Going Blind
Rainer Maria Rilke 1875 (Prague) – 1926 (Montreux)
She sat just like the others at the table.
But on second glance, she seemed to hold her cup
a little differently as she picked it up.
She smiled once. It was almost painful.
And when they finished and it was time to stand
and slowly, as chance selected them, they left
and moved through many rooms (they talked and laughed),
I saw her. She was moving far behind
the others, absorbed, like someone who will soon
have to sing before a large assembly;
upon her eyes, which were radiant with joy,
light played as on the surface of a pool.
She followed slowly, taking a long time,
as though there were some obstacle in the way;
and yet: as though, once it was overcome,
she would be beyond all walking, and would fly.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 40 sec read
- 265 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBA XXXX XXXX XXXX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 705 |
Words | 136 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"Going Blind" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/29675/going-blind>.
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