Blank Joy

Rainer Maria Rilke 1875 (Prague) – 1926 (Montreux)



She who did not come, wasn't she determined
nonetheless to organize and decorate my heart?
If we had to exist to become the one we love,
what would the heart have to create?

Lovely joy left blank, perhaps you are
the center of all my labors and my loves.
If I've wept for you so much, it's because
I preferred you among so many outlined joys.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 28, 2023

21 sec read
563

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXXX XXXX
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 343
Words 68
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 4, 4

Rainer Maria Rilke

René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke — better known as Rainer Maria Rilke — was a Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist, "widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets", writing in both verse and highly lyrical prose. more…

All Rainer Maria Rilke poems | Rainer Maria Rilke Books

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    "Blank Joy" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/29645/blank-joy>.

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