Avenue of Plane Trees Near Arles Station
Harshness gone. All at once caring spreads over
the naked gray of the meadows.
Tiny rivulets sing in different voices.
A softness, as if from everywhere,
is touching the earth.
Paths appear across the land and beckon.
Surprised once again you sense
its coming in the empty tree.
Uncollected Poems
Rilke's consummate gift was to overlay the insides of things over their outsides, to welcome the worlds in a manner of speaking which held them as both identical and unspeakably far. It does make for surprises ... lots of mothering here, Rilke's complex symbol of embrace and distance. - Brendan
ReplyDelete"caring spreads" . . . words that echo my sense of the changes i can see and feel. steven
ReplyDeleteThere really is something wondrous about that soft feminine opening of the world in spring, when green growth softens the pointed edges of stalks. Even the air is soft and moist. Soon the silhouettes of trees will change drastically, and we will no longer see the limbs, the skeletons which I love in winter. I appreciate all the seasons so much. Spring does feel like the caring one.
ReplyDeleteYes, spring gentles everything, and it is always a surprise. Clever season. Clever Rilke. But I too love being able to see the true shape of trees...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. This is one of Van Gogh's I hadn't seen.
ReplyDelete