The Mind

Solitude

by Rainer Maria Rilke 1875–1926

Translated by Jessie Lemont (1918) · From The Book of Pictures

The Mind

Solitude is like a rain
That from the sea at dusk begins to rise;
It floats remote across the far-off plain
Upward into its dwelling-place, the skies,
Then o'er the town it slowly sinks again.
Like rain it softly falls at that dim hour
When ghostly lanes turn toward the shadowy morn;
When bodies weighed with satiate passion's power
Sad, disappointed from each other turn;
When men with quiet hatred burning deep
Together in a common bed must sleep--
Through the gray, phantom shadows of the dawn
Lo! Solitude floats down the river wan ...

MLA

Rilke, Rainer Maria. “Solitude.” Translated by Jessie Lemont. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/rilke/6/.

Chicago

Rilke, Rainer Maria. “Solitude.” Translated by Jessie Lemont. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/rilke/6/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

More by Rainer Maria Rilke