Song Of The Orphan

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



I am no one and never will be anyone,
for I am far too small to claim to be;
not even later.

Mothers and Fathers,
take pity on me.

I fear it will not pay to raise me:
I shall fall victim to the mower's scythe.
No one can find me useful now: I am too young,
and tomorrow will be too late.

I only have one dress,
worn thin and faded,
but it will last an eternity
even before God, perhaps.

I only have this whispy hair
(that always remained the same)
yet once was someone's dearest love.

Now he has nothing that he loves.

Translated by Albert Ernest Flemming

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 10, 2023

34 sec read
217

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAX XA AXXX XXAX XXX X X
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 546
Words 113
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 3, 2, 4, 4, 3, 1, 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…

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