Die Liebende / Rainer Maria Rilke

Die Liebende

Das ist mein Fenster. Eben
bin ich so sanft erwacht.
Ich dachte, ich würde schweben.
Bis wohin reicht mein Leben,
und wo beginnt die Nacht?

Ich könnte meinen, alles
wäre noch Ich ringsum;
durchsichtig wie eines Kristalles
Tiefe, verdunkelt, stumm.

Ich könnte auch noch die Sterne
fassen in mir; so groß
scheint mir mein Herz; so gerne
ließ es ihn wieder los

den ich vielleicht zu lieben,
vielleicht zu halten begann.
Fremd, wie niebeschrieben
sieht mich mein Schicksal an.

Was bin ich unter diese
Unendlichkeit gelegt,
duftend wie eine Wiese,
hin und her bewegt,

rufend zugleich und bange,
daß einer den Ruf vernimmt,
und zum Untergange
in einem Andern bestimmt.

Rainer Maria Rilke





A Woman in Love

That is my window.
I just awoke so gently.
I thought, I'm floating.
How far does my life reach,
and where does the night begin?

I could think that everything
around me is me;
like the transparent depth of a crystal,
darkened and mute.

I think I could bring the stars
inside of me, so large
does my heart seem; so very much
does it want to let go of him

whom I have perhaps begun
to love, perhaps to hold.
So strange, so uncharted
does my fate appear.

Who am I who lies here
under this endless sky,
as the sweet scent of a meadow,
moving back and forth,

at once calling out and anxious,
that someone might hear my call,
destined to vanish
in another.

Rainer Maria Rilke





Woman in Love

There is my window.
I awoke just now so gently,
I thought I was floating off.
How far does my life extend
and where does night begin?

I could believe that everything
surrounding me is I,
transparent as a crystal,
dark and still as a crystal's depths.

I could contain within me
all the stars; so vast
is my heart, so gladly
it let him go again, the one

I have perhaps begun to love,
perhaps to hold.
Strange and unimagined,
my fate turns toward me.

What am I? Set down
like this in such immensity,
fragrant as a meadow,
moved by each passing breeze.

Calling out, yet fearful
that my call will be heard,
and destined to be drowned
in another's life.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy





L'innamorata

Questa è la mia finestra. È stato dolce
or ora il mio risveglio.
Credevo quasi di poter volare.
Fin dove giunge la mia vita
e ove ha inizio la notte?

Potrei pensare che ogni cosa
sia ancora Me all'intorno,
diafana come il fondo d'un cristallo,
offuscata, muta.

Potrei persino contenere
in me le stelle; tanto grande
sembra il mio cuore, e come
vorrebbe restituire libertà

a colui che forse incominciai
ad amare, forse a tenere stretto.
Estraneo, come pagina non scritta
il mio destino mi guarda.

Perché, come fui posta
in questa infinità
come un prato odorosa,
senza tregua agitata,

chiamando e a un tempo temendo
che qualcuno oda il grido,
e destinata
a perdermi in un altro.

Rainer Maria Rilke





Seven Kadın

İşte pencerem. Az önce
ne kadar da hafif uyandım.
Yüzdüğümü sandım.
Nerede başlıyor gece,
Nerede son buluyor yaşantım?

Bir kristalin derinlikleri gibi şeffaf,
dilsiz, karanlık,
ben’im diyebilirdim dört bir taraf,
çevremi saran tüm varlık.

İçime sığdırabilirim yıldızları bile;
kalbim büyük görünüyor o kadar;
öylesi bir keyifle
benden izin istiyor tekrar

galiba o sevmeye başladığım,
o tutunmaya başladığım kişi için.
Bakıyor bana yazgım,
yabancılığıyla asla bilinmezin.

Uzanan ben miyim bu
sonsuzluğun altında,
ki çayır gibi hoş kokulu
ileri geri salınmakta,

hem sesleniyor hem korkak,
duyulur diye seslenişleri,
bir başkasında boğulmak
onun kaderi.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Çeviri: Osman Tuğlu

Photo by Olga Komarova