WORLD WAS
Rainer Maria Rilke, 1875-1926, Austrian
Translated by Stephen Mitchell
The Sun Tarot XIX, 1960, collage of cut papers (colour lithographs on paper) with window shade pull, and details below.
Jess (Jess Collins), 1923-2004, American. Philadelphia Art Museum
World was in the face of the beloved–,
but suddenly it poured out and was gone:
world is outside, world can not be grasped.
Why didn’t I, from the full, beloved face
as I raised it to my lips, why didn’t I drink
world, so near that I could almost taste it?
Ah, I drank. Insatiably I drank.
But I was filled up also, with too much
world, and, drinking, I myself ran over.
Inspiring as always, Sarah. Rilke laughed like God too.