{"id":4604,"date":"2020-12-30T11:56:41","date_gmt":"2020-12-30T11:56:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/superior-english.com\/?p=4604"},"modified":"2020-12-30T11:57:28","modified_gmt":"2020-12-30T11:57:28","slug":"the-beholder-by-rainer-maria-rilke-a-translation-into-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/superior-english.com\/en\/2020\/12\/30\/the-beholder-by-rainer-maria-rilke-a-translation-into-english\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beholder by Rainer Maria Rilke, a translation into English"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Beholder<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I see in the Trees the Storms,<\/p>

that from dull-grown Days<\/p>

against my angst-filled Windows beat,<\/p>

and hear the Far, Things say,<\/p>

that which without a Friend I cannot bear,<\/p>

without a Sister cannot love.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

–<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

There goes the Storm, a Reshaper,<\/p>

goes through the Wood and through Time,<\/p>

and Everything as without Age:<\/p>

the Landscape, like a Verse in Psalms,<\/p>

is Grave and Weight and Eternity.<\/p>

How is it small, that with which we wrestle,<\/p>

what with us wrestles, how is it great,<\/p>

would we let ourselves, more like the Things,<\/p>

ourselves so from the great Storm be beaten, –<\/p>

we would become vast and nameless.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

–<\/p>

What we conquer is the Small,<\/p>

and the Triumph itself makes us small.<\/p>

The Eternal and Tremendous<\/p>

will not by us be bent.<\/p>

That is the Angel, who to the Wrestlers<\/p>

of the Old Testament appeared:<\/p>

when his Adversary\u2019s Sinews<\/p>

in Combat metallic straining,<\/p>

feeling them underneath his Fingers<\/p>

like Strings of deep Melodies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

–<\/p>

He whom this Angel overcame,<\/p>

who so often from Conflict abstains,<\/p>

he goes fairly and erect<\/p>

and great from that hard Hand,<\/p>

that, as though shaping, to him closely nestled.<\/p>

The Victories entertain him not.<\/p>

His Growth is: being Deeply Vanquished<\/p>

by ever Greater Things.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

-Rainer Maria Rilke<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translation by Jesse Kopp<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Beholder I see in the Trees the Storms, that from dull-grown Days against my angst-filled Windows beat, and hear the Far, Things say, that which without a Friend I cannot bear, without a Sister cannot love. – There goes the Storm, a Reshaper, goes through the Wood and through Time, and Everything as without … Continue reading The Beholder by Rainer Maria Rilke, a translation into English<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[273],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","no-featured-image"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t