Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SONNETS TO ORPHEUS: SECOND PART, 6, by RAINER MARIA RILKE


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SONNETS TO ORPHEUS: SECOND PART, 6, by             Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Rose, you majesty -- once, to the ancients, you were
Last Line: Which we prayed for from hours that belong to us
Subject(s): Mythology - Classical; Orpheus


Rose, you majesty-once, to the ancients, you were
just a calyx with the simplest of rims.
But for us, you are the full, the numberless flower,
the inexhaustible countenance.

In your wealth you seem to be wearing gown upon gown
upon a body of nothing but light;
yet each seperate petal is at the same time the negation
of all clothing and the refusal of it.

Your fragrance has been calling its sweetest names
in our direction, for hundreds of years;
suddenly it hangs in the air like fame.

Even so, we have never known what to call it; we guess...
And memory is filled with it unawares
which we prayed for from hours that belong to us.






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