Lovers in the Moonlight
by Marc Chagall
Look at the sky. Is there no constellation called Rider?
For the image is imprinted on the mind:
this arrogance made from Earth and a second one astride,
driving him and holding him back.
Hunted, then harnessed: isn't this
the sinewy nature of our being?
Path and turning, a touch to guide.
New distances. And the two are one.
But are they? Or is it only the going
that unites them? When they stop
they belong again to table or pasture.
The story pattern fools us, too. Still,
it pleases us for a moment
to believe in them. That is all we need.
Sonnets to Orpheus I, 11
"is it only the going that unites them?" a haunting question. steven
ReplyDelete"the sinewy nature of our being" Ahh. Hunted, then harnessed: who is this mysterious Rider? Who the hunter? As always, Rilke raises more questions than he answers.
ReplyDeleteGeeky thought, perhaps inspired by the gorgeous colors of Chagall's painting--is RMR referring obliquely to the Blaue Reiter group?
The story pattern fools me, too...