the solitude
charmed me like a prelude,
but so much music wounded me.
Painting Attribution © גדעון שפיגל (Gideon Spiegel / “Goodash”), Abandoned Art Gallery-3, (Date Unstated)
Source Attribution https://www.saatchiart.com/art/New-Media-Abandoned-Art-Gallery-3-Limited-Edition-1-of-1/697239/4067825/view
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