Classic and Contemporary Poetry
WHAT WILL YOU DO, GOD?, by RAINER MARIA RILKE Poem Explanation Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: What will you do, god, when I die? Last Line: What will you do, god? I'm afeared. Subject(s): Death; God; Dead, The | ||||||||
What will you do, God, when I die? I am your jar (if cracked, I lie?) Your well-spring (if the well go dry?) I am your craft, your vesture, I, you lose your purport, losing me. When I go, your cold house will be empty of words that made it sweet. I am the sandals your bare feet will seek and long for, wearily. Your cloak will fall from aching bones. Your glance, that my warm cheeks have cheered as with a cushion, long endeared, will wonder at a loss so weird, and when the sun has disappeared, lie in the lap of alien stones. What will you do, God? I'm afeared. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FRIEND KILLED IN THE WAR by ANTHONY HECHT FOR JAMES MERRILL: AN ADIEU by ANTHONY HECHT TARANTULA: OR THE DANCE OF DEATH by ANTHONY HECHT CHAMPS D?ÇÖHONNEUR by ERNEST HEMINGWAY NOTE TO REALITY by TONY HOAGLAND |
|