Tuesday, November 29, 2016

One glorious morning

I saw the earth juggling 
between two crown jewels -  

sunrise at the heavenly east

and westward -where the star-lit ivory moon sets

But my eyes are riveted
to ancient trees 
with no fruits nor leaves, becoming bones 
sinking deeper to soil

I embrace this hour 

in silence -
all my senses awakening
as the morning ripens, 
greeting me
with all the light it has 
& can ever give me



Inspired by the original work of Rainer Maria Rilke.

The hour is striking so close above me
by Rainer Maria Rilke

English version by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy
Original Language German


The hour is striking so close above me,
so clear and sharp,
that all my senses ring with it.
I feel it now: there's a power in me
to grasp and give shape to my world.

I know that nothing has ever been real
without my beholding it.
All becoming has needed me.
My looking ripens things
and they come toward me, to meet and be met.


Posted for D'verse Poets Pub  - Poetics - Cover Poems by guest Bryan.

Thanks for the visit ~

22 comments:

  1. I really love how you covered Rilke, giving it your own voice at the same time as you kept the sentiment of the original so well... This reminded me of your prompts at real toads... so much to learn from reading a poet and singing along so to speak

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  2. love the image of the earth being juggled between the sun and the moon...and referring to them as crown jewels is absolutely gorgeous!

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  3. Just realized...in a sense, a translation of poetry from one language to another is, in a sense, a cover as well...as any time something is translated, it must be interpreted by the translator since so many words do not have a perfect translation from one language to the next.

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  4. Oh my goodness, Grace, you've chosen a poem by Rilke, my favourite German poet. When I was sixteen I won an award for a project in German about Rilke, which paid my fare when I first moved to Cologne back in 1973, just before my seventeenth birthday. I love your cover!

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  5. Wow Grace. This is a beautiful rendition of a work by one of my favorite poets.It is very much your voice and as with many of these covers echoes the original.

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  6. So very beautiful. I love this quiet hour of the day, and you captured it wonderfully.

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  7. Sure gave it your own spin for the win. A time of day when one can just relax and take it in.

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  8. TrULy.. it's
    sad to be
    separate
    from wHole
    not realiZinG
    full hUman poTenTial
    to create a world within
    that expands from inside..
    to outside.. so above.. below
    and all around all creators we..
    when not
    lost
    in
    stuff of
    otHeRs more..:)

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  9. 'I saw the earth juggling between two crown jewels" I love the breadth of your perception. Janice

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  10. I like your version better Grace, yours is more a part of the action, instead of just the recipient, it's more involved

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  11. Congratulations. You took us to a new level
    Not a competition. A compliment

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  12. Beautifully done Grace. Your voice us really clear and the images are striking

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  13. A wonderful tribute to a Fall morning.

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  14. You did a lovely job with the cover, your voice really shines here Grace.

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  15. The contrast between the two is interesting. Rilke is discussing the inner state, yours the outer. He makes the world, while your world makes you.
    Or so it seems. He is at wonder of his mind, you of the world.

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  16. Rilke comes here in translation -- as most of us English speakers encounter him -- so the source is already a copy: your refinement is both of the translator's sentiment and the orginal's intent, finding, as I have in my forays into Rilke, many oceans within. The gift of his poem becomes the mantle you lay this on, finding essence between magnitudes. Beyond his beholding, the vast empowerment of the thing itself -- "this hour / in silence." Amen, and well done.

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  17. A beautiful reinterpretation of a beautiful original!

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  18. They are both beautiful!

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  19. Beautifully done...a gorgeous last stanza..smiles~

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  20. They really are crown jewels aren't they? I love this one! Thank you for sharing it with us. Have a wonderful weekend. :)

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  21. (sigh) those ancient trees do draw us to them. It is as if they have something to impart. This is really beautiful. I am there.

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