http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/German/Rilke.htm
When reading the ninth elegy, I had a few recollections from that seminar at UC-Irvine from so long ago. The image of the traveler, who does not take back the dirt to the valley as he returns from the mountain, but only the blue-yellow gentian. Also, the heart, between the hammers, that lives on, as the tongue, caught between the teeth, keeps praising.
The image of the traveler suggests that we cannot take the substance of our travels back with us. Many of us do take some souvenir or memento, but can that really convey the experience? I need to think through the heart between the hammers, but the tongue that praising even though surrounded by teeth is somewhat clearer to me. Rilke spends a lot of time in this Elegy on the say-able and unsay-able. Perhaps the tongue breaks through all restrictions and speaks that which cannot be easily spoken, that which gives us life and hope.
Maybe someone knows where this image is from: I think it is German, but I am not sure. The seashell contains the sound of the sea, from whence it comes. I have a vague sense of ..."vom Meer, aus dem es herauskommt" or something like that. Maybe someone knows!
When reading the ninth elegy, I had a few recollections from that seminar at UC-Irvine from so long ago. The image of the traveler, who does not take back the dirt to the valley as he returns from the mountain, but only the blue-yellow gentian. Also, the heart, between the hammers, that lives on, as the tongue, caught between the teeth, keeps praising.
The image of the traveler suggests that we cannot take the substance of our travels back with us. Many of us do take some souvenir or memento, but can that really convey the experience? I need to think through the heart between the hammers, but the tongue that praising even though surrounded by teeth is somewhat clearer to me. Rilke spends a lot of time in this Elegy on the say-able and unsay-able. Perhaps the tongue breaks through all restrictions and speaks that which cannot be easily spoken, that which gives us life and hope.
Maybe someone knows where this image is from: I think it is German, but I am not sure. The seashell contains the sound of the sea, from whence it comes. I have a vague sense of ..."vom Meer, aus dem es herauskommt" or something like that. Maybe someone knows!
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