Falling Stars

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



Do you remember still the falling stars
that like swift horses through the heavens raced
and suddenly leaped across the hurdles
of our wishes--do you recall? And we
did make so many! For there were countless numbers
of stars: each time we looked above we were
astounded by the swiftness of their daring play,
while in our hearts we felt safe and secure
watching these brilliant bodies disintegrate,
knowing somehow we had survived their fall.

Translated by Albert Ernest Flemming

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 24, 2023

24 sec read
814

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXXXXXXXXX X
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 477
Words 82
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 10, 1

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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