Sonnets to Orpheus

Part II: XXIX
Rainer Maria Rilke


Silent friend of many distances,
feel how your breath us still increasing space.
Among the beams of the dark belfries let
yourself ring out. What feeds on you

will grow strong upon this nourishment.
Be conversant with transformation.
From what experience have you suffered most?
Is drinking bitter to you, turn to wine.

Be, in this immeasurable night,
magic power at your senses' crossroad,
be the meaning of their strange encounter.

And if the earthly has forgotten you,
say to the still earth: I flow.
To the rapid water speak: I am.

Translated by M. D. Herter Norton

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Part II: XXIX
Rainer Maria Rilke


Silent friend of those far from us, feeling 
how your breath is still enlarging space,
fill the sombre belfry with your pealing.
What consumes you now is growing apace

stronger than the feeding strength it borrows.
Be, as Change will have you, shade or shine.
Which has grieved you most of all your sorrows?
Turn, if drinking's bitter, into wine.

Be, in this immeasurable night,
at your sense' cross-ways magic cunning,
be the sense of their mysterious tryst.

Add, should earthliness forget you quite, 
murmur to the quiet earth: I'm running.
Tell the running water: I exist.

Translated by J. B. Leishman

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Part II: XXIX
Rainer Maria Rilke


Silent friend of many distances, feel 
how your breath enlarges all of space.
Let the presence ring out like a bell
into the night. What feeds upon your face

grows mighty from the nourishment this offered.
Move through transformation, out and in.
What is the deepest loss that you have suffered?
If the drinking is bitter, change yourself to wine.

In this immeasurable darkness, be the power
that rounds your senses in their magic ring,
the sense of their mysterious encounter.

And if the earthly no longer knows your name,
whisper to the silent earth: I'm flowing.
To the flashing water say: I am.

Translated by Stephen Mitchell

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Being
Rainer Maria Rilke


Silent comrade of the distances,
Know that space dilates with your own breath;
ring out, as a bell into the Earth
from the dark rafters of its own high place —

then watch what feeds on you grow strong again.
Learn the transformations through and through:
what in your life has most tormented you?
If the water's sour, turn it into wine.

Our senses cannot fathom this night, so
be the meaning of their strange encounter;
at their crossing, be the radiant centre.

And should the world itself forget your name
say this to the still earth: I flow.
Say this to the quick stream: I am.

Translated by Don Paterson