Look how the same possibilities
unfold in their opposite demeanors,
as though one saw different ages
passing through two identical rooms.
Each thinks that she props up the other,
while resting wearily on her support;
and they can’t make use of one another,
for they cause blood to rest on blood,
when as in the former times they softly touch
and try, along the tree-lined walks,
to feel themselves conducted and to lead;
ah, the ways they go are not the same.
(Rainer Maria Rilke)
More Poetry from Rainer Maria Rilke:
- Elegy X (Rainer Maria Rilke Poems)
- Elegy I (Rainer Maria Rilke Poems)
- Elegy IV (Rainer Maria Rilke Poems)
- Fear of the Inexplicable (Rainer Maria Rilke Poems)
- To Lou Andreas-Salo (Rainer Maria Rilke Poems)
- Dedication to M. (Rainer Maria Rilke Poems)