You, you only, exist

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



You, you only, exist.
We pass away, till at last,
our passing is so immense
that you arise: beautiful moment,
in all your suddenness,
arising in love, or enchanted
in the contraction of work.

To you I belong, however time may
wear me away. From you to you
I go commanded. In between
the garland is hanging in chance; but if you
take it up and up and up: look:
all becomes festival!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 28, 2023

22 sec read
537

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXXXXXX XAXAXX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 377
Words 75
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 7, 6

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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    "You, you only, exist" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/29755/you,-you-only,-exist>.

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