Rilke's "Widening Circles"


I've got Bly's translation somewhere (I won't dig), and Mitchell didn't seem to include it (it's from Rilke's Book of Hours). I'm 99% certain I've looked at the translation myself at one time or another (I was never quite satisfied with capturing the end of strophe one). Anyway, found myself thinking of it twice today: in reference to human possibilities (I had a certain someone in mind here) and also a friend who doesn't know Rilke.

*

I live my life in widening circles
that reach out across the world.
I may not complete this last one
but I give myself to it.

I circle around God, around the primordial tower.
I've been circling for thousands of years
and I still don't know: am I a falcon,
a storm, or a great song?

[Translation by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows]

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