Water Lily

Rainer Maria Rilke 1875 (Prague) – 1926 (Montreux)



My whole life is mine, but whoever says so
will deprive me, for it is infinite.
The ripple of water, the shade of the sky
are mine; it is still the same, my life.

No desire opens me: I am full,
I never close myself with refusal-
in the rythm of my daily soul
I do not desire-I am moved;

by being moved I exert my empire,
making the dreams of night real:
into my body at the bottom of the water
I attract the beyonds of mirrors...

Translated by A. Poulin

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 30, 2023

28 sec read
739

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXXX XXXX AXAX X
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 449
Words 94
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 1

Rainer Maria Rilke

René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke — better known as Rainer Maria Rilke — was a Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist, "widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets", writing in both verse and highly lyrical prose. more…

All Rainer Maria Rilke poems | Rainer Maria Rilke Books

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