Lament (O how all things are far removed)
Rainer Maria Rilke 1875 (Prague) – 1926 (Montreux)
O how all things are far removed
and long have passed away.
I do believe the star,
whose light my face reflects,
is dead and has been so
for many thousand years.
I had a vision of a passing boat
and heard some voices saying disquieting things.
I heard a clock strike in some distant house...
but in which house?...
I long to quiet my anxious heart
and stand beneath the sky's immensity.
I long to pray...
And one of all the stars
must still exist.
I do believe that I would know
which one alone
endured,
and which like a white city stands
at the ray's end shining in the heavens.
Translated by Albert Ernest Flemming
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 73 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABXXCX XXDD XABXXCXXXX X |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 604 |
Words | 119 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 4, 10, 1 |
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"Lament (O how all things are far removed)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 Sep. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/29687/lament-(o-how-all-things-are-far-removed)>.
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