Encounter In The Chestnut Avenue Poem by Rainer Maria Rilke
Encounter In The Chestnut Avenue
He felt the entrance's green darkness
wrapped cooly round him like a silken cloak
that he was still accepting and arranging;
when at the opposite transparent end, far off,
through green sunlight, as through green window panes,
whitely a solitary shape
flared up, long remaining distant
and then finally, the downdriving light
boiling over it at every step,
bearing on itself a bright pulsation,
which in the blond ran shyly to the back.
But suddenly the shade was deep,
and nearby eyes lay gazing
from a clear new unselfconscious face,
which, as in a portrait, lived intensely
in the instant things split off again:
first there forever, and then not at all.
Translated by Edward Snow
This is how to make a scene, an incident, vivid! And I relate to how a strong sensory impression leaves its traces with us. For you who read this and might want to read something similar, see my poem “She Walks.” -GK
'first there forever, and then not at all.' Using images of shape, cloak and light to achieve a fleeting presence which was there and then gone.
From a clear new unselfconcious face! With the muse of the race. Thanks for sharing this poem with us.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
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4/19/2024 8:14:31 AM # 1.0.0.1119
Enchanting and mysterious! Thanks for sharing!