Autumn Day by Rainer Maria Rilke
Autumn Day
Rainer Maria Rilke
Translated by Galway Kinnell, Hannah LiebmannLord: it is time. The summer was immense.
Lay your shadow on the sundials
and let loose the wind in the fields.Bid the last fruits to be full;
give them another two more southerly days,
press them to ripeness, and chase
the last sweetness into the heavy wine.Whoever has no house now will not build one anymore.
Whoever is alone now will remain so for a long time,
will stay up, read, write long letters,
and wander the avenues, up and down,
restlessly, while the leaves are blowing.
MARGINALIA
Someday I will live in a place where there’s fall. For tonight, Rilke.
ABOUT RAINER MARIA RILKE
Rainer Maria Rilke was born on December 4, 1875, in Prague. By the time he enrolled at Charles University in Prague in 1895, he knew that he would pursue a literary career: he had already published his first volume of poetry, Leben und Lieder, the previous year. Between 1895 and 1896, Rilke published his second collection, Larenopfer (Sacrifice to the Lares). A third collection, Traumgekrönt (Dream-Crowned) followed in 1896. In 1919, Rilke went to Switzerland. It was here that he wrote… (more)
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