| 
 
			
			I Am Much Too Alone in This World, Yet Not Alone 	 by Rainer Maria Rilke
 translated by Annemarie S. Kidder
 
 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 everday jug,
 like my mother's face,
 like a ship that carried me along
 through the deadliest storm.
 |