The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christopher Rilke Quotes

“They grope before them like blind people and find each the other as they would a door. Almost like children that dread the night, they press close into each other. And yet they are not afraid. There is nothing that might be against them: no yesterday, no morrow; for time is shattered. And they flower from its ruins.
He does not ask: 'Your husband?'
She does not ask: 'Your name?'
For indeed they have found each other, to be unto themselves a new generation.
They will give each other a hundred new names and take them all off again, gently, as one takes an earring off.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke

“Riding, riding, riding, through the dag, through the night, through the day. And the heart has become so tired, and the longing so vast.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke, The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christopher Rilke

“Reiten, reiten, reiten, durch den Tag,
durch die Nacht, durch den Tag.
Reiten, reiten, reiten. Und der Mut ist so müde geworden
und die Sehnsucht so groß. Es gibt keine Berge mehr,
kaum einen Baum. Nichts wagt aufzustehen.
Fremde Hütten hocken durstig an versumpften Brunnen.
Nirgends ein Turm. Und immer das gleiche Bild.
Man hat zwei Augen zuviel. Nur in der Nacht
manchmal glaubt man den Weg zu kennen.
Vielleicht kehren wir nächtens immer wieder
das Stück zurück, das wir in der fremden Sonne
mühsam gewonnen haben? Es kann sein.
Die Sonne ist schwer, wie bei uns tief im Sommer.
Aber wir haben im Sommer Abschied genommen.
Die Kleider der Frauen leuchteten lang aus dem Grün.
Und nun reiten wir lang. Es muß also Herbst sein.
Wenigstens dort, wo traurige Frauen von uns wissen.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke

“It began as a meal. And became a feast, a festival – they hardly know how. The high flames flare, the voices whirr, wild songs stir from glitter and glance, and at last from the ripened rhythms in the air: arises the dance. And it sweeps them all up. You feel the wavebeats pounding through the room, you touch somebody, breathe-in her perfume, you part from her and find her once again, and then, through all the light-filled melodies, dazzled, you sway upon the summer breeze which fills the dresses that warm women wear.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke, The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christopher Rilke

“The tower room is dark.
But they light up each other’s faces with their smiles. They grope their way forward like blind people and find each other like a door. Almost like children who are terrified of the night, they cling to each other. And yet they are not afraid. There is nothing that could be against them: no yesterday, no tomorrow; for time has fallen away. And they are blossoming out of its ruins.
He doesn’t ask, “Your husband?”
She doesn’t ask, “Your name?”
They have come together so that they can be for each other a new generation.
They will give each other a hundred new names and will take them all off again, gently, as you would take off an earring.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Die Weise Von Liebe Und Tod Des Cornets Christoph Rilke: Und Andere Prosagedichte